Category: Biofuels

A reporter has asked me for a 300-word submission on the following:  “Ethanol and biomass: what’s the state of the biofuels industry in the face of the oil crash?”  My viewpoint is below, and I’ll send it along, though it’s …

The Folly of Biofuels Is Only Made More Obvious When Crude Oil Prices Are Low Read More »

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

In all candor, my association with the few people who claim to have workable, reliable technology to extract the chemical energy (and other goodies) out of waste-tires has been a disappointment. After several years of work in this arena, I …

Waste-Tire To Energy, Fuels Read More »

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Sev Clarke, a fellow from Australia I’ve known and admired for many years wrote this about my recent post on Shell Oil: Craig, sorry to contradict, but a few of your statements do not hold water, probably because you have …

What the Oil Companies Can Do To Morph Into “New Energy” and Become Good Corporate Citizens Read More »

Tagged with: , , , ,

I just came across a start-up that proposes to convert some of the chemical energy in landfill waste (MSW – municipal solid waste) into glucose, and then sell it to ethanol producers.  I had promised myself that I wasn’t going …

Biofuels Breakthrough? Read More »

Tagged with: , , ,

A woman in New York wants my feedback on a new gas-to-liquids technology, a supposedly better way to make methanol from natural gas.  I write: I don’t have the chemistry background to tell you if this is a superior GTL …

Methanol from Natural Gas Read More »

Tagged with: , ,

We’ve all been told that this was so, and we’ve all had the notion that it might be true.  Forty or fifty years ago we had claims of the auto carburetor that gave drivers 400 MPG (but the car companies …

Are Great Energy Technologies Being Suppressed? Read More »

Tagged with: , , ,

Here’s an article on waste oil recycling that a friend sent me earlier.  Every time I see something like this I wonder about the overall sustainability of the enterprise.  Obviously, waste grease doesn’t collect, purify, and distribute itself.  Is all …

Nailing Down the Sustainability of Processing Waste Isn’t Easy Read More »

Tagged with: , , , , ,

2015 will be here before we know it, and with the new year comes new rules for the renewable energy industry: from spring 2015, all of the biomass fuel used within houses, businesses and any other organisations that are claiming …

From Guest Blogger Ross James: Finding an Approved Biomass Fuel Supplier Read More »

Tagged with: , , ,

If there’s anyone I respect in the biofuels industry, it’s Jim Lane, editor & publisher of Biofuels Digest, the most widely-read biofuels daily and newsletter.  He knows that I’m not a huge believer, but we had a very detailed and …

The Future of Biofuels Read More »

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Verbs in Western languages have something called “voice”: active and passive. “Bob hit the ball,” is in the active voice.  Here we have a subject, the active verb “hit,” and an object.  I could have written, “The ball was hit …

I Try To Write in the Active Voice, and I Say: DuPont’s $500 Million Biofuel Bet Is Bound To Fail Read More »

Tagged with: , ,