According to a new USGS study, geothermal if developed fully, could generate about half the currently installed US generating power, a huge amount.
The DOE says algae fuel could replace all petroleum fuel in the US using an area about the size of Maryland. This could be done on non-arable land with small amounts of non-potable water. Even better, it is way more more carbon-neutral.
Biological fuel which was grown and harvested today, has just absorbed all its carbon from today’s atmosphere through using solar energy and photosynthesis forming chlorophyll. So it absorbs the carbon dioxide first, before releasing it back to the atmosphere after being burnt in an engine, a closed loop cycle.
The answers to our energy problems exist now. All that is needed is for the government to act decisively and fund it, giving tax breaks ansd credits to jump start the process. The result will be enormous numbers of new jobs, a hugely decreased reliance on oil, and a vibrant economy.
Algae is picking up the pace. The problem with algae based biofuel is it costs so much to produce that it can’t compete with gasoline. However, companies like Solazyme and especially Sapphire Energy have been getting huge amounts of start up funding. I’m sure, as is Bill Gates, that with a large enough production facility and some engineering algae based biofuel can help solve a lot of environmental and economic problems.
http://www.replacingoil.com/2008/10/more-investment-into-algae-based-biofuel/
Another advantage of algae, because it’s grown in closed systems, you can feed it CO2 captured from polluting coal plants!