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Does your heart sink when your utility bill lands on your doormat? Or you dream about filling your family runaround with something other than petrol, say spent oil from your deep fat fryer? Well, alternatives to oil do exist, though no one is getting fabulously rich betting on those substitutes just yet. However, if oil prices carry on climbing, or if another Katrina-like disaster strikes, then renewal energy sources could quickly come to the fore. So, if you have any money to spare after paying your fuel bills, here are some ideas to mull over. Solar Power We have a terrible habit of blowing hot and cold on solar power, but harnessing the sun's power is gaining momentum. Solar power has been around for years, and dates back to 1839 when French physicist Becquerel noticed that shining light on a conductive solution created an electric current. Solar power has come a long way since Becquerel and his beaker of electrolyte and two electrodes. It is now an industry worth £2b, and estimated to grow at 20% a year. Recently-floated Solar Integrated Technologies (LSE: SIT), which designs, manufactures and install roofing products, looks an interesting play on the sector. First tipped at 147p, the shares are now 162p, which values the business at £53m. Earlier this week, it said first-half revenues surged almost 300% to £8m. However, that has also caused its debts to balloon from £3m to £7m. Wind Unlike innocuous solar power panels attached to roofs, wind farms with their banks of 200-feet high turbines are viewed by some as a terrible blot on the landscape. Nevertheless, utility companies such as Centrica (LSE: CNA) and Scottish Power (LSE: SPW), which owns the largest windfarm generator in the UK, are pressing ahead with them. Interestingly, it currently costs around 3.2p to generate a kilowatt hour of electricity from onshore windfarms compared to the wholesale price of electricity which is 3p per kilowatt hour. However, economists argue that if the extra cost of fossil fuel on the environment is taken into account then wind works out cheaper. Biofuels Biofuels or grow-your-own fuel is made by fermenting carbohydrates through a process similar to brewing beer. However, biofuels are not without their detractors. A common objection is that mass migration to biofuels could divert agricultural production away from food crops in a famished world. Nevertheless, the European Union has set a target that biofuels should make up 5.7% of gasoline and diesel consumption by 2010. Presently, D1 Oils (LSE: DOO) and Biofuels (LSE: BFC) are two companies that aim to produce diesel from vegetable oil such as palm, soya and rapeseed. And things are looking up for Biofuels. Earlier this month, it said it has secured a contract to supply an unnamed blue-chip utility and power generating company, which will secure 80% of start-up production. While many of us like to wave a disapproving finger at high fuel prices we are at the same time reluctant to pay a bit more for eco-friendly cars or green energy. The problem is cost of alternatives for fossil fuel won't come down until there is economy of scale. And paradoxically, there won't be an economy of scale until green energy is cheap enough to appeal to the masses.