When are we going to have alternate energy sources for transportation that are effective?

Question

Gas is too expensive, we all know that. But we don't have any alternatives really until something comes out like a hydrogen car or electric car or something. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

You'll have them when the American people get enough and tell the oil and coal companies to quit blocking alternatives from being made available.

My point is simple: those alternatives are available NOW--if the barriers erected by special interest groups are removed.   And there is a whole wave onf advanced technology on the way as well.

We don't have it because we are allowing  what amounts to a monopoly dictate our national energy policy and consumer choices. Instead of letting the market decide.

Some specifics:

>current technology allows for manufacturing reasonably priced electric cars.  The high-end models like the Tessla outperform gas-powered vehicles.  Lower priced versions are available--or would be if they wern't being kept off the market

>for the next few years, there is no reason why we cant increase the average gas mileage of cars. Currently its 17mpg--the same it was 25 years ago

>we are the ONLY industrialized country in which most urban travelers have to use cars, instead of having a feasible choice of other transportation like mass transit.

That's just for starters.

Answer 2

50 years or so,when oil production begins to decline...

Answer 3

Both my cars run on natural gas (methane) right now, so we don't have to wait for alternatives. They exist and have for years. I just didn't happen to know about it until 7 months ago, and most of my neighbors never heard of them before, either. I pay less than a dollar a gallon for the fuel, and the cars run 99% cleaner than gasoline cars. Check on eBay and you may find a couple for sale. There aren't many out there, and not every state has stations to refuel them, but if everybody would push for this, it would happen!

Answer 4

1: we had viable alternative forms of energy in the late 1800's

2: it wasnt until 1929 or so that these alternative energy sources fell by the wayside because the oil industry invested huge sums of money to build the required infrastructure to support gasoline powered cars.

we are in a catch 22 situation here, we have the alternative forms of energy now. we have the technology to use those forms of energy in our automobiles. what we DONT have is the infrastructure, and the cars. the automakers need the people to buy the cars, but the people need the energy companies to support the cars, and the energy companies need the people to build the infrastructure. the infrastructure is starting to grow, there are alternative refueling stations springing up around the country, but developing the infrastructure takes time. remember that the current infrastructure that supports gasoline powered cars took over 100 years to build. we cant just put out a car that uses a new form of energy and expect the infrastructure to pop up over night.

Answer 5

The technology always exists before it is made known to the public. The question is how to finance such massive changes, both in the general population and in the corporations; and of course, the government too.