Food Riots

As I have been arguing for years, this is not going to have a happy ending. Some day we will look back on this ethanol mandate fiasco as one of the greatest mistakes ever in […]

A Footnote on Jatropha

Following my recent post on the energy situation in India, I received an e-mail from Sreenivas Ghatty, the founder and CEO of Tree Oils India. Sreenivas told me that I was correct that the jatropha […]

Implosion of the Airline Industry

I have heard a lot of people over the years predict that one of the first casualties of Peak Oil would be the airline industry. When fuel prices rise, airlines have to raise prices. When […]

New Crude Plus Condensate Peak

Per the latest International Petroleum Monthly (Excel download), world crude plus condensate production for January was 74,466,000 million bpd. The previous record in May 2005 was 74,298,000 bpd. The number is subject to revision, but […]

The Energy Scene in India

As I traveled through India on a recent business trip, the topic of energy was constantly on my mind (as it is every time I travel). I found out some interesting things about jatropha, toured […]

Winner: Sustainable Production Technology

As I have mentioned before, I am not going to use this blog to promote my new company. I have said very little about it to this point, but I intend to write one post […]

The Diesel Tree

Naturally, something like a “diesel tree” is going to catch my attention. (The scientific name for the tree, as best as I can ascertain, is Copaifera langsdorfii, and is native to South America). I have […]

Attempting the Impossible

I ran across the following today: Our view on gasoline prices: With crude at $100 a barrel, Big Oil needs no tax breaks It’s difficult — make that impossible — to justify taxpayer subsidies for […]

Pacific Ethanol in Trouble

Don’t say I didn’t tell you so. I warned about PEIX’s poor fundamentals a year and a half ago, and the share price has fallen steadily since then. Pacific Ethanol suffers a bigger-than-expected loss Pacific […]

Dog and Pony Show Scheduled for Today

The familiar dog and pony show of calling oil company executives to Washington to testify before a pandering congress begins today: Congress has big questions for Big Oil WASHINGTON – Big Oil is once again […]