I am very fond of thought experiments. I like to ask "What If?" This can help me wrap my head around a problem. For instance, if I wonder how much land it would take for solar panels to produce enough electricity to supply the U.S., that's a thought experiment. It isn't that I think we are going to build a solar grid that is 50 by 50 miles of nothing but solar panels, nor that I am oblivious to energy storage issues. Rather, it can help frame for me whether the idea is daft from conception, or whether there is a nugget of potential embedded within.

Lately I have been thinking of another thought experiment. What would I, personally, do if gasoline was $100 a gallon? Now that may seem silly. Nobody thinks we are going to have to deal with gasoline at $100 a gallon. But that misses the point of the thought experiment. When I ask people at what price point gasoline is going to have a major impact on their lifestyle, that seems to be a moving target. When gas was $2, they said $4. Now that gas is $4, many have realized they won't make big changes at $10. Oh, they might buy a smaller car, but they aren't going to start walking 3 miles to the store. A friend who drives a Suburban recently told me that he doesn't care about gas prices; that he is going to keep driving at the same rate regardless. I bet he would have a change of heart if gasoline was $100 a gallon.

Sometimes I am astonished at the misconceptions people have. Take this article:

Old cars become green machines

The story is about a woman who has a number of cars that have been modified to run off of biodiesel. The cars include gas guzzlers like a Lincoln Continental Mark V, a Chevy Tahoe, and a Cadillac. But because she is running them on biodiesel, she thinks she is neither using oil nor polluting:

Colette Brooks' sprawling ocean-view property* is dotted with tricked out cars -- from a low-rider Lincoln Continental to a Cadillac with plush leather seats. The petite 49-year-old business owner might be a car junkie, but she's indulging her obsession without polluting the air by running her rides on biodiesel and other alternative fuels.

"I feel so superior driving next to a Hummer and going, ‘Dude, yo, look at this, this is what you should be doing,' " Brooks said.

The ethanol bubble has been bursting a bit lately. I don't say that with glee, because I hate to see people lose money, especially when it was due largely to misleading claims. (I say that even though 95% of the hate mail I get comes from ethanol investors). I hope the end of the irrational exuberance we have seen in the ethanol market will lead to a more fact-based look at which technologies are needed to replace or supplement fossil fuels, and what technical challenges must be overcome before that happens.