In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I talk about the significance of China’s dominance of rare earth element production, and the conversion of pyrolysis oil into fuel. The questions answered this week are: […]
Why High Oil Prices are Here to Stay
On May 3rd I will be delivering a talk called Moving Beyond Oil Dependence as a part of UC Santa Barbara’s Spring 2012 Chemical Engineering Seminar Series. The talk will roughly follow the outline of […]
Discussing Peak Oil, Speculators, Oil Shale, and Alternative Fuels
I am traveling some over the next two weeks, and did not have a chance to record my weekly video segment this week. However, last Friday I was a guest on Alan Colmes’ show on […]
The Hard Truth: Even Liberals are Big Fans of Oil Subsidies
Survey Says… If you were to survey people and ask the question “Should we subsidize oil companies?” — the overwhelming majority would undoubtedly respond “No!” The notion that we are subsidizing oil companies generates outrage […]
Natural Gas Prices & Canada’s Economy — R-Squared Energy TV Ep. 19
In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I talk about the impact of natural gas in the U.S., and the Canadian economy. Some of the topics discussed this week are: How I think natural […]
Cutting Through the Rhetoric on Speculators and Oil Prices
Let’s Play ‘Blame the Speculators’ Most people would probably agree that speculation in the oil and gas markets is hurting American consumers. Consider the case of Aubrey McClendon. Mr. McClendon is the CEO of Chesapeake […]
The Impact of $5 Gas Prices, and Eco-Proppants — R-Squared Energy TV Ep. 18
In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I talk about the impact I believe $5 gasoline will have on most people, and whether there are any environmentally friendly proppants that can be used for […]
Canada Rises and Saudi Slides: Top 15 Sources for U.S. Crude Oil Imports in 2011
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently published an article on 2011 U.S. crude oil imports. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at where the U.S. currently obtains its oil, and how […]
Poet, KiOR, and Waste-to-Heat — R-Squared Energy TV Ep. 17
In this week’s episode of R-Squared Energy TV, I answer questions about POET’s Project Liberty, about why KiOR might need a natural gas pipeline, and whether there are better options out there for utilization of […]
Power Plays is Published
Introduction My new book — Power Plays: Energy Options in the Age of Peak Oil — has been published. A press release issued last week describes the book in some detail: Robert Rapier Reflects on […]