RE: The death of oil (warning..a rant)good rant gorilla.
I like alt energy too, but I think the next three years will be good for traditional energy, as there is too much inertia to overcome before alt energy makes an impact. Having said that, if I had Branson or Gates money, I'd be putting dollars there too.
My take is that the first alt energy moves will be to extend the life of current infrastructure, therefore the companies like SUF, GNO and WSCE that lighten heavy oil, of which the Saudis have lots, will be the first breakouts, then coal to liquids, and finally solar etc.
The vision is to have solar collectors on the roof, which fuel up a hydrogen fuel cell in the garage, which puts the juice into an electric car parked there for the night. Next day, drive to work, come home, repeat. Big VC investments are going into solar, and costs will come down. Having a hydrogen fuel cell in a car is non-trivial, but the problem is really to convert sunlight to transport fuel, and you don't need a fuel cell in a car when batteries and capacitors will do the job. Meanwhile, drive systems etc are being developed via DOD money. It will all happen, but not in time for millions of Chinese and Indians to buy their cars, which they want now. Plus big oil and Saudis would just as soon slow it all down while they reap profits.
Do you know any good sites on alt energy?
thanks, timmuggs