There is no single fuel for the future. Energy needs are not "one size fit all".
Transportation fuels need to be portable, therefore high density. If you can't carry enough on board to get a repectable distance, you won't want it.
Home energy fuels are not easily (or safely) stored on site. They are delivered to your house, and the supply can be interrupted. Whether home heating oil, natural gas, propane, or electricity, once the delivery is interrupted, you freeze in the dark.
Coal fired electric generation plants usually only have a few weeks supply of coal on site, if that. Trains come with coal, leave with ash, pretty much constantly. NG plants depend on a pipeline and if the demand from that pipeline exceeds supply, the pressure drops, and NG plants shut down. It happened in Texas this last winter.
Nuclear needs less refueling than any other, and spare fuel can be easily and safely stored on site.
Solar is highly interruptible, every night.
There are very few energy storage methods available.
What is left out of the issue so far is efficiencies/conservation. When fuel supplies are low, we will adjust. We may even learn to live on half the energy we do now, meaning we will live like Europeans.
:shock: