The Blog

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog That is, as long as it doesn’t increase gasoline costs by $0.40/gallon. That is one of a number of findings from Public Agenda in a new report called The Energy Learning Curve™ (PDF): What should we do about the energy issues we face? Public Agenda, in its Energy Learning Curve study released today as part of Planet Forward, found that despite a …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog As the previous post indicated, we in the U.S. have a pretty low energy IQ. One of the reasons is that energy stories are often reported in a very biased or uninformed manner, which tends to distort public viewpoints. For instance, you may think those evil oil companies are wrecking the world. You are entitled to …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog I will be shortly on a plane to D.C. where I will participate in the Energy Information Administration’s 2009 Energy Conference. I will update as I can via Twitter (RRapier) and possibly on Facebook, but not much from me here for the week. Here is the opening lineup: Welcome – Howard Gruenspecht, Acting Administrator, Energy Information Administration Keynote Address – Dr. Steven Chu, …

Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com How ironic that, even as President Obama fights an uphill battle to convince Congress to accelerate alternative energy development despite widening budget deficits, it looks like it’s already too late to avoid a new oil price shock. In his press conference last week, Obama said the country can’t afford to wait to tackle its oil addiction “until the …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog Reality is starting to catch up with prospective cellulosic ethanol producers. I felt like this was bound to happen, but the poor economy is making it happen faster than I expected. I expected some plants to be built, and then they would bleed red ink for a while before declaring bankruptcy. But many are running into …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog In an update to Big Oil Buys Big Ethanol, it is official: Valero Energy, the Oil Refiner, Wins an Auction for 7 Ethanol Plants Valero Energy, the country’s largest independent refiner, said on Wednesday that it would buy seven ethanol plants from VeraSun Energy for $477 million, giving the biofuel industry a lift at a time when …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog A couple of months ago, in response to a story that Changing World Technologies was going to file an IPO to help commercialize their TPD technology, I reposted my story: TDP: The Next Big Thing Turns out they decided against the IPO. Bankruptcy seemed the better option: Renewable Environmental Solutions owner closes plant in Missouri, files …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog As I noted in my earlier essay More Reality Checks for Algal Biodiesel, I initially had high hopes for the idea that we might make significant amounts of biodiesel from algae. A few years ago I read Michael Briggs’ essay Widescale Biodiesel Production from Algae and thought he put together a compelling case that algae could power our transportation …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog I tend to get a lot of e-mails from people either claiming to have invented the next big thing in alternative energy, or from people who want to know if a particular company has something that seems worthwhile. Generally, I can sniff out the scams and pseudoscientists pretty quickly. There are lots of telltale signs. In …

Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog 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 ethanol are consistent with someone who is being paid to promote it. There is no objectivity on his part, ever. A …