5 comments about Freedom From Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States' Oil Addiction.

1. In the heat of the 2008 Presidential campaign, voters in the United States think they are experts on what it takes to make a president. Though we voters may be deluded enough to assume that we know what we are doing, author David Sandalow has actually produced a book that seeks to address the issues various and sundry that pertain to oil.
   
   In "Freedom From Oil: How The Next President Can End The United States' Oil Addiction" [McGraw Hill, 2008, 272pgs], Sandalow presents a series of actual policy papers, as if they were going to be handed directly to the next president.
   
   The non-fiction book is broken into three parts in which he sets up the problem, outlines solutions and supports the final decisions. Then, he provides provides policy papers, memoranda to the president, frequently interspersed with profile pieces that illustrate aspects of the issue of oil and its place in our world.
   
   It is a given that oil will eventually run out. It's more likely, though, that climate change will stop us from using oil before it runs out. Sandalow's recapitulation of the problem we face is suitably foreboding. The various solutions he raises, analyzes and sets into their places--in proportion to their ability to help us solve our energy problems--was sobering.
   
   Sandalow shows how cars that are plugged-in are a great idea. They use energy at night when power plants face low demand. Sandalow presents the ideas of biofuels, ethanol, switchgrass and shows how these are not a panacea because of greenhouse gases. He describes the abomination of using liquefied coal--in which a huge amount of green house gases are released just to liquefy it. He reveals the shocking inadequacy of the hydrogen car. (Sandalow doesn't say hydrogen is hopeless but obviously from the book it won't be practical.) Throughout, Sandalow presents these presidential briefing, policy position and memorandum papers in a neutral professional tone, as if they really were about to be handed to a president.
   
   As all of us watch the presidential primary season of 2008 and wait for the left-handed candidates--Barack Obama and John McCain--to be nominated, we are keenly aware of what is required to be a president. Therefore, we actually are quite qualified as garden variety voters [assuming you listen to NPR or watch some news] to assess these briefing papers. We know the issues and I must say it's refreshing getting some new facts to make my personal arguments keener.
   
   To a reader used to a contiguous narrative, the rather disjointed table of contents and the early chapters comprised of policy papers was confusing.
   
   This book is recommended because of the vast amount of digested information it presents in regard to the consumption of oil, our future energy situation and what to do about it.
   
   As we fritter away time waiting for the next president, Greenland is sending rivers of melt from ancient snowfall down underneath the Greenland ice sheet, speeding it to the Atlantic. As we debate raising CAFE standards or bicker about gas taxes, Antarctica is cracking huge icebergs into the ocean.
   
   [ Tom Hunter is a Manhattan-based writer ]



2. First off, if the US implemented an energy plan EXACTLY as described in this book, I think we'd be 1000% (yes, a thousand percent) better off than we are today in 10-20 years. If we'd implemented something like this 10 years ago, I hate to think how many fewer problems we'd have regarding oil consumption and the need to import foreign oil, "defending" the oil supply in the Middle East, etc.
   
   NOTE -- I'd add global warming to the list, but after reading the book "The Chilling Stars" (recommended reading) I'm willing to take it out of the equation for now, though CO2 does far more harm than just warm the planet.
   
   My only issue with the book is that it doesn't go far enough, suggests specific incentives to the big 3 auto companies that strike me as a bailout (rather than providing incentives for ANY company building cars of the future), and misses entirely in some areas (there's no suggestion of helping fund development of biodiesel from algae, as one example).



3. Imagine that you are the next president and you want to make a major address about oil. You have all your advisors give you briefing papers and suggestions. That is the way "Freedom From Oil" reads. It has lots of good information, but it does get a bit repetitive at times. Overall, I found it very useful.



4. I tend to steer clear and far away from any type of political book. My disinterest stems from the obvious bias and propaganda that these types of political figures tend to bring into their views and writing. The viewpoint and rambling on and on bores my racing mind. "Freedom From Oil" was written from a completely different perspective and point of view that it took me by surprise. I was fully engrossed throughout the entire book and often referenced previous views and opinions as I read through Sandalow's ideas.
   
   The format of this book was written as fairly short, but highly detailed documents written to the next President of the United States by the various Directors and Secretaries within the President's office. Each perspective detailed the pros and cons of how to eliminate the United States' addiction to oil. The forward thinking approach brings in thinking from all factors which would affect the people and corporations of the US.
   
   These views facing the problem of oil addiction include memorandums from the President, his Counselor, the Secretary of Energy, the National Security Advisor, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Economic Council, with several articles profiling American viewpoints.
   
