The Oil Drum: What are the REAL energy equivalents of a cubic mile of oil?

A lot’s been said lately about how much energy is in a cubic mile of oil. This is roughly the amount the world uses in a year.

Leaving aside some errors (the coal and nuclear numbers are off by about 10% to each other, and the capacity factor of wind turbines should be closer to 30%) the most essential oversight in that equation is elephantine:

It compares oil’s inputs to the other’s outputs.

Compared to that, the rest is small potatoes.
Much more after the jump to The Oil Drum.