Someone once said something along these lines -- modern industrial agriculture is a process by which crude oil is turned into foodstuffs while having a little soil, sunlight, and water thrown into the mix.

I may be naive, but it seems that because nitrogen fertilizer production is so energy intensive, you've got to fabricate the heavy farm equipment, you've got to use a bunch of diesel to run them across the fields to plant and to harvest, you've got to mine the phosphate fertilizer (more heavy equipment) and transport it to Iowa or wherever, you've got to squeeze the little soybeans to get the oil out (more machinery...) -- you might as well just burn the diesel and leave the soybeans out of the loop. It'd would seem to be less energy consumptive.

If you're burning waste fuels, fine. If you're substituting fresh virgin alcohol for gasoline (politics) or soy oil for diesel, it seems you're taking a step backward on the energy chain.

Rob Kuhlman (former Rabbit and Dasher diesels owner...I miss them...)