In Transit to Scotland

I am flying to Aberdeen on 1/26/07. I will be back online in a week or so.

In the meantime, catch up on Vinod Khosla’s latest:

Vinod Khosla’s forecast for 2007: Trends and outlook

Vinod Khosla responds to Terry Tamminen on ethanol

He got some pretty pointed comments following his essays. This one is especially noteworthy for the Silicon Valley types who think Khosla’s golden touch ensures success, and that cellulosic ethanol will proceed along the path of Moore’s Law:

“While recognized for several venture “hits”, Khosla also played a key role with several of the tech industry’s most spectacular failures, including Asera, Zambeel, Dynabook, Excite, and others.”

Thanks to the reader who brought this to my attention in the comments.

RR

9 thoughts on “In Transit to Scotland”

  2. Welcome to our fair land.

    The people and the scenery make up for the weather, I find, although I still find the ethanol use (oral, rather than automotive) somewhat befuddling.

    I’m all for the sins of hops, grape and grain, but moderation is a virtue.

    Brits are as prone to stereotypes about Americans as Americans are prone to being ignorant about the outside world (obviously not you, Robert!). As usual with stereotypes and prejudices, they are deeply held, little examined, and they shouldn’t have a big effect on personal relationships.

    As always in Europe, this is the land of the personal over the institutional. Just as Brits find the McDonalds/WalMart ‘happy greeter’ smile uncomfortable, and so our standards of customer service are light years behind yours, conversely if you can make a personal connection with someone, they will go out of their way to get you the ‘all day breakfast, before 11.30am’ at 11.31 (to recall a favourite scene in the Martin Sheen film ‘Falling Down’).

    In the workplace, just as the corporate rah-rah is greeted with cynicism and disrespect, so many people will work very hard out of sheer professionalism and doggedness. And the British sense of humour is do die for.

    General Eisenhower always said British troops were at their best when things were at their worst. Give them overwhelming odds against, and they’ll pull it off.

    There is a commando monument at Speyn Bridge, over on the West Coast. My father’s cousin was a commando, he died leading American Rangers ashore in the invasion of Europe– the entire unit was wiped out. My brother is named after him.

    By such bridges are our two countries joined.

  3. The people and the scenery make up for the weather, I find, although I still find the ethanol use (oral, rather than automotive) somewhat befuddling.

    Thanks for the comments. I am enjoying myself so far. I remember the last time I was here, the two things that really stuck out in my mind were the friendly people and the beautiful scenery. I see that things have not changed.

    Cheers, Robert

  4. Make sure you check the WSJ for the last few days. Lots of ethanol putdowns.

    The gem is an article titled:

    “Very, Very Big Corn” on the 27th.

    Whew! They take the gloves off.

  6. Hi Robert,
    Vinod Khosla spoke on Solar and biofuels in Bangalore last night- and I wish I had read your blog before to have asked some direct questions.

    He was claiming 2500 gallons of ethanol per acre can be produced from the newer plant varieties like elephant grass , etc as against the 500 gallons/acre yield today.

    He also mentioned Brazil as a having widespread adoption of ethanol.
    After reading your blog, his claims do appear somewhat circumspect.
    Thanks,
    Anirban

  7. You may want to look at this car: Opel Hybrid Diesel

    I am more or less converging on a 1.3 litre Citroen C3 diesel, but I haven’t made a decision yet. I will check the Opel and see if they sell it here.

    Why won’t GM sell this in the United States?

    Not enough profit margin for them. They will change their ways as gas prices head higher, but they will probably be caught off guard as they were last year when people slowed down on their SUV purchases.

  8. He was claiming 2500 gallons of ethanol per acre can be produced from the newer plant varieties like elephant grass , etc as against the 500 gallons/acre yield today.

    Khosla casually throws out a lot of hypothetical and theoretical stuff as if it has already been done, and claims one “can do this.” I remember that he was making claims about E3 Biofuels’ performance before their plant ever started up. He has admitted to me that he is engaging in a bit of cheerleading, but if policy makers don’t understand this they could make unwise decisions based on his cheerleading.

  9. re: Opel Hybrid Diesel

    It is a concept car only. It doesn’t exist yet as a commercial vehicle.

    The problem is a diesel costs £1500 more than its petrol engined equivalent, and a hybrid £3000 more. So £4500 more.

    Peugeot-Citroen has a similar vehicle, 80mpg (our gallons), but they say they cannot make it at a saleable price.

    Even at $6US/gal, there just isn’t (yet) a demand for this technology.

    In commercial vehicles, on the other hand, especially city buses, I can see immediate demands. And indeed BAe has a subsidiary in North America that makes them.

    I know I advised you re Citroen C3. My only other thought is a Honda Civic or its Toyota equivalent (the Aygo? the Yaris?)– Japanese cars are more reliable than the French.

    Valuethinker

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