Oil alternatives remain elusive: Could we not just try to use less?

Then there are the peak oil analysts, who believe the world’s oil resources aren’t capable of sustaining further production growth, and I think they have a valid case. One would think skyrocketing prices would temper oil demand but rapid industrial growth, combined with vastly improved personal buying power throughout the Indo-Asian region, has kept oil demand on an upward slope.

While natural rock oil came along just in time to save the whales and light up Charles Dickens’ writing desk, attempts at its displacement are proving futile. A decade ago, the prospect of fuel-cell vehicles powered by hydrogen emerged as the big green hyped hope. But the hydrogen highway has become a road to nowhere, owing to the cost and technical challenges of fuel-cell vehicles combined with the fact that hydrogen is manufactured from already tight supplies of natural gas.
The bottom line is that oil is a very difficult fuel to replace, and the alternatives tried so far have been ineffective or damaging. Yet, continuing growth in world oil consumption is a recipe for environmental stress, financial dependency and supply vulnerability. It is a basic human trait that we seldom change our habits if we can find any excuse not to.

When it comes to oil, false green panaceas only delay the fundamental changes needed to just use less.

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