Three Gallons Per Mile

Often when I am flying, I think about the amount of fuel that the airplane is burning. Then when I am off the plane, I usually forget about it. I have heard mixed opinions on […]

An Urban Legend Falls

Figure 1. Classical Outlier or Amazing New Discovery? On November 16, 2007 a study was released that stirred up a lot of excitement in ethanol circles. The study was titled Optimal Ethanol Blend-Level Investigation. The […]

Notes on Energy Efficiency

I arrived in one piece in Hawaii a few days ago, and have been settling in. It is still hard to believe I am here, and I plan to elaborate a bit on why I […]

A Better Alternative to Cash for Clunkers

Today is my last day of work as Engineering Director for Accsys Technologies/Titan Wood. After today, I will continue to maintain an advisory relationship with the company, as I still thoroughly believe in the company […]

Answering Reader Questions 2009: Part 4

This marks the final installment of answers to questions recently submitted by readers. This final installment covers the impact of E10 on fuel efficiency, my general optimism (or lack thereof), algal fuel, thermodynamics and energy […]

What’s 72 Million Gallons Anyway?

I just read a story this morning suggesting that the “Cash for Clunkers” program is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by only a trivial amount: ‘Cash for clunkers’ effect on pollution? A blip While […]

Thoughts on New Fuel Efficiency Standards

After I wrote The Problem with CAFE a couple of years ago, a lot of people concluded that I am against higher CAFE standards. That’s not exactly the case. In a nutshell, my problem with […]

Fuel Efficiency of Ethanol in the Real World

There is a particular poster at The Oil Drum who frequently claims that a gallon of ethanol can replace a gallon of gasoline in a car. Although he denies it, his over-the-top defenses of corn […]

All BTUs Are Not Created Equally

I sometimes have to pause and remind people that I am not anti-ethanol. As I have said numerous times, I am opposed to recycling fossil fuel into ethanol, and paying massive subsidies to do it. […]

How Quickly We Forget

Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. peaked back in July at $4.17 a gallon. (Source: EIA). At the end of 2008, gasoline had fallen to $1.67. We typically use about 140 billion gallons of gasoline […]