Coal Goes Bust Today, as had been expected, Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) — the largest coal producer in the United States — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Following the announcement I immediately began […]
Magical Thinking On Climate Change
In my previous article — Leonardo DiCaprio’s Huge Carbon Footprint — I discussed the seeming inconsistency of Leonardo DiCaprio’s climate change activism and his excessive fossil fuel consumption. My argument was that with his own […]
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Huge Carbon Footprint
Leonardo DiCaprio recently won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Revenant. I saw the movie, and to my layman’s eye it certainly seemed like an Oscar-worthy performance. I was rooting for […]
A Critical Review of the 2015 Energy Balance for Corn Ethanol
The USDA recently updated the numbers on the energy balance of corn ethanol in 2015 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry. Today returning guest Todd “Ike” Kiefer scrutinizes the numbers in the report and he […]
Cellulosic Ethanol Falls A Few Billion Gallons Short
Ten years ago a visionary named Vinod Khosla gave a presentation called Biofuels: Think Outside the Barrel. It seems to have disappeared from his Khosla Ventures website, but you can find an archived version here. […]
It Really Was A Trillion Dollar Blunder
A few days after Christmas I appeared on CNBC Asia’s Squawk Box to discuss the volatility in the oil market. Bernie Lo asked a question about OPEC’s strategy, and I characterized their decision to defend market share […]
My 2016 Energy Predictions
When I made my annual energy predictions a year ago, I noted that I foresaw a “lot of uncertainty in the energy markets” and indicated that “the direction on several fronts is unclear.” That certainly […]
Grading My 2015 Energy Predictions
Introduction “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” ― Yogi Berra I haven’t looked forward to this post since about mid-year, when it became clear that I wasn’t going to have a repeat […]
The Top 10 Energy Stories Of 2015
Introduction As I have done for several years now, I like to close out the year by highlighting the top stories in the energy sector. The 2015 list was challenging, because so many of the […]
Where The Carbon Emissions Are
Introduction With world leaders meeting in Paris this week and next to formulate plans for tackling carbon emissions, I believe it’s critical to understand the source of those emissions. After all, if you are going […]