occams, welcome to our modest abode. I am not sure bout that "solar thing" not being able to supplant hydrocarbons. Just a "back of the envelope" calculation. Methanol from corn, is really harvested solar energy, but at an efficiency of less than 1%. Solar cells have an efficiency of at least 10% (and modern CIGS versions promise to be much better and lower in cost). Why not replace 1/10 of the corn fields used for methanol (and once full conversion, how about using those fields that are set aside to avoid over production of agricultural commodities, and for that matter, vast tracts in Death Valley used for nothing right now) with permanent solar farms that produce preferably, electricity (or for the hydrogen fans, hydrogen farms) as their final product? Surely, if methanol production is "almost" breakeven relative to gasoline, electricity at ten times the efficiency surely should be cost effective (just back of the envelope calculation, mind you)
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