I have confidence that we’re nearly at the point where sustainable energy sources will be cheaper than fossil fuels. Solar cells should be there in a few years, without including the massive side benefits such as decentralisation of the power grid. Last week Audi said that their hydrogen technology is ready to go once the infrastructure is built. They just need to make their design more cost effective, to bring the purchase prices down. VW has a version of the same system that doesn’t even use environmentally destructive lithium ion batteries. The only field I can think of that is still a good way off is aviation.
The technology is nearly there. All we need is for governments to start encouraging implementation and infrastructure development. Then we need manufacturers to start scaling up so greater economies of scale can be realised.
I for one cannot wait for this to become a reality. Seeing the corrupt oil nations falter, and start having to develop economies that don’t rely on resources will be great. Knowing that we aren’t destroying the environment (at least in one way, I’m sure we’ll destroy it in other ways) will be fantastic. The only problem is that my country’s economy could also suffer, as coal exports decline.