Fig. 1

Social comparison of energy investment—proportion of final energy services potentially realized (above zero) to system losses (below zero) as percentage of energy in the same harvested feedstock across multiple conversion pathways. † For description of terms and processing steps, see Materials and Methods or Additional file 1. + Columns T1-T5: Final Energy Service (FES) from the 1°P is Transportation; Columns H1-H6: FES from 1°P is Heat. # 2°P FES is a potential for co-product to deliver FES (diagonal stripes above zero); if not used, this potential co-product should be joined with light grey below zero representing additional process losses. ^ Losses during transformation of primary fuel to provide FES (e.g. an ICE turns ethanol into heat in vehicle engines on the highway: for all intents and purposes this heat is not recoverable though a fraction warms passengers in winter months) as separate from useable heat co-products potentially captured at conversion (diagonal stripe above zero) in large quantities at CHP sites. CHP, combined heat and power; EV, electric vehicle; EH, electric heat; ICE, internal combustion engine; Cell, cellulose; ETOH, ethanol; 2°P FES, secondary product (co-product) with the potential to provide additional energy services; 1°P FES, portion of the primary product that results in a FES; FES, Final Energy Service (transport, heat)