by Merle Wigeson

Created on: August 07, 2009

We may not get the option of "eliminating fossil fuels".

While some of the "energy crisis" is artificial, with producers manipulating production levels to maintain prices, the world supply of fossil fuels is gradually running out - and that may be a good thing.

One day, someone will put the last gallon of fuel into the last fuel tank, and when it is gone, it is gone. The problem of "eliminating fossil fuels" will have been solved.

The question we should be asking is not how to "eliminate" fossil fuels. The real problem is how to replace them.

For everyday transport, the world has used horses, carts, bicycles and even (shudder) walked to get from one place to another. We face an obesity epidemic in the "developed" world which is every bit as serious as the famines in the third world. What are we doing that is different to what our fathers and grandfathers did? (Or mothers and grandmothers for the feminists - political correctness protocol 101)

We are riding instead of walking. We expect to have either our own vehicles or public transport to get from point A to point B, and to complicate things our lecturers, our employers and even our friends expect us to be mobile. Increasingly we do not have the spare time to even allow us to catch public transport - except in heavily congested areas such as New York or London it is always quicker to use an individual motorised vehicle than to wait for public transport, which may or may not come. And we do not walk anywhere any more.

The only people you see walking on most public roads either have a homeless feel to them or are "power walking" to lose weight. The boom in gym memberships and expensive gym clothes and running shoes, not to mention i-pods and personal stereos, is all directly related to those who need a 4WD to drive to the gym and then park as close as possible so they don't have to walk - even though they are coming to the gym to exercise.

So, the bottom line is - yes, at first glance we do desperately need a replacement for fossil fuels, and if anyone solves the storage and transport problems associated with hydrogen that is the most likely solution. On the other hand, it will be quite good for us to actually run our of fossil fuels - after all, a large proportion of the word's population is not actually dependent on them, and the health and fitness of those of us who are can only improve.

Not to mention side benefits like decreased pollution and cleaner air.

After all, would you rather ride in a rickshaw or on the back of a motorised scooter? A pony or a tram.

Or, you could even walk.

What a horrible thought.

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