   Solutions to the oil addition problems are presented by the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Agriculture, the US Trade Representative, the Council of Economic Advisors, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of State. Additional viewpoints include profiles and ideas presented by American citizens. The range of solutions presented include Biofuels, Plug-in Cars, Fuel Efficiency, Coal, Hydrogen, Smart Growth, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and Diplomatic Strategy.
   
   Finally, a compilation of all the problems, solutions and discussion is provided via a press release and "The President's Speech to the Nation." The format presented in this book not only held my attention but strengthened my belief that all Americans should work toward finding solutions to our current energy crisis and work toward using cleaner fuels and be willing to sacrifice convenience for what is best for not only the United States, but also the world.



5. ALL THESE BOOKS ON OIL AND GAS ARE SAME STORY TOLD OVER AND OVER AGAIN. GOOD TO TALK ABOUT IT I GUESS. BUT...
   
   FIRST, THE USA IS, ERR, COMMITTED TO THE DEFENSE OF ISRAEL. THE OIL IS THERE OR RIGHT NEXT DOOR. THE OWNERS OF THE OIL AND GAS DON'T LIKE JEWS.
   
   SECOND, MOST OF THE OIL AND GAS DEPOSITS ON EARTH ARE CONTROLLED BY GOOFY RELIGIONS AND PEOPLE LIKE HUGO CHAVEZ.
   
   THIRD, TO GET FREE OF OIL AND GAS YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE CHANGE THE WAY YOU LIVE. A LOT.
   
   FOURTH, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO RE-DESIGN YOUR CITIES SO THEY ARE NOT CAR AND TRUCK DEPENDENT.
   
   FIFTH, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO KICK THE OIL AND GAS INTERESTS OUT OF YOUR GOVERNMENT. THEY RUN THE CIRCUS...
   
   SIXTH, TO DO ALL THESE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE. LITERALLY. NONE THESE THINGS WILL CHANGE OR GO AWAY VOLUNTARILY.
   
   SEVENTH, YOU HAVE TO START TODAY. YOU ARE ALREADY VERY VERY LATE...

5 comments about The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels.

1. Running out of oil?? Hardley!!! The earth PRODUCES oil...............ongoing!! We will never run out. Read this Great book.



2. 1. Pores within rock, like cells within living organisms, can be maintained at very high pressures, sol long as the fluid that occupies the pores or cell exerts an outward pressure as great as the opposing pressure of the surroundings.
   
   2. Under the abiogenic theory, if oil and gas are flowing upwards from deep high pressure levels any caprock. No rock has a significant tensile strength, so no rock can hold down a flue that comes up with a pressure greater than that exerted by the weight of the overburden. A caprock will create a concentration of the fluids below it, but he steady flow rate will eventually be reestablished at a value equal to the flow rate at the deep source. For example, a dam causes a lake to form on the upstream side, but after the lake has filled, the flow rate rate resumes.
   
   3. If oil and gas have indeed come up from below, we can expect a vertical series of deeper reservoirs to be stacked below the producing field.
   
   4. If the uppermost domain has fluid pressure decreased by production of oil or gas, then the pressure differential across the crushed layer of low permeability will automatically increase. Transport through that layer will therefore accelerate. The top field will be replenished at a rate given by the leakage from below, when the delicate pressure balance between rock and fluid has been change. The top field will be drawing on the deeper reserves that have not been accessed directly.
   
   5. Petroleum reservoirs seem to refill themselves, noteably in the Middle East and the US Gulf Coast.
   
   6. The abiogenic theory of petroleum formation presumes that an enormous source of primordial hydrocarbons (created a the time of the planet formation) resides in the upper mantle and lower crust-far deeper than can be drilled and sampled directly (30-100km).
   
   7. Seven evidences of abiogenic theory are: First, reservoirs of petroleum, including various gaseous forms such as methane and ethane, are frequently found in geographical patterns of long lines or arces extending for hundres or even thousands of kilometers. Second, Koudryavtsev's rule states Hydrocarbon-rich areas tend tobe hydrocarbon-rich at all lower leels, corresponding to quite different geological epochs, and extending down to the crystalline basement that underlines the segment. Third, methane is found in many locations where biogenic explanations for its presence is improbable or where biological deposits seem inadequate to account for the size and extent of the methane resource. Fouth, hydrocarbond deposits of a large area often show common chemical features regardless of the varied composition or the geological ages of the formations in which they are found. Fifth, a numberof hydrocarbon reservoirs seem to be refilling as they are exploited for commercial production. Sixth, the distribution of large amounts of carbonate rock in the upper crust and the isotopic composition of the carbon atoms within it argue against the theory of a a surface biological origin of most of the buried hydrocarbons. Seventh, the clear, well-established regional associations of hydrocarbons with the chemically inert gaseous element helium have no explanation in the theories of a biological origin of petroleum.
   
