I've been doing some research, and I've come across some interesting things that might help narrow my thesis.
Oil companies are doing a lot to keep oil alternatives from reaching consumers at their corner gas stations. There are several examples with E-85 ethanol and I'm looking for more with hydrogen. Exxon Mobil and BP both require all their stations to buy gas directly from them, neither of which offers E85. Chevron and Phillips require a separate pump to be set away from the others for E85 use...oh, and they can't list the price on their main sign..and you can't pay with a credit card.
Big Oil claims they're putting big money into research... this might be true, but it's also true that between 1993-2003 their funding of research and development of alternative fuels fell by over 50%.
Car manufactures have agree, Hydrogen is the wave of the future (for several reasons) but they can't put them on the street until there are enough stations pumping hydrogen...
GM has tackled the problem by inventing a home hydrogen filling stations. Powered by electricity and solar power, it produces hydrogen right at home, and could ease the pain of the lack of hydrogen stations in the next few years.
Possible Thesis : Big oil companies say they're putting big money into research of alternative fuels for a better tomorrow, but are they really trying to help us? Where does the money go? Why aren't they working with gas stations and car companies? Do they really want alternative fuels, or are they out to keep us running on oil for as long as it's coming out of the ground?
Thoughts?
I like this new thesis, but I think you'll definitely have to combine some of those questions to narrow it a bit. But I think researching how much time, energy, and money companies say they're devoting to alternative fuels and how much they actually are would be a really interesting thing to pursue, as well as if their efforts are actually counteractive to a more environmentally friendly society.