Nanosolar Raises the Ante

September 14, 2009 at 11:10 am
Contributed by: Chris

For Green Chip Stocks last week, I reviewed the latest announcements from thin-film solar manufacturer Nanosolar on their groundbreaking technology and its potential to print the cheapest solar cells in the world.
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Why We Need the Red Dragon

September 7, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For last week’s Energy and Capital, I reviewed China’s buying spree of natural resources, and argued that we may need them for the energy revolution more desperately than anyone now imagines.
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Reading Peak Oil Deniers Is a Waste of Time

August 30, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For Green Chip Stocks this week, I respond to the most recent salvos of peak oil deniers including Michael Lynch, Daniel Yergin and Raymond Learsy.

See also a few selected responses from other writers.
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Some responses to peak oil deniers

August 30, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Contributed by: Chris

In addition to my response to the recent rash of peak oil denials, here are some selected responses I happened to come across by other authors.
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Hard Questions and Sustainable Solutions

August 23, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For my Energy and Capital piece last week, I took a hard look at what “sustainable” really means, and questioned the sustainability of realistic energy solutions. Perhaps human nature, not technology, is the real challenge that we face.
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230 MPG and Other Squishy Numbers

August 17, 2009 at 11:51 am
Contributed by: Chris

For my Energy and Capital article this week, I dig into GM’s claim that the Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and try to calculate the real cost of driving.
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Peak Oil and Other Mispriced Risks

August 10, 2009 at 10:25 am
Contributed by: Chris

For Energy and Capital last week, I offered some predictions that may sound crazy now but are actually quite likely, starting with peak oil and moving on to a slew of other mispriced risks.
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Interview with Hiro Takei

August 3, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Contributed by: Chris

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Hiro Takei (@my10000dollars on Twitter) last week, all about my nutty career history, my views on energy and trading, and my thoughts on StockTwits. He did his homework and asked some insightful questions. See it here:  http://bit.ly/X0C9U Hiro’s a smart fellow and a nice guy, and worth a follow if you’re on Twitter and interested in trading.

CFTC Crackdown: Much Ado About Nothing

August 2, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Contributed by: Chris

In my Energy and Capital article this week, I support the impending CFTC crackdown and hope that once the sound and fury over bogeymen speculators subsides, we can have a real dialogue about our energy future.
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Step on the Gas

July 27, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For Energy and Capital last week, I weighed the bullish and bearish factors for natural gas prices, and concluded the bears are all wet. It’s time to buy gas.
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Guest editorial in Forbes: “The End of Fossil Fuel”

July 25, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Contributed by: Chris

I had a short guest editorial in Forbes this week, where I gave my macro view on energy and the economy as concisely as possible. It’s a sidebar to a feature they’re doing on a book by one of their staffers, Christopher Steiner, titled $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better.
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Rothbury: The Best Festival Ever?

July 25, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Contributed by: Chris

And now for something completely different…

I had the honor of speaking at the Rothbury Festival over July 4th weekend, and have been meaning to write up some thoughts and observations about it. After several weeks’ delay, here they are.
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Farmland Fever

July 20, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For this week’s Energy and Capital column, I consider the recent mega-investment wave in farmland in light of peak oil concerns, and think farmland may be the trade of the century.
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Rethinking Climate Policy: Incentivize, Don’t Penalize

July 13, 2009 at 11:58 am
Contributed by: Chris

For this week’s Energy and Capital, I argue that instead of forming climate policy around what comes out of the smokestacks and tailpipes, we should be focusing on what we put into the engines and encouraging renewable energy with incentives like feed-in tariffs.
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Utility Scale Solar Heating Up

July 7, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For my Energy and Capital article last week, I explained the importance of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s new initiative to streamline the approval process for utility scale solar power plants, and looked at some of the exciting projects now under way.

Publishing note: You may have noticed that I am now reposting my Energy and Capital articles to my blog later than before. My publishing schedule was moved from Wednesdays to Fridays, and I’m also allowing at least two days before reposting at their request, which usually means Monday. So you may have to mentally adjust for time references now, e.g., “this week” will be “last week” by the time you read it here. I am an additional day delayed this week as I just returned from the excellent Rothbury Festival yesterday, where I spoke on several panels as part of their “think tank” discussions on energy and sustainability. I may have to blog about it soon; it was truly a terrific festival.

With that, on to last week’s article…
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Seven Paths to Our Energy Future

June 29, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Contributed by: Chris

In this week’s Energy and Capital article, I review the case for peak fossil fuels and offer seven no-brainer paths to success in the coming renewable energy revolution.
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Two items on net energy (EROI)

June 23, 2009 at 11:01 am
Contributed by: Chris

Posting an excellent paper with lots of interesting graphs from Prof. Charles Hall, net energy (EROI) guru, and his graduate students on the declining net energy of primary fuels and the economic vulnerability of the US. This is crucially important stuff that is still not properly recognized in energy policy or economic theory. “Peak Oil, EROI, Investments and the Economy in an Uncertain Future”

A related post by Hall’s graduate student (and all around great guy) David Murphy on The Oil Drum this week is also worth a read: “The Net Hubbert Curve: What Does It Mean?

Have We Reached an Inflection Point in Economics History?

June 22, 2009 at 11:00 am
Contributed by: Chris

For my Energy and Capital article this week, I deconstruct the inflation/deflation debate, and conjecture that we may have reached an inflection point in economic history, where the price at which energy is high enough to sustain new production is the same price at which things become too expensive, leaving us no option but to downsize.
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Arctic Oil and Gas Challenges

June 16, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Contributed by: Chris

In this week’s article for Energy and Capital, I review some of the challenges that face Arctic oil and gas development as reported by speakers at the Offshore Technology Conference 2009.
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Arctic Oil and Gas Potential

June 8, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Contributed by: Chris

For my Energy and Capital article this week, I summarize a new USGS report on the potential undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Arctic Circle.
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