   8. It use to be thought that temperatures about 600C would dissociate the simplest and most heat resistent hydrocarbons, methane CH4, and that temperatures as low as 300C were sufficient to destroy most of the heavy hydrocarbon components of natural petroleum, at a few tens of kilometers of crust. In 1980, E.B Chekalium indicated in a publication that methane would resist complete dissocation down to a depth of 300 kilometers, except in volcanic regions where temperatures approached 2000C. Chekalium believed that methane could exitence at a maxium depth of 600 kilometers.
   
   9. According to molten earth theory, the earth was formed as a hot body, a liquid ball of rock, and cooled forming a crust overlying a homogeneous mantle. In such a history, no primordial hydrocarbons could have survived the molten state.
   
   10. Today, Scientist believe the earth and other inner planets and the satellites of the outer planets, all accreted as solid boids from solids that had condensed from a gaseous planetary disk. The heat that melted the mantle was caused from radioactive material and gravitational compression. The earth must hve been subjected to only a partial melt. Hydrocarbons were a a common constituent of the accreting earth.
   
   11. If the gases ascend in region of magma, then chemical equilibrium between the hydrocarbons and magma would be approached, and this would usually favor formation of the hydrocarbon gases. Thus it is no surprise that volcanoes generally emit carbon main in the form of CO2, with only minor amounts as methane CH4.
   
   12. Astronomical techniques have thus produced clear and indisputable evidence that hydrocarbons are major constituents of bodies great and small within our solar system. The greatest quantity is found in the massive out planets and their satellites. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have large admixturers of hydrocarbons in their atmospheres.
   
   13. The abiogenic theory holds that hydrocarbons were a component of the material that formed the earth, through accretion of solids, some 4.5 billion years ago.
   
   14. In a violent eruption there will not be the small bubbles that come up at quiet times; instead there will be large plumes of gas, racing upward through the molten rock.
   
   15. At the temperatures and pressures on or near the earth's surface, some hydrocarbons are solid (coal), some are liquid (crude oil), and some are in the vapor state (natural gas).
   
   16. In 1996, indigenous microbes found from an oil well in Alaska at a depth of 4.2 kilometers and a temperature of 110C.
   
   17. In 1997, microbial fossils where discovered in granite rock at a depth of 200 meters.
   
   18. 1991, at a dept of 5.2 kilometers in Sweden microbes were detected where drilling in solid granitic bedrock. A sample was taken and cultured in a laboratory. The anaerobic microbes would only reproduce in a temperature range from 60C to 70C.
   
   19. At 2.25 kilometers the critical point is reached. Here the pressure is so great that no matter what the temperature, there is no distinction between vapor and liquid. It is appropriate to refer to water beyond the critical point as existing as fluid, specially a super critical fluid. Temperature increase at a rate of 15C and 30C per kilometer of depth in non-volcanic regions.
   
   20. Greater density means that methane is actually easier for life to access at depth. At six kilometers methane is 400 time more dense. 21. Higher temperatures that coincide with greater depth escalate the rate at which methane molecules collide with the cell membranes of microbes. Both factors enhance the rate at which methane would be expected to diffuse across waxy cell membranes. Deep is desirable to assist methane consumers in accessing their food.
   
   21. there are two sources of oygen atoms that are loosely bound: Fe2 03 Iron oxide and SO2 oxidized sulfer. Sulfate (SO4) is the second most abundant ion of negative charge in seawater.



3. Author Thomas Gold was born in England, but
   grew up in the United States. This book proves
   once and for all the myth about the 'fossel-
   fuels' is bunk, just like Evolution. One of
   Tom's most important interviews to date. Pick
   up on any Radio Free America or Radio Liberty
   cassettes while they are still out there. Radio
   Liberty also available on CDs. Highly recommended!



4. This book provides a logical and comprehensive explanation of how petroleum hydrocarbons are formed deep in the earth's mantle and migrate upwards to form gas and crude oil fields and coal measures nearer the earth's surface. It coroborates what russian petroleum geologists have known and applied for many years where they drill wells up to 13 km deep to tap crude oil nearer its source and far below where any surface biota could have been buried. Gold demonstrates that the theory of a biogenic origin of petroleum is wrong and cannot be sustained in the light of new information that is now available.



5. 
   This book provides a good starting place for the exploration of the myths about the original
   formation of the materials commonly called "Fossil Fuels", that is petroleum and
   black coal. The change of assumptions discussed here alters many things, including the understanding
   of the geo-politics of oil and energy. Gold is a smart cookie and after you read the book
   you will see that an open minded astronomer would be a logical candidate to understand
   and develop this theory. New only to many western minds. The Russians have worked on this
   for a long time and their knowledge was the seed germ for Gold's work here. Worth the time to read. dxr

3 comments about Oil & Gas Production in Nontechnical Language.

