What problems will alternative fuels fix?

Question

What problems will alternative fuels fix?

Answer 1

Alternative fuels may not fix anything in a sustainable way, if we have to use up too much land to produce that alternative fuel, and in so doing we are unable to feed the world's people.

Price of alternative fuels will likely rise to be at least as costly as fossil fuels, simply because those who make it can get that price.

For the limited amount that we can produce, growing crops to produce an alternative fuel absorbs as much CO2 when it grows as it releases when it is burned. But to produce a BTU of energy as alternative fuel, we also need to burn o.7 BTU of fossil fuels. The co2 balance means that  to use no fossil fuels, we would have to burn up  far more alternative fuel producing alternative fuel than we use to do the things we want to get done.

So alternative fuels solve a problem of providing a portable fuel at a major cost in available land, so large a demand for land that the world just does not have enough land to support our current level of usage of fuels, even if nobody eats any food.

If we derive our alternative fuel from harvesting excess vegetable matters from ocean dead zones, that would be sustainable, but the quantity is still finite.

Answer 2

one would hope that they'll be cheaper than the $10-$15-$20 a gallon gas you'll see in a few years.

one would hope they'll not load up the atmosphere with CO2.