It is only law and regulation that makes waste management into a business. There is nothing inherently capitalist about it, unlike the oil business, and producing 100 barrels from a $30 million plant is not good business.
1) It's a pilot plant, and will therefore be more expensive than future setups. 2) It currently produces 100 barrels/day but is capable of ramping up to 500/day, as I recall
Did you know that the first commercial electric power plant had one direct current generator capable of lighting 250 streetlamps each equivalent to 50 watts?
Stop think of it like an oil well. The oil is just a byproduct. There are also tons of fertilizer being produced, as a byproduct.
Eventually the scale may be there to view this technology as a fuel generator, but the immediate application is a waste removal plant, something that will show an immediate impact on thousands of ag based communities throughout the U.S.
You act as though because you disagree with the laws and regulations concerning waste management, that they should be ignored. Sorry, welcome to the real world. The savings in changing this waste into usable product is showing real promise or those capitalists at Con-Agra wouldn't be involved. Real capitalists invest, armchair capitalists tell people on websites why it won't work.