Hi Evan,
I have problems with these types of graphs and ratios, mainly because they leave out so much in their assessments. This is from an investment perspective and I find it terribly lacking. Let's take something like fossil fuel, specifically oil. It looks good to investors but the hidden costs, the ones they readily dismiss, create massive expenses we all pay. First there's the hidden cost of the military expense, one third of our military cost is used to protect and secure oil channels. Then there's the expense of health issues from smog which the WHO says is creating lung issues in this country. The oil spills and high costs of repairs to ICE (internal combustion engines) that we have become used to as just part of driving everyday. Etc., etc.
Now look at renewables, the energy used to make a PV module is recovered in about 8 months with 25 or 30 years of clean energy afterwards. no pollution, no wars in Kuwait, no feeding money to the people who want to destroy us, no smog, diversification of the power grid (making it more robust) and bringing energy to the individual as opposed to having people dependent upon a corporate entity that decides how much oil should cost.
Drastic differences that EROI never addresses. The biggest difference is human freedom, a free society can not exist in single source control of resources. Energy, food, water, etc. are very much controlled by corporations. That much power corrupts governments and effects the people in ways they never recognize unless they work at understanding how they are being manipulated. Which unfortunately is where this country stands today.
So bottom line, permaculture is way up on the scale when we don't skew perspectives with limited data.
Rob
