The founders of Hydrocarbons Unlimited are convinced that the world's energy needs can be substantially covered by biofuels (such as ethanol, biodiesel, and methane), as opposed to other forms of derived solar power (including photovoltaic panels and wind power) only by extensive terraforming and destruction of natural ecologies.
First, quantitatively there is enough solar-derived power to solve the energy crisis, quite likely even without significant terraforming. (Solar-derived is not just photovoltaic panels, but includes wind power, hydroelectric power, and biofuels. The Sun drives both all weather, and the entire biosphere based on photosynthesis rather than chemoautotrophy.) If you like, play with the total solar power available calculator. Interesting numbers to try, possibly with ±0.05% variation to check solar minimum and solar maximum values, are:
Clearly, the only barriers to using renewable energy (either directly, or from storage such as gasoline and diesel/aviation fuel/heating oil/....) at a large enough scale to support a First World lifestyle are technical and environmental. A realistic value for perfectly efficient ground-based solar power would be somewhere between the Sunny Earth and Overcast Earth values.
We do expect properly managed corporations specializing in biofuels to be very profitable in the long-term. Near their place of manufacture, they will have a lower wholesale cost than direct-synthesized gasoline, diesel, or heating oil near their place of manufacture (as opposed to the urban areas where most of the transportation infrastructure is). Our long-term strategy is to help provide direct-synthesized gasoline, diesel, and related products where alternative energy requires too much environmental impact to maintain a First World standard of living.
¹Wikipedia; data pulled July 24, 2008.
²CIA World Factbook; data pulled July 24, 2008.
3British Petroleum; data pulled July 26, 2008 and June 23, 2011