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The only question that matter is net yield of energy per energy expended vs cost.

Net energy yield matters, yes, but assuming a negative net energy (seems reasonable), we could still get the negative from renewable sources.

Maybe I read too much science fiction, but I see a day in the future when we deploy autonomous technology at scale to deal with the greenhouse gasses and waste plastics of the fossil fuel era - little (or big) robots/factories that just take in energy from the Sun and use it to convert old waste into a manageable/useful form.

Realistic? I dunno. But it's certainly more hopeful than the Malthusian dystopia of shaming people for staying warm and eating and traveling.

No it's not. Converting renewable energy into liquid fuels is valuable in itself.

There are already different processes for this, including a rather nice one developed by the US Navy which takes CO2 directly from the ocean. Unfortunately it can't avoid being more expensive than fossil liquid fuels, which is why we have to campaign against exploration and drilling.

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