Skip to main content

Hits from the Drum

Yesterday we talked about advances in solar power and the recently heightened profile of renewable energies due to increased adoption by business. Today I wanted to share some recent articles and post topics from a very interesting site, The Oil Drum, that will provide some background and insight on a wide variety of energy related topics.

Alternative energy, fossil fuel depletion, and sustainability: it's all covered here. Whatever your grasp of these issues, I can assure you that you'll find some interesting perspectives and probably learn something in the process. Just be sure not to get lost in the often long-running comment threads!

In, "Key Questions on Energy Options", Oil Drum member and contributor Robert Rapier lays out the key questions we must answer to determine whether an energy source is a good choice for our planet. Here is how Robert lays out the issue:

A question was recently posed here: What is the most important question concerning ethanol production? That got me to thinking about important questions regarding not only ethanol, but all of our energy sources. There are a number of issues that we must carefully consider for any of our potential energy sources.

In my opinion, they are:

1. Is the energy source sustainable?
2. What are the potential negative externalities of producing/using this energy source?
3. What is the EROEI?
4. Is it affordable?
5. Are there better alternatives?
6. Are there other special considerations?
7. In summary, are the advantages of the source large enough to justify any negative consequences?

Give the thread a read and see what Robert and the gang have to say about the various forms of ethanol, fossil fuels, biodiesel, biomass, wind, and solar. An informative essay.

Moving on from Rapier's discussion of suitable energy options, we find a directly related example case of disastrous energy planning in Dave Cohen's post, "Palm Oil - The Southeast Asia Report".

We've discussed the oft-neglected environmental impacts of biofuels here before. In Cohen's recent post, we learn more about the ill effects of palm oil plantation farming and the ensuing damage done to the local ecosystems and the environment.

Peak oil and farming? Yep, that's the subject of Chris Vernon's recent post to The Oil Drum: Europe. In "Agriculture Meets Peak Oil: Soil Association Conference", Vernon tells us about agriculture and food distribution in the post-fossil fuel era. Check it out.

Popular posts from this blog

Moneyball: How the Red Sox Win Championships

Welcome, readers . T o get the first look at brand new posts (like the following piece) and to receive our exclusive email list updates, please subscribe to the Finance Trends Newsletter .   The Boston Red Sox won their fourth World Series title of t he 21st century this we ek. Having won their first Se ries in 86 years back in 200 4, the last decade-plus has marked a very strong return to form for one of baseball's oldest big league clubs. So how did they do it? Quick background: in late 2002, team own er and hedge fund manager, John W. Henry (with his partners ) bought the Boston Red Sox and its historic Fenway Park for a reported sum of $ 695 million. Henry and Co. quickly set out to find their ideal General Manager (GM) to help turn around their newly acquired, ailing ship. This brings us to one of my fav orite scenes from the 2011 film , Moneyball , in which John W. Henry (played by Ar liss Howard) attempts to woo Oakland A's GM Billy Beane (Brad Pi

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4.

William O'Neil Interview: How to Buy Winning Stocks

Investor's B usiness Daily founder and veteran stock trader, William O'Neil share d his trading methods and insights on buying winning stocks in an in-depth IBD radio interview. Here are some highlights from William O'Neil's interview with IBD: William O'Neil's interest in the stock market began when he started working as a young adult.  "I say many times that I didn't get that much out of college. I didn't have much interest in the stock market until I graduated from college. When I got married, I had to look out into the future and get more serious. The investment world had some appeal and that's when I started studying it. I became a stock broker after I got out of the Air Force."    He moved to Los Angeles and started work in a stock broker's office with twenty other guys. When their phone leads from ads didn't pan out, O'Neil would take the leads and drive down to visit the prospective customers in person.