> We subsidize the planting of corn to produce ethanol -- one of the most inefficient forms of solar energy 'harvesting' possible
You subsidize it so the farmers have capacity to swiftly increase food production in any moment.
By design it should provide the most efficient way to get that capacity, not to provide the most efficient way to get energy.
That's a great plan... except that we're degrading the soil in the process, significantly reducing it's long-term growing capacity to maximize short-term profits.
I'm all about sound long-term land management and subsidized capacity. The current system is not that.