  We calculate the effective Coulomb repulsion between electrons/holes, U, and
site energy for an isolated BEDT-TTF [bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene]
molecule in vacuo. U=4.2 \pm 0.1 eV for 44 experimental geometries taken from a
broad range of conformations, polymorphs, anions, temperatures, and pressures
(the quoted `error' is one standard deviation). Hence we conclude that U is
essentially the same for all of the compounds studied. This shows that the
strong (hydrostatic and chemical) pressure dependence observed in the phase
diagrams of the BEDT-TTF salts is not due to U. Therefore, if the Hubbard model
is sufficient to describe the phase diagram of the BEDT-TTF salts there must be
significant pressure dependence on the intramolecular terms in the Hamiltonian
and/or the reduction of the Hubbard U due to the interaction of the molecule
with the polarisable crystal environment. The renormalised value of U is
significantly smaller than the bare value of the Coulomb integral:
F_0=5.2\pm0.1 eV across the same set of geometries, emphasising the importance
of using the renormalised value of U. The site energy (for holes), xi=5.0\pm0.2
eV, varies only a little more than U across the same set of geometries.
However, we argue that this plays a key role in understanding the role of
disorder in ET salts in general and in explaining the difference between the
beta_L and beta_H phases of beta-(BEDT-TTF)_2I_3 in particular.
