my new hero

[Jester]

Yes

And no.

While no energy is lost that does not mean that all of it is successfully transferred.
Some energy is probably lost in light/heat given off during the process.

So none of the energy is "absolutely lost", but some of the "potentially useful stored" energy is lost.
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My point was that there is no fuel which magically "gains" energy, or really even breaks even. Any fuel that we have to synthesize will, by definition, require more energy put in than we get out of it.

If we don't have to synthesize it, then we're using a limited resource, like fossil fuels.

There is no free lunch. We will never find a fuel that gives us what we want, when we want it, for no net energy cost. Maybe we'll find a clean, efficient, abundant, drawback-free source of energy. But, for now, it's all about tradeoffs, and if clean-burning fuels require greater energy inputs, then so be it. It is to be expected.

-Jester