The Ethanol Rhetoric Ramps Up It has been interesting to watch the flurry of ethanol rhetoric since the recent elections. With the $0.45 per gallon subsidy (called the VEETC) and the ethanol tariffs both set […]
Inside Shell’s Bintulu GTL Plant
Bintulu. For many people involved with gasification, that word often invokes a specific image. In fact, colleagues know when I say “Bintulu” that’s shorthand for Shell’s Bintulu, Malaysia gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility (officially, the Shell Middle […]
Cleantech, Globalization and Energy Independence
The following guest essay is by Kevin P. Kane. Kevin is an Oil & Gas analyst and cleantech business consultant living in South Korea. Kevin previously published two widely circulated essays: American Freedom from Oil: […]
The Stroke of a Pen
Congress still hasn’t taken action to extend the redundant tax credits for compensating oil companies for blending the ethanol that they are required by law to blend, but that hasn’t stopped the ethanol lobby from […]
The Palm Oil Conundrum
People sometimes ask which biofuels are competitive head to head with crude oil. By competitive, I mean those that can actually compete favorably with oil prices on a level playing field (i.e., they don’t require […]
The U.S. Navy and Biofuels – Part III
This is the concluding installment of my recent interview with Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Navy (Energy). Part I discussed the overall goals of the Navy’s biofuel efforts, and in Part II we […]
The U.S. Navy and Biofuels – Part II
In Part I of my recent interview with Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Navy (Energy), we covered the nature of what the Navy is trying to achieve (and why) with respect to incorporating […]
The U.S. Navy and Biofuels – Part I
On Tuesday, October 19, 2010 I conducted an interview with Tom Hicks, who is the Deputy Assistant Secretary to the Navy (Energy). The idea for the interview originated from my recent essays on Solazyme (here […]
Tourism Resorts and Oil Exploration in the Caspian Sea
The following guest analysis was written by the staff of Global Intelligence Report. ———————- SITUATION: One indirect consequence of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the impact it may have on the financing of […]
Food Versus Fuel – Again
Upcoming I am off to Malaysia on Saturday for a business trip. I will actually spend some time in Bintulu, so I am looking forward to driving by and seeing Shell’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant there. […]