It seems that President-elect Obama has had a change of heart on enacting a windfall profits tax on oil companies. That, among other things, is angering the liberal wing of the Democratic Party: Liberals voice […]
Rank the Top 10 Oil Stories of 2008
As I recover from a backlog of work, one of the stories I plan to write is a post covering the top energy stories of 2008. Around that theme, Platts just put up a request […]
The Solar Thermal Option
I apologize for being out of pocket lately, and that trend is going to continue at least through this week. I have a staff meeting all week, and then I fly back to Europe next […]
Renewable Energy Highlights and Commentary
In Part I, I presented the notes on renewable energy that I took as I read through the 2008 International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook. Here in Part II, I organize those notes, and […]
The 2008 IEA WEO – Renewable Energy Highlights
I am working on an essay on the renewable energy portion of the recently released 2008 IEA World Energy Outlook. In Part I, I merely present some of the highlights of the report (actually the […]
Mega-Bear versus Super-Spike
Update: Never say never. Today, the prediction I made in 2005 that WTI would never again fall below $50 has fallen. Front month WTI as of this writing has dipped to $49.75. But it will […]
Saudi Oil Tanker Hijacked
I don’t know if this is a first, but it’s the first time I have heard of an oil tanker being hijacked: Pirates attack Saudi ‘super tanker’ (CNN) — Pirates in the Arabian Sea have […]
Seeking Reader Input for a Book Project
It should be clear that I enjoy writing. Over the past three years, I have written 665 essays for this blog, a book chapter on renewable diesel in Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy […]
The Energy Return of Tar Sands
When evaluating energy technologies – whether conventional fossil fuels or alternative energy – one thing that I pay close attention to is the Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI). While there are legitimate criticisms of […]
Amyris is Looking Promising
As I have said before, an ideal biofuel would be one that phases out of water, and is therefore much less energy intensive to separate. One of the big energy sinks in ethanol production involves […]