The issue is not what we will after some dream comes true, the issue is "What are we going to do NOW". We need resources to develop new technology, and those resources come from PROFITS, not government. If we rely on government to solve problems we simply become another Soviet Union. I will bet you anything you choose that the solution to abundant energy is not anything that's ever been in Popular Science magazine.
Since the stone age leaps in technology are typically funded by military spending. That’s because the military is often the only customer willing to pay the initial price. Once a market is created the price starts dropping, eventually to the point a technology is ready for consumer markets. For example when integrated circuits were first invented they cost $1,000 each. The first customer was the military which used them in jet bombers. Now ICs cost pennies. Biofuel will likely follow a similar route. Military demand will drive this, and it will happen very quickly if a large war breaks out. NASA and the military are closely linked.