1. If a picture is worth a thousand words this book is more robust than advertised. The myriad of pictures, drawings, charts, and graphs bring the rather technical topic of oil and gas production to life.
   
   The book gives a valuable overview of the industry, and even though I am in a related industry (oil and gas pipelines) it provided me with new information in a conscise and easy to read format.
   
   My hat is off to the authors for a fine job.



2. This is a concise, expert explanation of how oil and gas are discovered and extracted today. Petroscience is a complicated business, but this book peers into the art and science of the industry and provides laymen with a basic understanding of all the steps involved in finding hydrocarbons and in getting them to market. Highly recommended!



3. ...good primer for non-industry stakeholders (e.g., bankers, private equity investors, lawyers, etc.)...
   
   ...author needs to tighten-up grammar/sentence structure and quit bashing lawyers, financiers, non-engineers, imho, since this is the target audience...

5 comments about The Oil and the Glory: The Pursuit of Empire and Fortune on the Caspian Sea.

1. The Oil and the Glory is the interesting and scandalous tale of greed, corruption and risk taking by the largest oil and gas companies in the world as they fought over the rights to the huge amounts of crude oil located in the Caspian and Eurasia region. While the author does describe the beginnings of the oil boom in Azerbaijan in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the vast majority of the book takes place in the last several years after the fall of the Soviet Union. To be honest, there were exciting sections in this book; there were also some tiring sections as well. I read this book because of my interest in history and project finance. For the reader with more knowledge and experience in the oil industry or with the Caspian region, this may be a much more exciting book.



2. This book describes events that took place over ten years ago. It deals with recent history, but it reads like journalistic reportage. This would have been fine in 2000 when Caspian oil was still the "in" thing. But events have moved on, the Caspian is different now, and this is no longer cutting-edge stuff. As usual with "reportage" (as opposed to proper history) the book is full of major and minor inaccuracies. The use of sources is very selective and hence an incomplete and subjective picture of events is given. Key characters are misrepresented or ignored. I know this because I worked in this area during the period covered by the book. Although Levine discusses the Caspian oil and gas geopolitics of the 1990s, he fails to make it a unifying theme, which would have made the book more coherent. It is a brave attempt to encompass exciting events in the recent past, but it fails to provide a definitive and elegant account. The prose is good, and sections would stand well on their own as separate articles, but the whole does not hang together. The level of detail is at times bizarre, reflecting poor editing. I read it all because I lived through the events described, but at times I wondered why anyone without a special motivation would be interested in such obscure descriptions of old oil deals and half-colorful characters.



3. When I first saw this book in Borders, I didn't want to buy it. I was worried that the narrative would bog me down in "dead history" while addressing the relevant, modern day stuff in the last part of the book.
   
   The other thing that put me off was that the dust jacket had an endorsement from Seymour Hersh on it. I don't like Hersh's style of journalism ...sensational claims, very thinly sourced. I thought that was a sign of the same problem with this book.
   
   Having read "the Oil and the Glory," I'm happy I took a second look. It shed light on an aspect of foreign policy and US energy industry of which I had been all but oblivious. As for the "dead history," the book only spent a few opening chapters on things that happened a long time ago, and the author wrote about them in such an interesting and relevant way, I enjoyed them as much as the modern history.
   
   There were so many different aspects of the book that enjoyed so I won't try to name them all. First, the book is a huge and very easy to digest foreign policy lesson to the reader about the oil business and its intersection with US national security.
   
   Second, I found the way that the oil companies had to chase continuously after the oil riches rather instructive. Contrary to some people's rhetoric, the oil companies don't just have wealth handed to them. They have to work for it and take risks and sometimes, even after all that, it disappears.
   
   Another useful part about the book is the story of UNOCAL and its flirtation with the Taliban in the late 1990s over the idea of building a pipeline crossing Afghanistan. The author shows that this was never much more than a half-crazy dream that foundered on the reality of the Taliban's fundamental barbarity and friendship with Osama Bin Laden. It's worth keeping in mind when you hear hardcore leftists like John Pilger insist that the US operations in Afghanistan were nothing more than a grab for the pipeline instead of self-defense in the aftermath of September 11.
   
   Finally, I have some new found respect for some aspects of the Clinton administration's foreign policy. I hardly think that Clinton was a foreign affairs virtuoso, but I can't deny the fact events in the Caspian have turned out generally to the US's favor...thanks to a large degree to wise statesmanship on the part of his administration.



