Is alternative energy a real possibility or just a pipe dream?
815781
Good question.\n\nThere seem to be many other sources of energy but they seem to be expensive to obtain or to require large amounts of land to be dedicated to crop growth or for collectors.  This is in itself a type of inefficiency. \n\nIn the long term prices may come down but energy such as crop based gasoline alternatives don't seem to me like they would cut it with a growing demand for gas their will be a growing demand for the amount of land that must be dedicated to its production. not to mention the population is growing and its not going to stop.\n\nIf we move toward becoming almost entirely dependent upon alternative energy we must move towards harnessing different kinds of power and not just search for one solution.\n\nA lot of money would be lost from a lot of big companies.\n\nFor instance there is a windmill type device you can purchase for your home needs right now for around $10,000 it is highly efficient\nand supposedly super quiet.  It is said to be able to generate between 30% to all of a homes energy needs depending on where you live. If too much energy is generated the excess may be sold back to the electrical company.  \n\nIf you could purchase three of these at the hefty price of $30,000 you could theoretically not ever have to pay a power bill again in some places or pay almost no bill at all. The electrical companies services could be utilized as a form of backup power.  \n\nIf everyone had these wind collectors this would certainly shrink the electrical power industry.\n\nThere is no information available to me about how much it can cost to repair these items or how well they can withstand the event of a hurricane or tornado. \n\nBut I dont think think alternative energy is a pipe dream it is just something that is going to take a large investment to start up and develop towards higher levels of performance and efficiency. \n\nThe engineering of rugged devices will have to play a large role and does currently, however, a lot of trial and error needs to occur to see what works where and why and what got destroyed by random acts of god and the forces of nature and how that can be prevented.\n\nShould things begin to look rather good for alternative energy... and it seems things look better day by day... energy companies would have to begin facing downsizing and new business models and perhaps invest themselves into the production of alternative energy or alternative energy generating devices for sale to the public.  Either way at some point they wont be the economic giants they have been to this point and thats probably gonna keep them from helping.\n\nAlternative energy will only be a pipe dream if people are afraid to nurture it and harness the energies available. This is something that is and will be heavily influenced by politics.\n\nOn another note, I think that nuclear power seems to be an "easy way out" but I don't believe that it is a good or secure solution.  There have been so many nuclear mishaps you dont hear about and so much waste that you cant prevent or do anything about. Aside from alternative energy being developed for fear of a lack of oil I also thought a large part of it was moving towards a cleaner earth. Moving towards nuclear power and nuclear waste is dangerous for everyone.  Radiation does not simply go away it is corruption of matter and it is "contagious".  Sure we could maybe launch it off into space, but should something go wrong on the way out of here we would face yet another type of radiological disaster.
70476
Here is a directory listing to hopefully all renewable energy companies.\n\nhttp://www.renewableenergystocks.com/Companies/RenewableEnergy/Stock_List.asp\n\nWhich would be good investments? Probably none, because these institutions tend not to care about shareholder profits as much as suposedly saving the world. So these companies are willing to invest millions of dollars into supposedly more earth friendly sources of energy even if the cost of production is higher than other "evil" fossil fuel sources for the production of energy.\n\nAlthough if traditional sources of energy become more costly to produce than the cost of alternative energy, they will have some market opprotunity. Hopefully they would use that opportunity to generate pofits for their shareholders.
406611
Either hydrogen or ethanol.  Research is being done at this moment to find safe, cheap, and efficient ways to bring these alternatives to the general public (of the US).  Nuclear power isn't very practical when it comes to cars, and it's proven to be pretty darned dangerous when it comes to powering homes and businesses.  Solar power is another option, but so far, it's not economical. (And for the people who say that we can't use solar power because the sun is running out, don't you realize that when the sun runs out, so do we?  Until then, the solar power is a very real - and potent - source of energy.)
428505
do something on alternative energy or fuel sources. or hybrid machines.
1159109
There are a number of programs that could be better funded, and topping the list are research into alternative energy solutions, disease prevention and suppression, and fighting homelessness and starvation.  Could you imagine a future where renewable energy sources provide the majority of our world's power?  And a future where millions of people's lives are saved because a vaccine for malaria was developed and made available to people in poor nations all over the world?  And how about a future where farmers grow their crops and what we don't use is sent to places all over the world so that little kids don't starve to death?\n\nJust imagine our standing and credibility with the world.  People hate us because we produce so much and take so much from others without even thinking about people less fortunate.  Yet this dream probably will never happen because of our greed.  A vaccine for malaria will probably be developed, along with a cure for AIDS, but do you think that the companies producing these are just going to give them away to people who couldn't possibly afford them, or are they going to be sold to the highest bidder?  Alternative, renewable energy sources are available, and have been for some time.  The technology has finally matured enough to where these sources can be efficient, but are we making use of them?  No, because the oil companies are trying to kill these innovations off.\n\nThe fact of the matter is that until there is a significant shift in our thinking, this future isn't possible.
