We don’t need a massive, centrally controlled effort for better fuel sources. What we need is more support for the many small creative efforts that people are engaged in to find solutions. And I believe we need to use the whole mix of sources to achieve energy independence without using up our grandchildren’s patrimony.
One surprising thing to come out of the oil industry hearings recently was how little these guys are investing in viable alternatives.
If the oil industry is not investing big money in energy alternatives (solar, biomass, wind) it’s most likely they are trying to crack the big one - ‘oil shale’. It also tends to suggest we are not yet at ‘peak oil.’ If we were I would think they would be shoving lots of cash at these none-fossil fuel alternatives.
Too expensive to scale up. Go for one procedure that will do the job. Then get serious about nuclear fusion and that doesn't mean fringe physics like cold fusion.