Ever since the internal combustion engine was invented one and half century ago, the human population has been plundering the world for gasoline. The simplicity of the fuel to mechanical work conversion via the internal combustion engine, coupled with portability of gasoline has led to much of 20th century progress the world over.
Gasoline, however, is not unlimited. Since it can only be produced by extreme geological forces occurring over hundreds of millions of years, the high rate of human consumption means that it will be all over within 200 years. And we have used up the first 150 years.
The time to look for alternatives is here. For those people in their twenties or thirties, gasoline will be history within their lifetimes. But you say, what's the hurry?
Well, before gasoline really is depleted physically, economic forces will be felt first. As gasoline gets less and less, the amount of effort and capital needed to get whatever remaining will increase. The gasoline that is left will be in smaller pockets because the large pockets would have been sucked up dry. The cost of recovering the increasing smaller pockets is of course higher as it gets more difficult to detect and mined.
The economic faster may in fact be already here. The skyrocketing gasoline prices of recent times can be more due to speculations or economic games. However, should gasoline be renewable, the prices can checked by increasing supply at will to meet demand. Nope, gasoline is not renewable, therefore it doesn't make sense to over produce now as it will end up depleted even faster.
Therefore we should start thinking and implementing alternative fuels now already. The more we wait the worst it gets. Since gasoline actually is harmful to the environment we live in.
As a matter of fact alternative have been around for a long time. It does not get noticed of utilised since the manageable gasoline prices have not led to a need to change. Time has now changed.
Alternatives which are affordable to almost everyone are already developed. One is hydrogen fuel cells, the other biodiesel. They are both renewable so prices will not fluctuate to widely as supply can be changed at will meet demand. They are also safe to the user as well as to the environment.
