One of the most serious energy problems faced by our nation during the remainder of this century will be shortages of liquid fuels for transportation. It may be possible to reduce the magnitude of this problem by developing smaller, more efficient vehicles, by reducing non‐essential travel, by producing synthetic fuels from coal or biomass, or by exploiting oil shales or tar sands. Each of these is only a partial solution, however, and serious liquid‐fuel shortages are possible even with dramatic successes in each of them.

Topics
Synthetic fuel, Electric vehicles, Batteries, Biomass energy sources
1.
E. Behrin, W. Walsh, et al., Energy Storage Systems for Automobile Propulsion, Volumes 1 and 2, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, UCRL‐52303 (1977).
2.
W. J. Walsh, “A Bayesian Approach to Forecasting Technical Success,” University of Chicago Conference on the Economics of Research and Development Policy (April 1979).
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© 1980 American Institute of Physics.
1980
American Institute of Physics
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