Will Gasoline ever become redundant?

[Steve]

Will Gasoline ever become redundant? Will they ever actually find a way to replace it? We can ship a man to the moon but cannot find proper alternative fuels! what do you think?

[pj8708]

Absolutely. Advancements in chemistry, physics, medicine, etc, are always possible. It is only a matter of expense, raw product, environmental impact, and potential profit. We would have been back to the moon by now if there was any money in it for someones monopoly.

[LEX-SV]

Not anytime soon.

[LEXIRX330]

I think the smart cars, electric cars and hybrid cars have come a long way and they haven't been around that long. Who knows where we will be in another 5-10 years.

[nc211]

Not until it's eventual replacement won't throw the whole global economical balance out of whack to the point of causing war(s). I'm willing to bet it's replacement is already known, identified and easy to bring up to mass production speed. But, it's introduction to the system would probably destroy the global economic balance, which even in good times, is fragile at best. Finding it, making it, and using it, probably isn't the challenge. Implementing it, is the challenge.

50 years, is my best guess. Next generations issues and prosperity potential. Honestly, I hope I'm long gone, and left my kids enough financial support and skills to make sure they're on the safe side of the transition!

[cduluk]

All i know is that without gasoline, oil and jet fuel, our transportation system will never be the same.

It might be possible for cars, trucks and busses to run on electric energy, but there's no way a commercial jet airliner could run on it- at least not "economically".

If you only knew how much jet fuel it takes a plane to cross the country...

You could buy a BRAND NEW LS600h for less than the cost of fueling a SINGLE trip from California to France on a 747 jet. On such a trip a 747 burns approx 36,000 gallons of jet fuel, and at a cost around $3.00 a gallon, that's $108,000.

Multiply this by the approx 200 747's in the air at any given time, and do the math...

Can you imagine not being able to have air travel??

I know they have ways of making "aftermarket" fuels like oil and gas, but there's NO way it can be made cheaper than what we get it for now. And with the demand we're working at now.... well, that's a lot of corn!