How is researching alternative fuels bad?
No research is “bad” on its own. The question is if you receive more return than what you put into it. For example, researching batteries is generally good, because we get greater capacities for lower weights. And it doesn’t just benefit cars. Not only that, but we know that we CAN make better batteries, and the limits have not been realized. Researching solar cells follows along the same lines. We know we CAN do better, and it will be a great benefit to attain better. On the other hand, researching hydrogen is a waste. We already know its limitations, and that those limitations are hard (we CAN’T do better). We haven’t quite reached the limits, but once we do, we already know that hydrogen will ultimately be inefficient, possibly more polluting than gasoline, and that there will be better options. To use a metaphor, researching hydrogen is like trying to bake the best mud pie you can for Thanksgiving dessert. No matter how hard you try, it will always taste like dirt, and there will b
