The article below is a view on the situation politically:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_co ntributors/article7147794.ece

Jeff wrote:

What happens to all that solar power once it's absorbed?  We don't have the high capacity batteries for long term storage.  So, it's either use it now or it's lost.  There aren't a lot of major cities (some, but not many) in the desert that could use that electricity.  The technology for most alternate energy sources just isn't there yet.

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It's possible to collect solar power in orbit, convert it to microwave radiation (which will pass through cloud cover) to ground-based receivers.  Microwave energy can then be used to boil water to generate electricity in power plants.  Potential risk involved in targeting, however: if you miss the receiver, you're beaming microwave directly into populated areas. 

Storing electricity simply isn't an option.  It has to be generated in exactly the quantity it's being consumed, at the time it's used, regardless of the fuel used.  Power plants have to be built relatively close to the point the power will be consumed to minimize transmission losses, and they have to be built near large sources of water to act as a heat sink for the plant's condensers.

The microwave effect......wasn't this a Roxxon and Sunturion plot from the Michelinie/Romita, Jr./Layton Iron Man days???

It wiped out Allentown!!!

In one of his adventures, Doc Savage fought a villain who used a microwave cannon to cook his enemies from a distance.  Didn't wipe out whole towns, but not bad for a pulp story from the thirties.

When I was installing my first satellite tv dish back when, I told one of my granddaughters (who was about 6 at the time) that it was a death ray I was going to use to shoot down planes. 

She believed me, and wanted to see it work.  I love my grandkids!

Regarding alternative energy, I think that on the day the last oil well's last pump cavitates and sputters and goes dry, someone in the employ of the oil business is going to say, "In a stroke of luck and pure coincidence, we've got this alternative energy source all tested and ready to go.  It's on your shelves now, and we'll tell you what it'll cost you to convert.  Lines are forming, don't hesitate."

They won't bother to say this earlier, because they've already got a product to sell; why go into competition with yourself?  The alternative will still be on their shelf when the oil is totally exhausted. 

After all, if we can see the day coming that all the fossil fuels will be gone, the oil companies can certainly see that day as well.  It's hard to believe that they'll willingly go out of business and allow someone else to fill the energy supply void.