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That's called the "energy return on investment" [1] and it's a critical factor in how profitable a fossil fuel source is. An easily acccessed oil field can eas
by akiselev 3y ago
That's called the "energy return on investment" [1] and it's a critical factor in how profitable a fossil fuel source is.
An easily acccessed oil field can easily have an EROI of 20-50, so they spend a gallon worth of energy to extract 20-50 gallons. Shale oil has a EROI as low as 1-1.5 and it's sometimes only worth it when burning the accompanying natural gas for free energy.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_return_on_investment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_return_on_investment
- ZeroGravitas 3y agoEroei analysis usually doesn't go very far down the production process. What you want is Well to Tank calculations, which suggest that the process of making gasoline accounts for 15-20% of the total GHG emissions, so add 25% onto the number you get from burning the fuel in your car.