When it comes to economic growth, the vital commodity is always electricity. Peter Huber and Mark Mills, in their outstanding 2005 book about energy, The Bottomless Well, made this point clear, declaring, “Economic growth marches hand in hand with increased consumption of electricity — always, everywhere, without significant exception in the annals of modern industrial history.”
Read moreIt is now beyond dispute that congressional mandates on ethanol use are having a number of deleterious effects, soaring food prices chief among them.
Read moreBatteries are the silver bullet. There’s no question that electricity is the key development factor in countries around the world. Countries that have cheap, abundant electric power have healthier economies than those that don’t.
Read moreRobert Hart has for many years worked to develop electric power projects in emerging nations. As CEO of Coastal Power from 1994 to 1999, he was at the forefront of the global surge of private investment in emerging market power, pioneering the first privately owned and operated power plants in El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Read moreThe outrages of the ethanol mandates are growing by the day. Last week, a study funded by American beef, pork and chicken producers estimated that the total cost to taxpayers of the corn ethanol mandates now exceeds $33 billion per year.
Read morePrior to February 7, few energy watchers were familiar with Tim Searchinger. But as the lead author of an article in Science that appeared on that date, concluding that corn-based ethanol and other biofuels likely produce far more greenhouse gases than gasoline, Searchinger was suddenly being quoted in major media outlets all over the world.
Read moreNapoleon famously said that an army marches on its stomach. That may have been true for his 19th-century force. But the modern American military runs on jet fuel—and lots of it.
Read moreThat increased energy efficiency will save us has become an article of faith. Last year, Congress passed “The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.”
Read moreArthur L. Smith has been an energy analyst for more than three decades. In 1984 after spending nine years on Wall Street doing institutional equity research, he acquired control of John S. Herold, Inc., a research-only firm focused on the energy sector.
Read moreNow that the big climate conference in Bali is over, hard questions are arising about how (or whether) the U.S. and other countries can reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.
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