Ideas to Save the World - Research money for new fuels.

Since I have recently been on about cars. Blame the relapse of a Top Gear kick that I am on at present.

Here is one of the issues with the energy market. The economics. When gas prices are high that is when big oil companies will start to throw money at research into alternative fuels. So at roughly the $110-$120 a barrel range is the thereshold for when they give money to boffins at Universities to figure out how to produce other fuels like Butanol, Ethanol etc. I am on about this after the last post that had the idea about the cellulos produced fuels where bacteria digest a soup make of garbage and sweat out fuel. I quite like this idea, and it has been proven to work. Will it work on a large scale? Not yet, but it can. With the appropriate research the researchers can develop the maths to make it work, I have no doubt about it. The problem is the money is not always there.

Big oil will fund these research projects at the height of energy prices which to them makes financial sense, but the issue is that fuel prices shift so quickly and so easily that if a fly sneezes near a refinery, the price will jump half way around the world. And just as easily, the price can destabilize completely and we all can get stuffed at the pumps for pennies (many many pennies but less pennies then previous). Problem is, that when the prices fall the money for research does too. It seems that oil companies really only have an interest in finding a better fuel when everyone is shouting about gas being too high. When the price at the pumps go down, shouting stops and since no one of consequence is shouting, oil companies quietly turn the taps on alternative fuels, leaving researchers with many ideas about the future stuck in a present held by the nuts by business men.

This really bugs me. As a society we should be looking for better ways to do things all the time. Some people sure are and are trying to, but you can only do so much with a few pents if you are looking to do something to change the world. Here's my thought on the solution...

Remove the option of research from big oil. Remove some of the companies tax breaks or impose one, call it a "Better future tax." Have it managed by a government organization who uses it to fund promising research into optimizing energy impact versus environment and such, and have a constant stream of moneys in and methods for new fuels, reduced environmental impacts from production come out. There would have to be some consideration given to how to get big oil money to later re-invest into the research outputs to actually implement the new methods. Can a government posses a patient? But I strongly believe that this would be a better way to get it done.

Thoughts?