Very certainly, EU is greatly advantaged compared to US in the post peak oil era, in large part because these taxes have been used for more than 50 years to make gasoline cost at least twice as much in the US. There are three important results of this wise policy: (1) Trains are better, faster, and more extensively used. (2) Cars are significantly smaller and weigh less. (Go further on same amount of fuel.) (3) Only the very wealth can afford to live far from work in "suburbia." (“Wall to Wall” adjoining “townhouses” are common far from town to conserver farm land.)* In many prior post I have lumped these three and some lesser importance factors into "suburban infrastructure" - that is very developed in US and very unsuitable for the post peak oil era. It is a major reason, not yet recognized by many, why that the EU will prosper relative to the US. "Telecommuting" to work will help the US survive when many can not afford gas for their cars, but even that is more difficult and costly with "suburban infrastructure". Some time ago, I posted a photo of a huge new building now being occupied in China. It was for about 5000 people, with everything one needs within walking distance. (As it is "3D", part of the "walking" is by elevators.) The article I read about it said that it would be possible to be born in the building's hospital, live your entire life inside it, and only leave it as ashes, perhaps scattered from the roof by your friends. (I do not know much about urban Chinese processes for getting rid of bodies.) Building of course is completely wired for very high speed internet everywhere within it at about 1% of the cost of providing high speed service to Americans living in their "suburban infrastructure." Building makes a fantastic reduction, approximately 95%, in the liquid fuels required by those 5000 people. This is possible (and being done) because China has a "directed market economy." - I think the US "free market economy" could not produce this ecologically low cost life style. ----------------------------- *Partially this is due to the historically reason that the medieval "walled village" had its the farms outside the village walls and wall-to-wall residences not found even in the cities of the original 13 (still British, cira 1700.) states on west side of the Atlantic because open land was abundant. Even today a "townhouse" is considered to be alower standard of living in the US. - My first was one. Wife wanted a "detached house", despite the higher heating bills, etc.)
The subsidies reflect not just spare capacity, but also a policy to encourage farmers not to utilize their lands too aggressively (which leads to soil depletion and hightened requirments for fertilizers). There's definitely room to expand in a variety of places, but it will take a LOT of sugarbeets to produce comparable amounts of fuel as we currently get from oil.
Of course the US could in principle cut its fuel use to European levels without even resorting to new technology. That should already take care of some of the problems of biofuel production.
Just another example of why the dollar is doomed, Euro is rising: Lilly said it will stop building the Prince William County, Virginia-based center because production can be handled by existing plants and a center being built in Italy. All 120 employees in Prince William will be given a chance to transfer or will receive severance packages. The company also will offer exit packages to up to 250 employees at its small molecule, active ingredient plant in Lafayette, Ind. The plant has about 1,000 ... It is not just the US auto industry that is closing US plants (about 30 in 2006) while spending billions to build them elsewhere. If both production and services (any thing that canbe suppiled remotely vai internet) are leavig US at ever accelerating rate, soon only "intrinsically local jobs" such as cutting some one hair or delivering pizza will remain. Except for the great US farm land potential; - however, that is being converted to bio-fuel alcohol which via corn may slightly INCREASE the need for oil imports and already has driven corn and some other food cost to all time highs. GWB would be US's worst president even if he had never heard of Iraq!
