All of the alternative, or renewable, energy sources have potential, so let's go down the list.

Solar: this one probably has the most potential, especially for distributed applications such as home heating. After all, the sun does shine pretty much every where :) If prices for solar cells continue to fall, solar power will make important additions to world energy production. It will probably never be the most important because of the land area needed for industrial scale use.

Wind: Not quite as much potential as solar, but still important. This is particularly true in those areas with consistently high winds, since it is more cost effective for industrial power generation, at the moment. However, people don't seem to like seeing those giant windmills and environmentalists have started to complain about diced birds. This combined with its geographically limited practicality puts the potential of wind power in doubt.

Geothermal, tidal, etc: Not much potential due to the very limited number of locations where it can be used.

Biomass, bio-fuels, etc: For the short term these probably have the most potential. This is mainly because these technologies are the easiest to integrate into existing infrastructure. For instance, current vehicles and fuel distribution systems are readily adaptable to use bio-fuels. This makes bio-whatever more cost effective in the short run, but, as hydrogen fuel technology advances, the geographical limitations of the above power sources will be of less importance, and bio-whatever may lose its advantage.

Of course, fusion power may become practical within the next 20 years (and scientists have been saying this for 40 years now :) which would make most of this irrelevant.

Good luck and clean power.

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