4. As a third generation oilman, I found Steve Levine's book about Caspian Oil to be a must read for any petroleum industry professional that has an interest in the Caspian component of our global industry. This book serves as an excellent reference book as well as entertainment. Levine's interesting accounts of the players and government operatives that have a hand in developing another "super giant" oil and gas province is at times, quite informative and illuminating. I feel that even though the book may not be totally up to date, it nevertheless will provide a fundamental understanding of the politics and manipulations that inevitably occur when countries and world leaders jocky for their piece of the black gold. This book should also be read by so-called environmentalists and those that want a life without fossil fuels, including the 6,000 primary products that are derived from crude oil, such as plastics we humans use from cradle to grave. It would be interesting to hear intelligent arguments, for once, from the anti-oil crowd after the have fully studied our industry and how damn difficult it really is to keep the inhabitants on this planet supplied with the means to live in a modern world and not something approaching life in the caves where we all came from. It is petroleum, as well as natural gas, that help propel the earth's population into a better existance, but at the same time, when the god-given resource is mishandled and manipulated, as this book documents many such occasions, it is not hard to see why every significant war in the last century had blood and oil involved and not much has changed in this new century. The riches of the Caspian can be used for enormous benefit to populations affected or be squandered by the likes of despots and vile power mongers as this book also enlightens the reader. The Caspian resources are a temporary treasure that if handled judicially and with proper foresight, will vastly improve the lives of millions of people, but as this book points out through its endless cast of characters, accomplishing those higher goals is often quite difficult even with experienced and seasoned professionals. Steve Levine has a well written dispaatch from one of the more mysterious places on earth.



5. The story of Caspian oil for commercial use began in the late 19th century as the value of oil surged with the development of industry and transportation. This story has been brought to life by Mr. Steve Levine in a remarkable tale that focuses on the pivotal players involved. Following the initial development of the Baku oil fields, the area assumed military importance in 2 world wars and then became cloaked under the proprietorship of the Soviet Union. It was not until the breakup of the USSR that Caspian oil became accessible to foreign development. Levine has managed to make direct contact with many of the players active in the post Soviet rush to grab a piece of the Caspian oil action. These players include senior corporate executives, national leaders, state representatives and a handful of individuals eager to cash in on the bonanza waiting to be grabbed and divided. Levine has captured their stories and created a tapestry of contemporary oil history that weaves together endless skeins of personal greed, power, and money, along with national interests of power, wealth and defense.
   What could have been told as a good guy / bad guy tale is instead described as a multi-player chess game, engaged on a multi-sided board of shifting squares and re-invented principals. International state teams vie with international self-serving teams of private and public corporations. Players drop allegiances and trade sides, stakes shift with the political winds, agreements forged over months fall flat overnight. Levine circles around the table examining the team players, gathering their play books. He unveils how various deals grow and then collapse forcing the players into new rounds. It is not often that one is given an inside look at how governments and businesses "play" together to reach their aims, which are often not similar. Here we are pulled into the backrooms where such "play" takes place. This particular chapter of oil history is extremely engaging and well told. May whoever writes the next chapter do so with the clarity and detail of Mr. Levine.

5 comments about From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel.

1. This book is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in learning the basics of the renewable fuel bio-diesel.
   
   Mr. Tickell does an excellent job in presenting the argument as to why, from an economic and envrionmental standpoint, our government should invest in renewable fuels. Job creation, reduced trade deficit, and the environment to name a few.
   
   The most astounding bit of information I gleaned from this book is that the most promising future of bio-diesel lies in algea.
   
   This book is worth the investment.



2. Very helpful but quite thechnical...



3. The book is a good introduction to alternative fuels but for the svo conversion I found was not complete enough and doesn't have enough pictures and the diagrams are badly made. For the rest: recipes for biodiesel, and other it's good but still not much details. But anyway it's a must for anyone interested in the subject, being the only book available, but before doing anything ask around for more precise and recent advance in this technology.



4. I purchased this book before starting a biodiesel project with a local community development group. After researching, designing, building, and operating a biodiesel processor for myself, I would not recommend this book. It promotes open reaction tanks, which would expose the user to toxic methanol fumes, and possibly splashing methodixe- a corrosive, flammable chemical used in making biodiesel. It also says that washing biodiesel is unnecessary, which could cause engine damage. When researching biodiesel, please be careful- use only closed methanol and mixing tanks (wash tanks aren't as big of a concern), and make sure to learn all about the safety aspects of the titration chemicals and the storage of methanol. Here's to happy, safe, "brewing"!



