Transportation Petroleum with nearly all of it now imported from unstable foreign war torn regions of the world will unfortunately remain the primary Transportation Fuel as Gasoline and Diesel far much longer than Coal will remain as a viable energy source. The alternatives to Coal are clear, numerous and easy. The alternatives to Transportation Gasoline and Diesel are not market ready, clear, cheap, and still largely in small start up research and development laboratories.

It is possible Petroleum may become synthetic and Renewable as a Zero Criteria and Carbon Emission Transportation Fuel. The Petroleum Industy has consistently met environmental regulation and fuel economy improvements on schedule and under budget for decades. Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e) Greenhouse Gas emissions requirements will likely be achieved with exemplary engineering, cost, safety and performance improvements from the Petroleum and Transportation Engine Industries today and 100 years from now.

It is simply cheaper to solve the Carbon problem with a known equation and known fuel like Petroleum than to even switch the fleet to Natural Gas Vehicles. Americans love Petroleum. The Petroleum Industry seems to always find more reserves of Petroleum in almost every region of the world. The Petroleum Industry has the skilled workers, engineers, marketing and most importantly abundant supply of neighborhood distribution stations in every zip code in the United States to remain in the market for generations to come.

What will ultimately spell shrinking market share for Gasoline and Diesel as a Transportation Fuel? The Free Market of World Capitalism has already spelled out the fate and doom of Petroleum as a viable Transportation Fuel. The death of Petroleum is price volatility and price swings that have nothing to do with supply and demand but more tied to speculation, foreign government unpredictability, and investor and banking pressure on the Petroleum Industry to put stock price and profitability before safety and sound engineering. Poor management by BP has already tarnished the entire Petroleum Industry.

While viable for hundreds of years to come as an effective and near Zero Carbon and Criteria Pollution Transportation Fuel, Petroleum faces strong price competition. Due to the tremendous amount of known knowledge and engineering about the chemistry of Petroleum it is possible to engineer away its environmental pollution. But it is the continued poor Management of the Petroleum Industry that will kill itself. Coupled with sooner than Big Oil realizes stiffer competition from Renewable and Alternative Clean Transportation Fuels that are much cheaper at the gasoline station, Petroleum as a major market share Transportation Fuel grows increasingly less likely with each and every Petroleum Environmental Catastrophe and price swing.