“Let’s be clear: the frequent comparison of the fossil fuel and tobacco industries is nonsense. Fossil fuels are a valuable energy source that has done yeomen service for humankind. One gallon (3.7 liters) of gasoline (petrol) contains the equivalent of 400 hours of labor by a healthy adult.  Fossil fuels raised living standards in much of the world.”

– James Hansen, June 2021

The father of the climate alarm is a straight and accurate shooter on many things, that is outside of climate models and unsettled climate dynamics. His quotation above throws water in the face of Naomi Oreskes, a history of science professor at Harvard University, as well as such climate campaigners as Michael Mann and Andrew Dessler.

Hansen’s view is actually mainstream. There is no doubt that dense mineral energies that emerged and took hold by the end of the 19th century unleashed the machines of progress.…

“Classical liberalism does not have a long resume in the history of energy thought. Prior to the 1970s energy crises, it was a backwater for free-market intellectuals, although the opportunity was there for both scholarship and political advocacy.”

I recently constructed a new home with a two-story library, ladders and all. On one side are my energy-related books; on the other, economics. Several thousand volumes are, for the first time, organized in one place. Better late than never as I am in my 66th year.

The energy books, many unearthed from storage, bring back a lot of memories. Some observations follow.

Classical liberalism (or the political term, libertarianism) does not have a long resume in the history of energy thought. Prior to the 1970s energy crises, it was a backwater for the free market intellectuals, although the opportunity was there for both scholarship and political advocacy.…

MasterResource is a repository of energy information. With national interest about how the son of a major political figure came to obtain a very lucrative energy-centric board position without prior experience or expertise, Master Resource is issuing a repeat request for information to support or refute this view.

Does anyone anywhere have information regarding R. Hunter Biden, pre- or post-Burisma Holdings, having experience or expertise regarding …

Natural gas; compressed natural gas; liquefied natural gas; compressed gas liquids; natural gas processing; natural gas liquids [ethane, propane (LPG), butane, isobutane, pentane, pentanes plus]; natural gasoline; hydrocarbon gas liquid; liquefied petroleum gas; naphtha (light and heavy); propylene; butylene; hydrates; synthetic gasoline.

Ethanol; methanol; methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE, aka tert-butyl methyl ether); ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE); tert-Amyl methyl ether (Tame); Tetraethyllead (aka tetraethyl lead).…

The first great requisite of motive power is, that it shall be wholly at our command, to be exerted when, and where, and in what degree we desire. The wind, for instance, as a direct motive power, is wholly inapplicable to a system of machine labour, for during a calm season the whole business of the country would be thrown out of gear.

– W. S. Jevons, The Coal Question (London: Macmillan, 1865), p. 122.

If only the legion of energy experts and specialists in the colleges and universities, U.S. Department of Energy labs, and environmentalist organizations understood William Stanley Jevons of the 19th century and Vaclav Smil today. If so, they would understand why:

• Renewable energy is failing at times of peak demand (see the Duck Curve post this week).