To be fair
Although he's not articulating his case at all well, and is confusing things with the marginal energy costs of oil extraction and refining, nonetheless, imagine that his point is like a hydrogen economy:-
Solar (or other) energy is used to split water to make hydrogen and oxygen - released to the atmosphere (substitute CO2, carbon, oxygen). The hydrogen (carbon) is stored and used later to burn atmospheric oxygen in a closed cycle.
Sure, it's a little imaginary at present, but it's possible. Personally, I'd use energy to make synthetic gasoline from methane.
