Post Archive by Month
Brace Yourself (and Your Portfolio) for an Oil Price Shock by 2012 Or Sooner (Part 1 of 2)
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 …
Aventine, Verenium on the Ropes
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 …
Valero Now in the Ethanol Business
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 …
Update on CWT IPO
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 …
The Prospects for Algal Biodiesel Dim
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 …
How To Sniff Out a Fraud
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 …
Fuel Efficiency of Ethanol in the Real World
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 …
Fortune Says Oil Stocks are a Bargain
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog I certainly can’t disagree with this: Betting on big oil’s comeback The article first argues that oil prices are unlikely to stay low for too long: “Right now, the upsides in the oil sector far exceed the downside risks,” says Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. “I am absolutely convinced that oil prices will …
As Warnings Grow Louder About Global Data Center Power Crisis, Look for Some Companies to Profit
Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com Apparently they’re like warnings on cigarette packages – clearly visible and pretty much ignored, often until it’s too late. The latest warning about the data center power crisis that threatens to disrupt global business as early as 2011 comes from Siemens AG (Symbol SIE), which found in a new survey of major companies that less than half are working toward improving …
2009 EIA Energy Conference
Submitted by R-Squared Energy Blog Sorry for the long gap in posts, but I haven’t had much Internet access this week. Now I am freshly arrived back in the U.S., so I thought I would just quickly touch base. The 2009 EIA Energy Conference is scheduled for April 7th and 8th, and I have been invited to be on a panel session called Energy …