"No, you actually come out ahead."
Again, you miss the point. It is doodly/squat ahead. They are saying that even if you devote the entire corn harvest to ethanol production it will only marginally affect the amount of petroleum used. Even if your tractors use methanol, the net energy to be gained is trivial.
With soybeans you have a chance, but you still don't get a petroleum independent society.
They are working, at the University of New Hampshire, on various strains of algae as feedstocks for biodiesel production, which have a much higher oil efficiency than even soybeans, and can be grown quickly and easily in vats of sunny water.
100% correct. The US uses over 22 million barrels of oil a day. And the supply is now in decline. Even the tar sands at max production will only produce 2-2.5 million barrels a day. The hurt is coming.
100% correct. The US uses over 22 million barrels of oil a day. And the supply is now in decline. Even the tar sands at max production will only produce 2-2.5 million barrels a day. The hurt is coming.
You hit the screw on the head. The society that creates ethanol or biodiesel uses mostly conventional fuels to shelter and feed itself. The tools to keep society in running order require energy to make. But take away part of the economy and we would get fairly substantial drops in energy prices since the prices are determined on the margin.