Sorting fact from opinion surveys.
I'm all for true renewals - wind, solar, tide, perhaps geothermal, waste generated biofuels, but not NPK generated biofuels (dependent on imported petroleum based/controlled and or especially phosphate fertilizers) that compete with food production for those fertilizers. I've studied and or been a part of a number of commodity type market surveys, with similar results to this one - and their results (like alternative energy in general) have to be considered very carefully. What many commodity consumer survey"study after study"(ies) really show is that only a less than significant number of people are willing to pay a even minor amounts more for a "better" commodity product. That's the definition of a commodity after all. In many of these type commodity studies - the number of people willing to pay more is less than 5% of the market. Unfortunately, most commodities are generated at very large scales where capturing just 5% of the market is meaningless to impractical. I agree with Chris that there is no "turning back" from renewables, but the current surplus of low priced domestic NG could certainly delay alternative energy competitiveness, development and adoption temporally - even though NG doesn't change our long range critical energy shortfalls.
So, far only solar is competitive with petroleum - and that's only if you assume that there will be some kind of workable storage technology in the near future. Wind is competitive in some areas, not in others, and or only with subsidies - and has the same energy variability/storage problem as solar. Waste generated biofuels while renewable, lack significant logistical/economic feasibility to have competitiveness at scale so they aren't likely to contribute more than about 3% to our energy needs. NPK generated biofuels (including NPK algae biofuels) are totally non-renewable and only complicate our foreign energy dependency. According to the 2011 USDA Fertilizer Imports/Exports Summary: "U.S. nitrogen and potash supplies largely depend on imports. More than 54 percent of nitrogen (N) and 85 percent of potash (K2O) supply was from imports in calendar year 2011." Phosphorus is the most critical ingredient in NPK and of which up until a decade ago the US was self-sufficient, but now we are importing 15% or more of our phosphates mostly from Morocco. Using imported critical production materials to grow algae and other biofuels - doesn't make NPK biofuels a tool for energy independence (or for military fuel) - quite the opposite.
Bottom line - renewables will advance as they have economic competitiveness with other energy, or by catastrophe driven panic (i.e. climate disaster or existing energy disruption.). Thinking otherwise denies demonstrable market history and scientific facts.