5. This book is excellent in some ways. The most useful section details the basics of biodiesel home brewing, transesterification, titration, testing, building the processor (pp. 59-98). The bulk of the book (pp. 5-58) concerns preliminaries - a history and (useful) description of the functioning of diesel engines, a section on growing one's own fuel, renewable energy. Then, the author shifts gears and discusses the SVO (greasecar or 'straight vegetable oil' approach) (pp. 99 -116). There are numerous disadvantages to SVO which are not discussed. The book closes out with a generalized section on troubleshooting (pp. 117-132). Then, a series of more or less useful appendices (pp. 139-62). All in all, the book is worth buying with lots of useful info.
   Now - the caveat. Unless you have advanced pipefitting, plumbing, mechanical, and chemist skills - by all means - get 'hands on' instruction. Building and operating a biodiesel processor is not a book-learned skill - it requires the combination of trade-skills as listed. Methanol - one of the key components in the mixture is a highly flammable and dangerous fluid. Lye (POH) - another component can seriously burn, blind, or even kill you and must be handled with the utmost care. You must be trained in this. Glyceron, the by-product, is the glyceron which is found in 'nitro-glyceron' - go figure. Plus, even if you don't care much about yourself, there's a lot that can mess up your vehicle if you don't get it right. And I know you care about your vehicle, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this far.
   There are a number of key issues not discussed in the book. The biodiesel community breaks down into two basic camps: 1) SOV (straight veg oil users - where the transesterfication process takes place within the vehicle) - a subspecies is the group that uses a 'solvent thinner' to achieve this process (mainly of historical interest) and 2) the home-brewers (those who build and operate biodiesel processors). My advice is to save the money you would spend on this book and access a class taught by a member of this community - namely, 'girl Mark', Maria Alovert. She is not only expert at making biodiesel (including disposal or reapplication of by-product) but she teaches workshops throughout the U.S. on a continuous basis. She may be accessed by searching on the machine you are operating now. 'Girl Mark' also produces excellent, precise written materials which deal with crucial subjects like the advantages of Potasium Hydroxide (KOH) over Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) for the entire process which Tickell's book does not. Brewing Bio is a complex - yet not undoable process. You want the best - for you and your vehicle.

5 comments about Petroleum Refining in Nontechnical Language Third Edition (Pennwell Nontechnical Series).

1. As someone who is fairly new to the oil & gas industry I wanted something to explain the essentials of refining and this is exactly what this book does. In easy to understand language with a minimum of math one is able to understand the basics of the refining process.
   
   I will want to go on from here to something that is much more in depth, but as a starting point this was exactly what I was looking for.



2. As an experienced chemical engineer new to downstream oil work, i.e., refineries, this book has been highly useful. I expect to use it as a quick reference years after mastering the field. William Leffler has written a simple, easy to read training program for engineers and non-engineers alike. If you are new to refineries or would like to know more about the subject, say from the perspective of ethanol refining, this is book for you. I suggest starting here and going on to harder material later.
   
   If this review was helpful, please add your vote.



3. Book is not bad, not much technical information in it. I would have liked to see more information written about the various process's. Just gives a very broad look at the refining units.



4. This is an excellent book to get insight about Oil Industry without going through the hassel of understanding the technical/chemical info.



5. Not going to be able to do process design of a petroleum refinery unit with this, but for other disciplines or general orientation, this book can't be beat. Even I find it useful for quick simple reference, and I am a Chemical Engineer with 15 years experience doing process design of petroleum refinery units.

5 comments about Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology, Exploration, Drilling and Production (2nd Edition).

1. This is the best book available if you want to understand the petroleum industry without all of the techy details (or the engineering that comes with it). An excellent overview & reference.



2. Very well written and formatted for those of us with very little or no previous oil and gas related experience. Covers all the bases and allows the reader to see how prospects are identified and analyzed and the hydrocarbons recovered and marketed. Recommended for all those wanting to learn more about the industry.



3. I am a graduate geologist and I found this book ideal in my circumstances as an introduction before I got some petroleum work experience.It is very well written ,even a layperson could get a good appreciation for the wide encompassing subject matter.It is not aimed at specialists or those with a lot of experience in the petroleum geoscience.However, it is one of the best text books I have read.



4. I was looking for a book giving a comprehensive overview ofthe petroleum industry Upstream processes.
   
   I found it. This is a great book with a practical sense and the figures and tables needed to build Your own frame of information.
   
   If You need a practical understanding of the industry to build a business case, or figure out Oil Co needs. This is where to start



5. Well done Norman J Hyne, what an excellent edition. You explain how this complex industy works in very easy to understand chapters and supporting diagrams. Well worth the price.

5 comments about Biodiesel Basics and Beyond: A Comprehensive Guide to Production and Use for the Home and Farm.

