With all our scientific advances, why don't we still have cheap alternative energy?

Answer 1

not enough money has been spent there. plus, there is the problem of convincing the majority that the need to switch from fossil fuels is pressing...plus big oil & gas have tried to keep the development from happening.

gm tried killing the electric car in the 80s, and nearly succeeded. i think they came out with a movie about it. same thing

*edit* as a quasi-response to pretzels, if we put half the money we've spent on this bogus war into renewable energy development efforts, we could have developed, for example, a cheaper solar cell....and the electric car of the 80s was not as ineffective as you seem to believe...however, over time and certainly in the last five years, these technologies have been increasingly desired and have been developed to be cheaper, more efficient and generally improved upon from their predecessors...their are new days on the horizon and i for one am looking forward to them

Answer 2

The real reason is that oil is so good and so cheap. With the exception of nuclear, there is no energy source that can compete with oil. Capitalism never looks ahead. What makes the most sense economically is what counts.

For example, the electric car did not need to be killed by GM because it never had a chance. Batteries (especially back then) have such low energy density that it takes 1000 pounds of them to get a range that is in the ballpark with a tank of gas. Further, charging the batteries is a long process coimpared to filling up. Finally, generating the electricity to charge the batteries is inefficient so that you use more energy with an electric car than a gas one. The only way you could possibly save is with nuclear power to generate electricity. Much the same is true for hydrogen except that in efficiency of generation and use, hydrogen is even less efficient than batteries and will remain so.

All forms of alternative energy are much more expensive or, worse yet, much less effcient than good old oil.

Few things annoy me more than people who do not understand the thermodynamics, chemistry or economics of energy and yet answer questions by blaming the 'evil corporations'.

Answer 3

Alternative energy is available and cheap but the oil and coal economy is firmly entrenched and highly subsidized hence it is difficult to replace the same. As more and more people start switiching to alternative energy sources the economics of mass production will tip in its favor and then oil and coal economy will become obsolete.

Answer 4

Because making something "cheap" costs a LOT to develop, and no one wants to invest up front on something that might just fail. Have you invested anything?
Have you personally done any R&D work in the field of alternative energy source?
No?
Did not think so...
So, at least partly blame yourself.