what will happen to internal combustion engines when fossil fuels run out?

Malcom Fenoff: we will burn ethanol, and use electric

Reginald Maxi: Then people will use nitrous

Lashawn Zabarkes: We' ll probably just switch over to using renewable biofuels in many cases. Bio-butanol for example is a drop in replacement for gasoline, reduces emissions and can be made from non-food sources. Saline tolerant crops or "halophytes" could also open up an extra half million square miles of extra land to grow food or energy crops and reduce fresh water useage which allows for more fresh water supplies for human or animal consumption in some areas. Research is also underway to make abundant biofuels from a variety of other sources...algae, bacteria, sewage, garbage and waste products, GM tobacco crops, catalyzing H in seawater and combining with excess atmospheric CO2 to produce plentiful fuels, etc.. Overall, there are plenty of alternative and abundant energy/biofuel sources which are compatible with internal combustion or diesel engines and ca! n offer reduced emissions or methods to capture and reuse excess CO2."Biobutanol has many advantages both as a direct biofuel and as a biofuel blend to existing fuels (both gasoline and diesel):Has an energy value of 110,000 BTU/Gal, similar to gasoline (114,000) and much higher than ethanol (76,100).Is non-corrosive and can be shipped via pipeline rather than in rail tanks and tank trucks.Can be blended up to 40% with diesel fuel (Argonne National Laboratory standards).Lower emissions: reduces hydrocarbon emissions by 95%; carbon monoxide to .01%; and oxides of nitrogen by 37%.Can be made from a wide variety of non-food feedstocks such as wood and forest residues, temperate prairie grasses, corn stover, bagasse, and green bio-waste as well as low cost sugar crops such as sweet sorghum or sugar beets."http://www.greenbiologics.com/biobutanol-fuel.php"Bacterial Biofuels: Microbes Turn CO2 to FuelLiquid fuels produced by engineered bacteria may one day replace the fossil fuel! s we use in our homes and vehicles."http://www.popularmechanic! s.com/cars/alternative-f..."Researchers from the University of Minnesota have announced a breakthrough in the quest to create a viable fuel alternative using greenhouse gases. The process uses two types of bacteria to create hydrocarbons from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Those hydrocarbons can in turn be made into fuel, which the scientists are calling "renewable petroleum."http://www.gizmag.com/bacteria-sunlight-co2-renewa..."Joule’s renewable fuel platform will best the scale, productivities and costs of any known alternative to fossil fuel today, with no reliance on biomass feedstocks or precious natural resources. Our inputs are sunlight, waste CO2 and non-potable water. Our output? Millions of gallons of clean, renewable fuel that drops into existing infrastructure. Next step: change the world."http://www.jouleunlimited.com/Garbage into oil ....'A New Player In Oil: The Garbage Dump"http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2012/0...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1! bQ-BPwVy_E

Mario Stricklan: That won't happen in your lifetime. For what its worth, electric will slowly take over.

Abby Herwood: they will become boat anchors

Vida Miss: It will be eons before that happens. Whoever is alive then can deal with that issue since vehicles are more fuel efficient now and there are possibilities for synthetic gasoline on the horizon.