In the previous story — Butanol 101 — I provided readers some background on the production of butanol, including my own background on working with butanol. This story is about one company’s efforts to commercialize […]
Butanol 101
This story was initially intended to cover a recent interview that I did with Cobalt Technologies CEO Rick Wilson. However, the introduction and background on butanol became long enough that I felt it was a […]
The Natural Gas Debate
The Economist just finished hosting an online debate on natural gas. The resolution was an interesting one: This house believes that natural gas will do more than renewables to limit the world’s carbon emissions. At […]
The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car
This likely blows previous fuel efficiency records out of the water: VW to roll out 313mpg car in Germany and UK Last week at the Qatar Motor Show saw the world debut of Volkswagen’s XL1, […]
Oil Price Could Doom Obama
The following guest post is from OilPrice.com. Normally I don’t add any of my own commentary to these guest essays, but in this case I would say that the idea that oil prices are manipulated […]
What the RAND Report on Biofuels Really Said
The just-issued RAND report Alternative Fuels for Military Applications has generated quite a bit of controversy. However, in my opinion many of the news stories covering the report got the gist of the message wrong. […]
Vinod Khosla and the Gasification/Fermentation Debate
Vinod Khosla Prognosticates Vinod Khosla is once more offering up his prognostications on the future of the energy business: What Matters in Biofuels? Given the likely continued dominance of the internal combustion engine, cellulosic and […]
Great Green Fleet Neither Great Nor Green?
In my recent interview with Tom Hicks, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Navy (Energy), he explained some of the Navy’s energy initiatives. One of those is to sail the “Great Green Fleet.” […]
EPA Expands E15 Decree
This week the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the use of 15% ethanol fuel blends (E15) for 2001-2006 model year cars: EPA Grants E15 Fuel Waiver for Model Years 2001 – 2006 Cars and Light […]
Marginal Land Produces Marginal Biomass
The global potential for energy crops is a topic of great interest, and the media is often filled with reports of the potential for production on marginal land. Indeed, some of these reports go so […]