Mineral Energy and Progress: A Consensus View

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 2, 2021 1 Comment

“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.…

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Energy Books: Some Observations

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- June 17, 2021 No Comments

“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.…

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Malthusianism Reconsidered: Desrochers on Smil

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- October 22, 2020 1 Comment

 “Civilization’s advance can be seen as a quest for higher energy use required to produce increased food harvests, to mobilize a greater output and variety of materials, to produce more, and more diverse, goods, to enable higher mobility, and to create access to a virtually unlimited amount of information.” (Smil, Energy and Civilization, quoted below)

“Fortunately, basic numbers don’t lie, and what they convey is that, in the context of market economies, past Promethean writers proved much more right than their opponents.” (Desrochers, below)

Pierre Desrochers (Department of Geography, Geomatics and the Environment, University of Toronto Mississauga) is one of the world’s leading scholars in the fields of energy and sustainable development. A generation ahead of Desrochers is Vaclav Smil, a renowned expert in energy history and technology whose profuse writings document his energy worldview–at least most of it.…

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Hunter Biden Energy Search: (Repeated) Request for Information

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- September 1, 2020 6 Comments

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).…

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Excuses, Excuses: California 2020 vs. Jevons 1865

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- August 27, 2020 4 Comments Continue Reading

W. S. Jevons on Coal (Memo to Biden, Part III)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- July 22, 2020 No Comments Continue Reading

Andrew Dessler: Climate Alarmist as Energy Expert (Part I)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 27, 2020 6 Comments Continue Reading

Climate Scientists Try to Rescue Renewable Energies from ‘Planet of the Humans’

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 14, 2020 7 Comments Continue Reading

Dear Daniel Yergin: We Need Alex Epstein at CERAWeek (‘this is John Galt speaking …’)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- January 14, 2020 1 Comment Continue Reading

“Green Groups at COP 25 Warn Against Market-Driven Solutions to Climate Emergency”

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- December 4, 2019 5 Comments Continue Reading