In early 2000 Drs. Economides and Oligney published The Color Of Oil, which went on to become a national best seller on the subject of energy. The “colors” symbolize the various important aspects of the energy enterprise, the publication points out that at the start of the new millennium, energy consumption has replaced industrialization as the national trait that separates rich from poor countries.

While energy consumption will continue to increase, conservation has never really played a role in significantly reducing total energy consumption. Energy consumption per dollar of the gross domestic product (GDP) has declined steadily for almost a century, and, despite differences in geography and culture, developed nations such as the United States, Europe, and Japan today use roughly the same amount of energy per dollar of their GDP. More importantly, the dominant fuel has changed from wood, to coal, to oil, to natural gas, which will eventually be replaced by hydrogen. The last, in all likelihood will be extracted for centuries from hydrocarbons, mostly natural gas. This de-carbonization of fuels is not just motivated by environmental concerns, which are considerable.  Additionally, this historical imperative traces the development of more refined and efficient fuels, as well as the “miniaturization” of the engines of our economy and industry. While energy consumption has increased, the engines of modern society have become smaller, more focused, and more individualistic. Gases in this transformation are superior to liquids, and are most certainly far superior to solids.

The foreseeable future will be dominated by fuel cells that will initially focus on stationary home units, then micro-engines, and eventually, will take over the biggest prize of all, mobile engines. Fuels cells will be to the internal combustion engine what the latter was to the steam engine a century ago. Changes in fuels go hand-in-hand with changes in engines. The technological transformation for society will be nothing short of revolutionary. The economic impact will be in the trillions of dollars.

It is ironic that politicians the world over try to stem the torrent of energy needs and changes with small dykes of protectionist politics and legislations, in vain attempts to bolster passé energy forms such as coal. Even more bizarre are environmentalist ideologists, who propose inadequate large-scale solutions such as solar and wind energies, or who take even more destructive postures without regard to the importance that energy plays on the workings of modern society. 

The authors examine a prudent and constructive national and international energy policy, one that is free of strident and non-constructive government regulation. These include a full throttle effort towards deepwater petroleum, a "trillion-dollar" idea, with emphasis on natural gas. Liquid natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) will serve to revolutionize economic production deficiencies among large energy consumers by opening up the practically infinite worldwide supply of natural gas and the huge diversity of its sources.