That's an interesting thing to think about. My family grows wine grapes in Southern Oregon. A good year yields 4 tons/acre (about 1000 gallons of juice). At $1500/ton, that's $6000/acre. You mentioned 500 gallons/acre from the trees, so it would need to sell for $12/gallon for my Dad to make the same gross selling price as his grapes. Hmmm, expensive. Any idea if the inputs and other costs are comparable? Do the trees have pest or insect problems? Is the oil as easy to get as juicing grapes? Does the pulp have value, or are other parts of the tree valuable?

Now for some fun: I can see it now - fuel for "vintage" cars (2008 was an exceptional year, crisp, with a pleasant tang from a year spent in stainless steel, earthy undertones and a fruity finish to the exhaust).

Dad's theory is that in good times, people can afford to drink expensive wine. In bad times, people just drink more. For the wine grower, it's a win-win situation.

Mendocino county only uses 8 million gallons a year? Good for them.

I'm going to be researching the possibility of growing CTT and sun-chokes (for ethanol) in the same fields. If their yields could be maximized together, then the economics of this look MUCH better.

Of course, people will say that algae is even better, but I have little faith in it at this point. That could change, but I don't like the capital costs, and the complexity, not to mention the seemingly impossible oil extraction.