460294
Depends on what for.  Nuclear fission is great for generating electricity.  Biodiesel has lots of promise as a motor vehicle fuel (not to mention would be great for the US Agriculture industry).  Solar power can greatly reduce the amount of power individual homeowners have to purchase from larger providers (but the initial investemnt is expensive).  Probably a combination of Fossil Fuel alternatives would be better than adopting a single alternative replacement.
1055015
Certainly not the bunch of oil-money sucking goofs in Washington, D.C.  (and I'm talking about both sides of the aisle, for those of you who still believe there's a difference).\n\nGood old ingenuity will do it, and enough people are sick of the status quo that I think it will happen within the next 5 years.  I see a lot of people talking about electricity for cars in Y answers--forget it.  Batteries too heavy, most electricity still produced using fossil fuels.  "Hybrids" are smoke and mirrors--still rely on fossil fuels.  My question would be, "Which intelligent people out there are smart enough to buck the system and introduce some new, truly alternative energy sources, not to the hide-bound corporate types and the politicians, but to the average Joes and Janes in this country who would like real options?"
1085223
It is in our national interest (because of the geographical size of our country) to either increase the available supply of petroleum or develop alternative fuel sources. The former may only be a temporary solution, but the latter will take time and resources and may invite retaliation in the form of extremely high petroleum prices while we attempt to retool our energy using and producing systems.
118034
I agree with you, unfortunately the oil industry has a lot of money and well you know how that goes. Currently there are several research and development programs going on relating to alternative energy sources. Examples are Methane, ethanol, and hydrogen.  Keep you fingers crossed that one of these experimental energy resources hits pay dirt.
1088489
Energy can exist in many form... \nConsidering the forms of potential energy:\n* Chemical energy - energy locked up in a chemical form such as natural gas, or petroleum can be sent by oil tanker or gas pipeline. \n* Nuclear energy so an atomic bomb can also be sent on a rocket.\n* Potential energy say in a catapult transferred to a rock or a cannon ball sent into the sky and it comes down at high speed somehere else.\n\nHowever I presume you were talking here about electric energy, so this is sent down wires, either with low power as in a phone conversation or high power for power distribution.\n Light is a form of electromagnet radiation and can be sent via a laser beam through the air. Radio waves, Heat, microwaves, X rays etc. are also forms of electromagnetic radiation at different frequencies and can also be sent through the air with the need for wires.\n If the question was how can I get electricity in my house without having a generator or being wired up to the electricity grid then Nicolas Tesla was the pioneer of this using ultra low frequency electromangent waves based at Wardenclyffe Tower, Long Island a century ago. The idea was to inject the energy into the earth directly closing the circuit through the conductive upper atmosphere. Unfortunately he ran out of funding before this could be fully demonstrated.
1146179
I would say yes, its very remotely possible.  If the world oil reserves somehow proved to be way, way smaller than anticipated, and we suddenly ran out of petroleum.  That would pretty much change our way of life, probably forever, as most other real energy sources that could keep industry up and running are a good number of years away from being realized.
105859
The very first thing we would do is simply shift to producing oil from coal. The price of oil would increase slightly, probably by an additional 50%, but that would be all the difference that people not employed drilling or refining oil would even notice.\n\nIf we ran out of coal as well we would then shift to nuclear electric power.\n\nSolar energy is way, way way down the list. In terms of workable options as a replacement for oil and natural gas it is about 30th on the list IIRC. Solar power simply isn't very good for all sorts of reasons.\n\n>>>>>> Most say that we have enough fossil fuels until about 2050.\n\nYou really shouldn’t believe everything you read on the Web you know. Check your sources.\n\nMost don’t say that at all. None at all say that. The best figures are that we have enough LIQUID CRUDE OIL for about 100 years, and enough fossil fuels for about 200 years beyond that AT LEAST.\n\nFollow the references I provided if you are interested in real information from real research organisations and real universities.
1050302
Yes its possible, but will it happen?  No because there is no oil there for us.
439559
It does utilize a natural resource but... 'effectively' ?  I don't think so.  We can't use it to power cities.  It's still quite expensive and just used as a supplement to our regular energy resources.
212067
Well i believe is not a myth as you say cause natural gas is a major and rapidly growing element in the world energy mix. It is available in sufficient quantities to supply the growing demand, and it is projected to play an increasing role in future global energy markets with a share rising from 23 per cent in 2001 to 28 per cent in 2030.
320789
It won't be there, and there is no satisfactory alternative.  Biofuels are a fantasy.  Try running your car on wind, coal or nuclear power.  \n\nGone is gone.  It's like money in the bank.  After you spend it all, there ain't no more.
249468
Solar is the most efficient, available, reliable, and simple form of alternative energy at about .37/kwh. but it has one big disadvantage... You can't put it in your gas tank.