1. WOW!!!
   
   I've been looking on the web at making fuel for some time and never felt I was getting the whole picture. This is ALL the info you will ever need on the subject. From system setup throught dealing with waste, this book explains it all in laymens terms. It shows that making fuel is not going to be the easyest thing you ever do. In the same breath, it shows that its within reach of us "normal" people.
   
   It really a very informative but light read. Not only the process is reviewed, but also the economics and history. Definitly worth the read weither you want to make fuel, or just learn more about the subject.



2. This book was purchased to get a better understanding of the biodiesel production process and industry. It also goes into great detail in how to build your own quality biodiesel plant. The author also dispells the fact from fiction involving quality biodiesel production. It is a good book for the person very interested in building a plant and is wanting to make an educated decision before he builds the plant. Overall, Great Book!



3. This book is great and details exactly how to make and use your own biodisel. It also covers saftey and logistical aspects of creating it which I thought was quite nice. The only reason though that i gave it 4 stars was becuase it is a bit wordy. There is a lot of information in this book and it can be overwhelming but overall it is very good and useful.



4. After researching most of the books available on the market on the subject of BIO-DIESEL I eventually settled for this book.
   It is well-written and covers every aspect of the manufacture of bio-diesel that the smaller-scale individual would look for in a book. The author is well-versed in his subject and is a definate must-have book if you are looking to get into this field.
   Definately worth 5/5 stars from me.



5. This book was very well written and researched. The book is detailed but still very interesting. I felt lead by some suspense. I was thinking, "Given all the hard truths, Can he really make it work for the home scale producer?!?" - and in the end, he does.
   I wish he'd said a little more about using SVO but that's not what this is about.

5 comments about The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century.

1. The book was interesting and informative. There were a lot of facts, ideas and concepts brought up that made it very worthwhile to read.
   
   As would be expected, there were a few points where I disagreed with the author, but that is to be expected in any controversial book.
   
   I highly recommend it.
   
   Jerry Minchey



2. Having read the book in 2008, and knowing that Mr. Kunstler wrote it 4 years earlier, the writer is very astute in correctly forecasting the sub-prime/debt crises and the oil price increases.
   
   He does a credible job of explaining why oil may not be there for all time. Unfortunately, his treatment of the alternative fuel and new technologies is rather brief and he seems to dismiss any solution, as it would interfere with his relished doomsday scenario.
   
   Kunstler brings up valid points, but his suggested outcome (a return to a version of an 18th century rural lifestyle) is rather far fetched and does not do justice to mankind's creativity and tenacity in addressing the real energy challenges we are faced with.



3. Whew boy! After catching Kunstler on the radio, I bought his book, and read it with great fascination and mounting alarm. As a scenario for disaster, this book should please fans of fiction writers like J.G. Ballard. Only it is not fiction - Kunstler predicts the coming collapse of all human civilization, and he provides dark, witty descriptions of how this will come to pass. He makes a strong, compelling case, and I found myself fervently hoping that he is completely wrong. But we ignore this kind of prediction at great peril. For too long people have complacently accepted the status quo without looking to the future, and the leaders of American business and government are among the greatest offenders.
   
   Kunstler sees a coming collapse and severe contraction of the world economy. When the cheap oil begins to run out, our severely overpopulated world and its global consumer economy will begun to fall apart. Violence, disease, and much lower standards of living are coming to the world's strongest countries, and the developing world will never develop. We will all be taking giant steps backward, and there is no cure, no new technology that will bail us out. Already (in 2008), much of what Kunstler predicts here appears to be taking shape.
   
   As a polemicist and writer, Kunstler is very impressive. He is a good phrasemaker and possesses a sharp, dry wit. However, he is not a first-rate scholar. There are hardly any footnotes and references, and no bibliography. He makes broad predictions without referring to anything that buttresses his views, no political or sociological or scientific or historical studies of any kind. He dismisses all alternative energy technologies, yet he is not a specialist in this area. He offers little in the way of solutions, and instead sketches out a series of inevitable disasters that lurk in the near future. He also presents a brief history of the USA in relation to oil consumption that can no doubt stimulate some discussion. He basically sees the rise of the USA, improvements in world agriculture, and all the technological advances of recent decades as being completely dependent on cheap oil.
   
   It is important to remember that this is a man who dislikes contemporary American civilization and may, in fact, look forward with relish to its collapse. His region by region description of the USA lurching painfully backward towards the 1800s would be amusing if it were not so disturbing. He may be right that American suburbia is the greatest misallocation of resources in history, but his blatant hatred of it may also color his views a little. He certainly possesses the biases of many liberals of his generation, such as viewing the American Southeast as a land of ignorance and stupidity, despising big box stores, and disliking big business in general - but that does not automatically mean he is wrong.
   
