The processing plant that could be built with a certain investment would usually make more money processing crude or surplus petroleum than it would synthetic hydrocarbons.
The price of crude can be adjusted to maintain this situation.
Some biodiesel made from surplus edible oils can co-produce common gasoline-range hydrocarbons along with the biodiesel.
You have to figure those that are doing this are making money, they are just making less money from the same equipment than a traditional oil company would.
To some extent it's just a matter of what you want to invest in for the future compared to what has cumulatively been invested in over the past.
There should be opportunity for renewable gases, autofuels, and oils to share infrastructure with established petroleum and make money for shareholders as reliably as a traditional oil company. There simply needs to be ambition to accept a lower percent dividend per barrel in the same market, with the tradeoff/tradeup that the environmental impact per barrel is dramatically lesser by a much greater percentage.
So you make money as reliably as an oil company, only less of it but it's still possible for everybody to win.
Depends on what you are committed to.
OTOH whether it's photosynthetic, photocatalytic, photovoltaic or direct radiant solar, efficiency is not as much of a show-stopper as it would seem. Any net gain is free energy.
The price of crude can be adjusted to maintain this situation.
Some biodiesel made from surplus edible oils can co-produce common gasoline-range hydrocarbons along with the biodiesel.
You have to figure those that are doing this are making money, they are just making less money from the same equipment than a traditional oil company would.
To some extent it's just a matter of what you want to invest in for the future compared to what has cumulatively been invested in over the past.
There should be opportunity for renewable gases, autofuels, and oils to share infrastructure with established petroleum and make money for shareholders as reliably as a traditional oil company. There simply needs to be ambition to accept a lower percent dividend per barrel in the same market, with the tradeoff/tradeup that the environmental impact per barrel is dramatically lesser by a much greater percentage.
So you make money as reliably as an oil company, only less of it but it's still possible for everybody to win.
Depends on what you are committed to.
OTOH whether it's photosynthetic, photocatalytic, photovoltaic or direct radiant solar, efficiency is not as much of a show-stopper as it would seem. Any net gain is free energy.