Archive for May, 2009
« Previous EntriesHot Tech, Part 2: Investors Should Keep Their Eyes on Eliiy Power, Cereplast and Rentech
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
With this article, EnergyTechStocks.com continues its series on the newest advances in energy technology that could pay off big for investors in the coming carbon-constrained world. (For Part 1 see Hot Tech, Part 1: Investors Should Keep Their Eyes on SKF, Ener1 And Valeo SA)
The golden rule in alternative energy investing is keep [...]
Oil Moving Back Up
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
On my latest trip to Amsterdam this week I saw 19 oil tankers parked off the coast in the North Sea (ironically next to a Dutch offshore wind farm). These tankers are being used for floating storage due to the glut of oil in the market. Despite this, oil prices have [...]
Is the Dark Cloud Over Solar Energy Beginning to Break?
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Sitting in DFW Airport, about to make my way back to Europe. I will be offline for a day or so. This seems like a good time for the latest from Money Morning, which as I explained last week will be featured here once a week or so. As always, normal [...]
The White Revolution
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
When I was recently transcribing the interview that Vinod Khosla did for the Milken Institute, something he said caught my attention:
Hybrids are an uneconomic way to reduce carbon dioxide. If you go to hybrids or electric cars, your cost of carbon reduction is about $100/ton. If you have 10 ways of [...]
Book Review: Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Jeff Rubin - the former chief economist at CIBC World Markets - has always struck me as someone who “gets it.” I have seen him do a number of interviews, both on television and in print - and he consistently sounds the alarm on peak oil. He understands very well that [...]
With Oil Prices Poised to Jump as Much as 70%, Every Investor Needs an Energy Strategy
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
[RR note: This blog occasionally posts guest posts, and energy investing is a topic that is visited on a fairly regular basis. The website Money Morning recently noticed that I had linked to one of their articles, and asked if I would be interested in publishing some of their original [...]
Hot Tech, Part 1: Investors Should Keep Their Eyes on SKF, Ener1 And Valeo SA
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
With this article, EnergyTechStocks.com begins a weekly, multi-part series on the newest advances in energy technology that look most likely to pay off for investors in the coming carbon-constrained world. Each company mentioned is, in our eyes, worth a closer look, not just because of its new “hot tech,” but also because each [...]
Thoughts on New Fuel Efficiency Standards
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
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 CAFE is that I feel like it addresses the problem from the wrong side of the [...]
Pacific Ethanol Plants Declare Bankruptcy
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I don’t actually enjoy posting “I told you so” stories, especially when the news is negative. This means someone has failed, and I don’t enjoy seeing people fail. But when I put a spotlight on a company, naturally I am going to follow that company. If it does fail, then that [...]
Misinformation from Jon Stewart
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
M - Th 11p / 10c
Ken Salazar
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Economic Crisis
Political Humor
I watch very little TV, but one show I always make it a point to watch is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. While I find that Bill Maher (who has similar political views to Stewart) [...]
Misinformation from Jon Stewart
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
M - Th 11p / 10c
Ken Salazar
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Economic Crisis
Political Humor
I watch very little TV, but one show I always make it a point to watch is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. While I find that Bill Maher (who has similar political views to Stewart) [...]
Misinformation from Jon Stewart
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
M - Th 11p / 10c
Ken Salazar
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Economic Crisis
Political Humor
I watch very little TV, but one show I always make it a point to watch is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. While I find that Bill Maher (who has similar political views to Stewart) [...]
Venezuela’s Slide Continues
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
At this point, you have to wonder who in their right mind will ever do business in Venezuela again as long as Chavez is in power. The risk that Chavez will steal your property is simply too great. During his administration, Chavez has seized phone companies, electric utilities, private real estate [...]
Don’t ‘Underestimate’ Oil’s Coming 1980s-Style Down Cycle, Raymond James Warns Investors
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Only a week after declaring that global oil production has “peaked,” investment firm Raymond James & Associates is warning investors that the oil industry “may be in the early stages of a multi-year down cycle.”
In a May 4 research note, the advisory firm said it believes “mankind better get ready to live in [...]
GreenFuel Bites the Dust
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I have written several articles over the past couple of years that argued that there is a low probability that any of the would-be algal biodiesel manufacturers are going to make it. These essays included:
More Reality Checks for Algal Biodiesel
The Prospects for Algal Biodiesel Dim
In both essays, I mentioned GreenFuel Technologies, [...]
Congress Kills a Biofuel Project
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
If we are to seriously encourage a move to biofuels, incentives are going to be required because the economics of biofuels just can’t compete with petroleum (regardless of what Vinod Khosla thinks). Eventually depletion will cause petroleum to become very expensive, and then the economics of certain biofuels (especially those with [...]
I Never Cease to be Amazed
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Thanks to a reader for sending me this story:
Company trying to turn waste into biofuel
Salem businessmen to turn dairy dung into butanol for vehicles
Diesel Brewing would burn dairy waste and turn it into butanol.
Butanol is mainly used as a solvent, but company officials want to use it as a renewable fuel.
If [...]
Raise Wages, Cut Carbon Bill
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I don’t normally print press releases, but this one is important to me. On this topic, I am also currently reading Jeff Rubin’s new book Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller and Rubin makes the argument that with a tax on carbon emissions, you can then [...]
Rentech Announces BTL Plant
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Still on vacation, but an interesting announcement yesterday by Rentech:
Rialto Project
Our proposed Rialto Renewable Energy Center (Rialto Project) will be located in Rialto, California. The facility is designed to produce approximately 600 barrels per day of pure renewable synthetic fuels and export approximately 35 megawatts of renewable electric power. The renewable [...]
When All That CO2 Starts Getting Buried, Who Is Going to Make The Big Bucks?
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com
Like we said last week (See They May Be an Odd Couple, But Honda & Total Could Be a Winning ‘Green’ Investment), if you want to know which companies will be winners in the coming carbon-constrained, alternative-energy-dominated universe, don’t ask Wall Street because it threw away a generation of green analysts when Enron [...]
Natural Gas Gaining Momentum
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
I have said a number of times that I would prefer to take the natural gas we use to make ethanol and just use it directly in compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. Natural gas burns very cleanly, and I think that would be a lot more efficient than the convoluted scheme [...]
Vinod Khosla at Milken Institute: Part I
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Thanks to a reader for bringing this to my attention. Vinod Khosla (VK) just did a lengthy interview at the Milken Institute 2009 Global Conference. The interview was conducted by Elizabeth Corcoran (EC) of Forbes. You can see the video of the interview here:
Milken: Khosla on the Shift to Renewable Energy
I [...]
Vinod Khosla at Milken Institute: Part III
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
This will be the conclusion of Vinod Khosla’s (VK) recent lengthy interview at the Milken Institute 2009 Global Conference. The interview was conducted by Elizabeth Corcoran (EC) of Forbes and can be viewed here.
In Part I, VK discussed the role of government money, capital intensity of renewable projects, and some of [...]
Vinod Khosla at Milken Institute: Part II
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
This is a continuation of the previous post covering Vinod Khosla’s (VK) recent lengthy interview Milken Institute 2009 Global Conference. The interview was conducted by Elizabeth Corcoran (EC) of Forbes and can be viewed here.
In Part I, VK discussed the role of government money, capital intensity of renewable projects, and some [...]
We Do Not Have A Simple Solution
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog
Those were the words of Helena Chum, a research fellow at NREL on the topic of advanced biofuels. Forbes just published an article on this:
Biofuels Battle: Chemistry Versus Biology
A lot of the subject matter and the companies discussed will be familiar to regular readers.
There are 1,865 biofuels companies out there, and [...]
