"e.g. if oil is used to generate liquid fuel (e.g. bioethanol) then clearly it needs to be an input wheras a renewable such as wind or solar presumably wouldn't."

These renewable inputs to liquid fuel production should count, in my view, if for no other reason than they are unavailable for other uses, like consumer use at home.

I don't get that logic at all. What you have to count is what it costs YOU to bring that fuel or power source on line. If you have a rig that grabs the Sunlight, say to cook your refined product, then the only input you have had to supply is the energy to build that collector.