Will nuclear, ethanol, or coal to liquid be our fuel when we run out of oil?

Question

Will nuclear, ethanol, or coal to liquid be our fuel when we run out of oil?

Answer 1

It will be a mix.  Right now we produce most of our electric power under the Clean Air Act of 2005 which mandates 25 percent natural gas to be burned with 75 percent coal.  The thinking of congress is that the natural gas makes the "burn" 25 percent cleaner than a 100 percent coal fueled power plant.   And that is correct.   Actually, clean coal technology and natural gas has clean up more than 25 percent of the CO2 emissions.  Utilities really are trying to make the air cleaner.  Still, we have to have electricity.  The U.S. has an apppoximate 250 year supply of coal reserves under present technology.   I dont think the picture is as bleak as some professors who read on the topic.

Answer 2

The answer is not simple. As the price of oil rises, people will run to many various cheaper means... wind, solar, nuclear, coal and ethanol power, not forgetting hydroelectric dams which are becoming increasingly common. The elephant in the room is nuclear fusion which, if it is created on an industrially profitable scale, will solve all our energy needs.

Answer 3

Maybe, or at least part of it

Answer 4

Nuclear - in part for sure, at a minimum

Ethanol - its life is limited because its an inefficient exchange and a political boondoggle

Coal to liquid - currently extremely expensive.  Potential hope for the distant future.  Carbon emissions and costs of conversions are serious short and mid-term barriers.  The good news - the U.S. is the "Saudi Arabia" of coal deposits.