Brazil relies on vast expanses of sugarcane...which has a conversion rate of 7 to 1...and still provides sugar. Corn has a conversion rate of 1.1 to 1...folly. We have massive inputs of petroleum products that we put into our agricultural products... We need this concentrated form of energy...petroleum...to design and produce the next generation of energy...which will not be as concentrated...we are quickly missing the opportunity to make a paradigm shift. The cheapest form of energy is conservation. We can create the equivalent of billions of barrels of oil by cutting our consumption and switching to more energy efficient appliances, lights, buildings, and modes of transportation. We can create energy by not using it...to commute, living within walking or biking distance to work. We can create energy by stopping the creation of plastic packaging and crap. It is, indeed, a case of 'a penny saved is a penny earned'... As Mark Twain once pointed out...if your only tool is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. We need new tools, new ways of thinking. And simpler local lives.