   I would recommend this book, but I would also recommend reading it critically and taking into account the views of other writers on the subject. It is now unquestionable that action needs to be taken on his central issue - the dependence of American civilization on imported oil. Personally, I look forward to exploring more of Kunstler's works. His views are pretty extreme, but they make for very interesting reading, and his sharp, cogent writing makes them easier to digest.



4. This was the second Peak Oil book that I had the pleasure of reading and I wish it was the first. By and large, I would classify this text as a classic. Kunstler's begins his treatment of this topic by viewing the current socioeconomic climate as filled by a populace blinded by certain assumptions that make the coming (or present) oil crisis all the more severe. He then goes on to treat the rise of our modern industrial civilization and its roots in cheap energy (oil) and how the geopolitical nature of oil has shaped international trade and events.
   
   As in other texts on the subject, Kunstler examines the potential alternatives to oil, and how even if combined, the most they are likely to do is soften the fall. Unlike other books however, there is an extensive treatment of the environmental component of the dilemma that other books fail to address. Kunstler wraps up the Long Emergency by forecasting Peak Oil's effects on the economy and what living in the "long emergency" may indeed be like.
   
   Across the board, I enjoyed Kunstler's writing style and presentation. His voice adds to the rising tide of those that herald the awareness of Peak Oil. Like Heinberg, his writing rises to the top and demands the attention that few can or deserve. This is an essential book that is strangely, given the subject nature, enjoyable to read.
   
   For more Peak Oil reviews: http://www.peakoilresources.com



5. Kuntsler's got it right regarding the challanges we face in the not too distant future. His wit and sarcasm combined with a clear writing style make this work a most enjoyable read.
   
   Kuntsler also presents his case cogently in a video entitled The End of Suburbia. I have been influenced by his work, and have actually made lifestyle changes ranging from the use of compact florescent lightbulbs to an investment in a sustainable living community to help me to cope with the coming difficulties that Kuntsler predicts.
   
   There is one point that I would like to add. I see a ray of hopefulness in recent advances in lithium ion battery technology, that will allow the production of electric cars that are actually usable. Theses advances had not been achieved prior to the writing of this book, and therefore are not included in Kuntsler's vision of The Long Emergency. Thank you James Kuntsler for making us aware of the implications of the unsustainable lifestyle arrangements we have created.

5 comments about The Prize : The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power.

1. Yergin's opus is a compelling read but the plot falls apart in the paperback version - literally! The pages start to separate from the binding before you're 100 pages into your read. If your goal in purchasing a paperback is transportability the loss of entire sections actually makes the book a bit easier to carry around, but don't plan on lending it after you're done.



2. Daniel Yergin made is his name as an oil industry analyst by writing this book. As far as I am aware, this book is the best history of the oil industry ever written.
   
   It is comprehensive and begins prior to the start of the modern oil industry, discusses the U.S. oil industry when U.S. oil production on U.S. soil was a major player in global oil. It then proceeds to the rise of middle east production, the formation of ARAMCO (Saudi American Oil Company), and winds its way to the modern dominance of the oil and gas fields in and about the Persian Gulf. You may need to check for an updated edition - if there is one - or supplement this book with the history of the oil industry within the last ten years. This supplementation is just a function of when this book was published. The book has not been superceded in its field.
   
   This is required reading for any student of the global oil industry.



3. Mr. Yergin undoubtedly deserved the Pulitzer Prize for this masterpiece on the history of oil industry. He succeeded in covering about a century and a half of discoveries and developments providing accurate information on historical events, national and international politics and key players, achieving to write a reference book on the subject.
   Certainly no author whomsoever can be impartial - and throughout the reading one may well notice that Mr. Yergin is writing from a North-American standpoint. However, partiality is subtile and does not jeopardise his work's strict conformity to facts. Actually, it is only now and then - as in the case of Mossadegh and Nasser - that one might notice that the author could have stepped forward into a less contained critique of Washington's inertia and refrained from a more stark appraisal of Western European role.
   Nonetheless, Mr. Yergin is probably the best historian of the subject, faithful to facts, besides being able to imprint a light and entertaining style into his narrative.



4. This book was written when energy, not terrorism, was the most pressing domestic problem. Oil is so essential to the survival of our economy. "The Prize" traces the history of oil from its humble, entrepreneurial beginnings in the hillsides of western Pennsylvania, to the shrewd domination of the industry by John D. Rockefeller, to the breakup of Standard Oil, and through the discovery of oil in the farthest flung corners of the globe.



5. One of the few books that I enthusiastically have recommended. Great historical information for history buffs. Great economic information and how it effects us even today. It will truely help you understand the dynamics of war, politics, oil.