Nova Biosource Fuels, the one “venture capital” sort of holding in the EIS portfolio, today reported that its primary plant in Seneca, IL has successfully begun production with the first of the three 20 mg/y lines now operating.  That is a major milestone.  It’s not as good as having all three up and going, but it is certainly good news.

On the other hand, NBF suffered a setback when a pump broke and apparently caused major damage to the Scott Petroleum plant that NBF built and owns a 50% interest in.  …

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Not only is it a hazard to boats, but the unadvertised use of ethanol in gasoline may be a costly mistake for oil companies.  A class action suit against the vendors of unadvertised ethanol blends is underway as described below.

April 9, 2008

OIL COS: Kabateck Brown Kellner Files Ethanol-Related Lawsuit
Major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, Valero, 
and ConocoPhillips are manufacturing and selling ethanol blended 
gasoline that damages marine fuel tanks, engines and other 
components, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed by 
Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP. 
PetroDiamond, Tower Energy and Big West are also named in …

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2008 Thus Far: A Preview of Coming Attractions

My concern has been that at some point shortages of oil will cause a falling-stocks, rising-oil phenomenon that will crush my oil related stocks along with the whole market. 2008 has started like that. Oil was up 6.34% as of 2/29 (per the ETF symbol OIL) but stocks were down 8.5% (in terms of the S&P 500 ETF symbol SPY). For oil-related stocks, the falling stock market trumped the rising oil market, as I have expected. IYE, a broad-based oil-stock ETF, was down …

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Below is a Financial Times report and analysis of the much discussed opinion of Jeff Currie, their head of commodities research, saying that food inflation is becoming the world’s greatest economic risk.   Obviously, the problem is exacerbated by the U.S. policy of converting food stocks into fuel stocks.  But another - and less noted - contributor to the problem is the phenomenon of "Resource Nationalism" that I usually call "hoarding."  The author suggests that U.S. unwillingness to sell farms to foreign interests is analogous to the Saudi unwillingness …

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Amory Lovins, one of the most effective self-promoters in America, is beloved of environmentalists, particularly those near Mr. Lovin’s Aspen, CO HQ.  He specializes in radically simple ideas for solving the complex problems of energy scarcity and environmental pollution.  Imagine their chagrin, as they discover that the environmental and economic disaster known as corn ethanol was put in motion by a mistake-laden essay written by Amory Lovins in 1976. Turning corn into ethanol with a net energy benefit that is variously estimated as between negative and negligible is …

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Successive press releases by GM on February 6 and 7, 2008, make it clear the company is committed to producing many more E85 capable vehicles and even producing ethanol itself via a joint venture with Coskata, Inc, a private company, starting in 2010.  GM states that if the three American manufacturers, GM, Ford, and Chysler, meet their goals for the number of E85 cars they will sell by 2020, they could jointly achieve a reduction of 29 billion gallons or 18% in the U.S. use of gasoline.   Of …

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