I hate to say it, (and I'm sure a hard rain is gonna fall on this thread for my saying so), but I think that any development of alternative sources of fuel is going to run afoul of our (the U.S.) policy of propping up the Saudi government at all costs. Besides Israel, Jordan, and Egypt (the latter two lukewarm at best), they are our best allies in the Middle East. If the Saudi Royal Family falls, then the Islamofascists will take over. And the only thing preventing that is oil money.