Introduction Joseph Miglietta, a chemical engineer and chemist, responded to my Ethanol Debate Challenge. I look forward to the exchange of ideas. His response is posted below, with nothing changed except for some formatting. Joseph, […]
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Compressed Air Energy Storage
I have always been a big fan of wind power. But one of the knocks on wind is that it is intermittent. Since electrical demand probably won’t match up very well with wind fluctuations, installed […]
Ethanol Debate Challenge
Suggested Debate Guidelines My opinions on grain ethanol are clear from my previous essays. I object to grain ethanol because I feel it is a tremendous misallocation of time, money, and resources, while the benefits […]
Daschle and Khosla Ethanol Propaganda
I just read an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times by Tom Daschle and Vinod Khosla. The editorial is Miles Per Cob, (1) and is one of the dumbest things I have run across […]
60 Minutes – The Ethanol Solution
I just finished watching the 60 Minutes piece on ethanol production. Wow. What a puff piece. I thought at least I might see some attempt at balance. But there was no mention of the disadvantages […]
Coming Attractions
Just wanted to provide a quick update, since it will be a few more days before I have a new essay up. I am trying to finish up an article on Peak Oil for Omninerd, […]
Debunking the Debunkers
There are a few things I have learned over the years regarding the relationship between the public and oil companies. The public seems to have an especially strong distaste for oil companies, and especially Big […]
Bio-Butanol
Butanol Production Process In my previous job, I worked for a major chemical company for seven years. For six of those years, I worked on various processes to produce butanol. This included roles in R&D, […]
I Can Drive 55
When I was a bit younger, and Sammy Hagar’s “I Can’t Drive 55” would come on my car radio, I always found myself easing the speed up higher and higher. I would ease up to […]
I’m Being Gouged!
Where’s the Outrage? They reported profits today of $2.89 billion in the first quarter on revenues of $10.9 billion. Their profit margin on sales was 26.5%! I was expecting outrage. Yet I haven’t heard anyone […]