One of the triumphs of modern life is our ability to distance ourselves from the simple facts of our own existence. – Jeff Goodell Big Coal by Jeff Goodell is a book I have had […]
Book Review: Big Coal
Tag: coal
Prices of Various Energy Sources
As we continue to develop biomass as a renewable source of energy, it is important to keep the cost of energy in mind, because this has a very strong influence on the choices governments and […]
We’re Number One!
The U.S., that is, in total fossil fuel resources. At least those were the findings of the Congressional Research Service in a report they just released: U.S. Fossil Fuel Resources: Terminology, Reporting, and Summary The […]
Britain’s Impending Energy Crisis
In case you missed the story yesterday in the Economist: How long till the lights go out? North Sea gas has served Britain well, but supply peaked in 1999. Since then the flow has fallen […]
Answering Reader Questions 2009: Part 2
In this installment, I continue to work my way through the list of questions recently submitted by readers. This post picks up where Part 1 left off, and covers coal-to-liquids, technology hype, green gasoline, refining […]
Answering Reader Questions 2009: Part 1
Before I took a recent trip to Canada, I opened up the floor for questions. Getting them answered has taken longer than I intended. Fortunately, other readers answered a lot of them in the comments […]
The New and Improved CTL Scheme
“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is.” – Jan L. A. van de Snepscheut A very short paper (two pages) appeared in the latest Science detailing an […]
Thoughts on the New Energy Team
In case you are just venturing out of your cave for the first time in a week, you are probably aware that President-elect Obama has announced his new energy team: Obama names energy team The […]
Coal-Based Ethanol
The handwriting has been on the wall on this issue for a couple of years. In fact, I first mentioned it in March 2006 in Improving the Prospects for Grain Ethanol. Here is an excerpt […]
Britain Defers Coal Plant
Coal-based power has had a rough run lately: Coal power plant decision deferred A decision on whether to build Britain’s first coal-fired power station in more than 20 years has been deferred to a later […]