Oil importing countries faced an unassailable challenge with the “historic high” price of oil. In 1864, a barrel of Pennsylvanian oil traded for 8.06 in dollars of the day ($97.79 of 2004) and in 1980, a barrel of Arabian light (posted at Ras Tanura) sold for 35.69 in dollars of the day ($82.15 of 2004). […]

There are three choices for the market in crude oil after its recent steep falls. It can stay roughly around where it is now, $62. It can fall back down through the technical and software barriers that support it to new year lows or it can go higher once more. Perhaps very high. It all […]

Most schemes for a post-oil technology are based on the misconception that there will be an infrastructure, similar to that of the present day, which could support such future gadgetry. Modern equipment, however, is dependent on specific methods of manufacture, transportation, maintenance, and repair. In less abstract terms, this means machinery, motorized vehicles, and service […]

Back in the early 20th Century, when the cheap oil fiesta was just getting underway, and some major new technological innovation made its debut every month – cars, radio, movies, airplanes – there was no practical limit to what men of vision could imagine about the future city, though often their imaginings were ridiculous. […]

Events move quickly these days. Two months ago oil was north of $78 a barrel and, nationwide, gasoline was above to well above $3. The Middle East was threatening a conflagration and another exciting hurricane season was in the offing. Even the concept of peak oil was starting to get some scattered but serious attention […]

“None of us can go a little way with a theory,” wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) in his book Essays Critical & Historical . “When it once possesses us, we are no longer our own masters. It makes us speak its words, and do violence to our nature.”
What is theory?
What an interesting quotation about […]

Albert Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” He also said, “Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius-and a lot of courage-to move in the opposite direction.” I spent the weekend with genius and with […]

The short-term easing off of prices does not take the pressure off Congress to open ANWR and expand offshore drilling.
Original post by The Heritage Foundation - 2006-09-27

There has been a surge of interest in renewable energy over the past few months as oil prices–and consequently gas and power prices–have reached record highs. With oil prices peaking at nearly $80/barrel this summer and warnings of steep increases in natural gas prices ahead of the winter heating season in Europe and the US, […]

As renewable energy developers look to exploit resources in deserts, on mountaintops and in offshore waters, the question of how to send the electricity produced from remote locations to the places where people live becomes more pressing. Platts Renewable Energy Report recently highlighted a US Department of Energy study that found that several areas […]

Imposing criminal liability for raising prices in a competitive market is ludicrous.
Original post by The Heritage Foundation - 2006-09-15

Now, for something that I think will be non-controversial, and hopefully somewhat educational. About this time every year, you will start seeing references in the media about the conversion to winter…
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Original post by miscellaneous

Nanotechnology still sounds to me like something from a Science Fiction movie, but technology that is able to alter the composition or functioning of materials at the nano–ie molecular– scale is already being deployed in the energy sector.
German chemicals group Degussa has been working on a new coating for wind turbines that uses nanotechnology to […]