Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb
but that is an arbitrary point in the system, ignoring all the conversion losses to that point (which are many), from the days when all there was was gasoline basically, and puts the alternatives at an unfair disadvantage.
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I think that saying it's an unfair disadvantage is going a bit far. It's a somewhat arbitrary distinction because it's from the past, but considering we've been using it for decades complaining about it now is kinda silly IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonG
With liquid fuels it is figured in. For every X gals extracted from source Y, Z number of gallons is used in purification, processing, transportation etc. The 1 gal in your tank started as 1.X gal.
It's the reason alcohol from cellulose is impractical. It takes more energy to produce than it provides to the tank.
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The EPA's mpg figures do not take into account the energy needed to extract, refine, transport, and so on, oil/gasoline AFAIK. All forms of energy need to be refined/altered and require more energy put in than we get out, that alone doesn't make alky from cellulose impractical. It's more about the economic considerations than anything else.