Oil supplies and the effect of more oil, will come a hell of a lot quicker and cheaper that ANY other alternative energy source.
Seven to ten years waiting for tangible product seems reasonable given the lead times needed for R&D and acquiring equipment.
The troubling question that has been posed to me by co-workers is that even if all obstacles to drilling and refining would disappear overnight, would the oil companies invest in American production if they could get a better return at less cost elsewhere? Oil companies are multi-national corporations with allegience only to their balance sheets, not any one particular nation. I fear what the answer might be.