Well yes and no. low tech methods have a 1.34 energy yield ratio. (this is farmer Jim with a fuel license like I have) for him it's a way to recover loses in product not suitable for sale and a way to burn off crop waste
typical large scale production is around 1.75 times and the new state of the art facilities being built are around 2.1 times. now that includes powering the tractors etc. your right Gasoline is more economically viable at $75 a barrell at $100 not so much. (depending on the crude 30-50% of a barrel becomes gas) barrel is 42 gallons supply and demand. drop demand and the price will stabilize, and with china buying cars as fast as they can be produced I see no drop in the per barrel prices anytime soon. being flexable fuel it's genius because we can shop based on the market oil goes up blend more oil goes down blend less.
as the government is currently subsidizing production at the rate of 50+ cents for EVERY gallon produced. at the US's rate last year of 4.6 Billion gallons you can imagine how that is adding up. this policy is in effect till 2010 so only a few more years, however unless the technology is embraced it will be wasted money and There are a lot of naysayers still spouting 1970's rhetoric.
the typical farmer can produce a gallon of ethanol and as long as he documents it use it tax free if you figure an all time high price of 2.5 $ per bushel (a bushel yeilds 2.5 gallons of E100) his investment (since his cost PER bushel is way below that) is less then a dollar a gallon. of course the time investment cannot be directly calculated, however it is popular for farmers to produce the ethanol during the winter months when the fields are empty. the process is identical to making moonshine except instead of activated charcoal filtering (to remove toxins) you use a Molecular sieve material to remove the water.
the concept is if enough people embrace the technology the economies of scale will play a part. we are offsetting 3% currently of our fuel usage to make a dent that should be more along the lines of 20% but 20% will require us to produce 30 Billion Gallons. with that being said with the demand and infrastructure in place the government can step out. which will happen once big oil starts to feel a dent (which is why we use E85 and not E100)
ok enough of the political nonsense. people will embrace Hybrids as a alternative. however I got 60 miles per every gallon of gasoline the best hybrid in the world can do about 40 on the highway. I'm not a "Greenie" but i can tell you a set of 550cc/min injectors and I can tell Opec and the tax man to go shove it. and Run 2:4x all day at sebring. show me a hybrid that can do that. (tesla roadster does not count) all the grants given this year were to celulositc Ethanol producers, Citrus energy right here in Florida was a big recipient. this year.
Sugar cane, orange peel, and waste production will be the key to it making sense in florida. I will say this If I can find cheap feedstock for fermentation I'm firing up the still the cylinder charge cooling and high octane is AWESOME for a performance engine. anyone know where there is a operating sugar mill nearby that I can buy waste molasses? if so come and blend with me.