A Conversation with Vinod Khosla

Introduction and Background In my recent essay Vinod Khosla Debunked, I challenged Mr. Khosla to a written debate on his recent ethanol claims. Mr. Khosla e-mailed me shortly after that essay appeared, and offered to […]

Caught in a Lie

I have seen a lot of claims lately from the pro-ethanol contingent that the ethanol subsidy is actually a “Big Oil” subsidy. That claim is repeated in the following newly published article: Ethanol subsidies won´t […]

The Demagoguery Continues

I have been watching the news closely to see who would be the first politician to attempt to score political points as oil companies released profits this week. The prize was won by Nevada Senator […]

Vinod Khosla Debunked

Update: Vinod Khosla and I have discussed his claims. That conversation is documented here. Who is Vinod Khosla? When an influential person begins to affect energy policy decisions – decisions that will have a huge […]

Kicking the Oil Habit Road Trip

A recent e-mail brought my attention to a coast-to-coast road trip that is being sponsored by Kick the Oil Habit. The purpose of the road trip is primarily to raise E85 awareness and to promote […]

Oil from Montana Coal

I have been kicking around the idea of writing an essay on the coal-to-liquids (CTL) dream of Montana governor Brian Schweitzer. However, a story just appeared in the Billings Gazette that emphasizes many of the […]

Response to E-mail

I tend to get a wide variety of e-mails, a fair number of which detail issues that I seem to have overlooked. I received the e-mail below about a week ago after a brief exchange […]

Peak Oil and L.A.

I have visited 43 states, about 20 foreign countries, and 4 continents, but somehow never made it out to California. That changed last week when I had to take a business trip to L.A. I […]

Summary of Archived Essays

I generally get a lot of e-mails asking for comments on biodiesel, butanol, or any number of subjects I have previously written about. But once an article goes into the archives, it is not nearly […]

E3 Biofuels: Responsible Ethanol

Update: E3 Biofuels, with their promising ethanol technology, has declared bankruptcy. I hope it is clear that my opposition to ethanol has nothing to do with the fuel itself. If we could make sufficient ethanol […]