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  • Biomass Fuel Goes Public

    • April 16, 2011
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Energy, Fuel, News, Oil & Gas
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    The line-up of biomass-to-oil technologies continues to grow in importance as the renewable fuel firm, KiOR, back by billionaire Vinod Khosla, has filed to go public.  KiOR plans to raise as much as US$100 million in the IPO in an effort to fund the construction of a commercial-scale production facility in Mississippi.  KiOR’s process utilizes

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  • Green Technology to Produce Blue Fuel – Fountain of Black Gold or Sea of Red Ink?

    • April 5, 2011
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Energy, Environmental Sustainability, News, Oil & Gas
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    The Spanish company, Bio Fuels Systems (BFS,) has developed a process for the creation of “blue” petroleum, synthetic oil, based on photosynthesis of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria (autotrophic organisms that use the photosynthetic processes) combined with CO2 from a nearby cement factory.  The photosynthesis takes place in giant green tubes.  The product is filtered and concentrated

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  • The “Switchgrass” Feedstock – Is it Possible to Fool Mother Nature?

    • March 18, 2011
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Energy, Food, News
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    This week, two new announcements were published.  The first was that PepsiCo had developed a 100% plant-based bottle.  The second was that Google Ventures had invested an undisclosed amount of Series B funding in CoolPlanet Biofuels, a start-up that makes biofuels from plant waste.  The link seems to be switchgrass, or Panicum virgatum, a prairie grass

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  • Energy Advances Have Potential to Make the U.S. the Low Cost Leader in the Global Chemical Industry

    • February 4, 2011
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Chemicals, Energy, News
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    This week, The Dow Chemical Company announced that its 4th quarter earnings, for 2010, had nearly tripled.  As reported in the Wall Street Journal, volume was up 12%, and earnings were at 37 cents per share as compared to 8 cents per share last year. (Dow Chemical Profit Nearly Triples – WSJ.com, February 3, 2011) 

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  • Five Dollars Per Gallon Of Gasoline Predicted But Could Be Avoided

    • December 27, 2010
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Automotive, Energy, News, Oil & Gas, Transportation
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    Today, the former president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, says Americans could be paying $5 for a gallon of gasoline by 2012.  He added the caveat: “I’m predicting actually the worst outcome over the next two years which takes us to 2012 with higher gasoline prices.”  This prediction has, understandably garnered a lot of press. 

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  • Zero-emission Vehicles – Reality or (Exhaust) Pipe Dream?

    • November 15, 2010
    • Posted by: Ted Bullen
    • Category: Alternative Energy, Automotive, Energy, Environmental Sustainability, News
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    Today, the head of the Renault-Nissan automotive alliance, Carlos Goshn, stated that they plan to produce and sell 500,000 electric vehicles per year, globally, by the end of 2013.  The alliance is banking on the fact that consumers will become more attracted to electric cars as the technologies associated with these vehicles continue to be

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