"Going to hydrogen gas is also NOT a environmentally sound solution either."
Although you are correct that presently most industrial hydrogen is produced from oxidation of hydrocarbon (fossil) fuels, there are quite a few other methods of production that are being ramped toward industrial sized outputs, particularly concentrated solar-powered production at high temperatures and enzymatic (biomolecular) production based on algal growth that are likely to dramatically change the sources of industrial hydrogen in the very near future. The Japanese automakers are well aware of this and are investing heavily in these clean technologies. As much as 50% of all vehicular production could be converted to hydrogen within 20 years, if the will to invest is there. Given the amount of new electrical energy rapidly being added to the grid by alternative sources, hydrogen could easily be the cheap solution to the storage of solar power on a 24/7 basis along with water based potential energy storage attained by using solar to lift water uphill during the day and then generate electricity at night via hydropower. The reality is that the amount of untapped solar energy available is enormous compared to human electricity use. As such infrastructure goes into place in the next 20-25 years, fossil fuels will simply become uneconomical for most transportation or heating needs, except perhaps in aeronautics and marine applications. Despite all oil market manipulations that various global players engage in to prop up the price of oil, most of the fossil fuels industry will likely be phased out in the next 25-50 years through nothing more than increasing efficiencies of new alternative technologies. Ask yourself, why should a company like Amazon.com pay for all that oil to deliver their packages when they will soon be able to deliver such goods by electric powered drones that can be recharged in Amazon owned solar power stations for a fraction of the cost of paying for fossil fuel, labor, insurance, and other delivery costs and when they can instead send the savings right to their bottom line?