Some people think I am anti-ethanol. That is an oversimplification, and a misrepresentation of my position. I have nothing against ethanol as a fuel. It isn’t as good a fuel as butanol, but then again […]
Vinod Khosla Scoops Me
Pacific Ethanol Continues Slide
In June 2006, I warned about Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) in response to a story suggesting that the company presented a great investment opportunity: Ethanol Investing: Counterpoint Some excerpts of what I wrote: I will make […]
Delusions of a Harvard Professor
A lot of people presume that technology is going to provide a nice, cost-effective solution to our energy problems. Who could blame them, when you have people like Ricardo Hausmann, the director of Harvard University’s […]
E85 Road Test
A couple of months back, I posted Gary Dikkers’ analysis comparing the fuel efficiency of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Gary’s conclusion was: Both states have almost identical topography, climate, demographics, and about the same mix of […]
My Patent List
This is related to the topic of energy, but somewhat off topic. I get an occasional inquiry about one of my patents. These patents are primarily related to my work around gas-to-liquids, particularly on the […]
Brazil’s New Oil Discovery
You may have seen in the news that Brazil has made a new oil discovery. It is always hard to judge how much is hyperbole, but they are excited about it: Offshore oil discovery could […]
Dear Saudi: Stop Hogging Our Oil!
Raymond J. Learsy, author of Over a Barrel,is an idiot. How he managed to write a book will always be a mystery to me. Every time I read one of his screeds over at Huffington […]
“Really Bad Days”
The normally optimistic International Energy Agency (IEA) made some very pessimistic comments in Time yesterday: Oil Prices: It Gets Worse Oil prices hit a record high of $97 a barrel on Tuesday, but the next […]
Oil Watchdog Accepts Money from Big Oil
Consumer organization Oil Watchdog has admitted to accepting money from Chevron. This is odd behavior for an organization that has been fiercely critical of universities and museums that accept donations from oil companies. Oil Watchdog […]
This Week in Petroleum 11-7-07
Updated Following Report Release About 10 seconds after the report was released, I scanned down and found what I was looking for: U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) fell […]