Our Mission: Fuel Freedom Foundation is working to reduce the cost of driving your existing car or truck by opening the market to cheaper, cleaner, American-made fuel choices at the pump.
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Fuel Freedom is a non-profit with a simple mission: break America's oil addiction by bringing competition to the U.S. transportation fuel market.
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Model building, Playboy and the impact of ethanol on gasoline prices
/in Over a Barrel Blog mkaplan, newleaf /by Arctic LeafI recently read a number of provocative articles (or their summaries) by MIT’s Christopher Knittel and Aaron Smith. They faulted a pair of respected researchers from Iowa State University, Dermot Hayes and Ziaodong Du, in somewhat harsh tones. According to Knittel, the Iowa State pair, in their ethanol-related studies over a three year period (from […]
Carnivals, peas and oil predictions
/in Over a Barrel Blog mkaplan, newleaf /by Arctic LeafEarlier in my life, I volunteered as a carnival “barker” — you know, the guy who tries to inveigle passers-by to throw a ring around a bottle to win something for their date or children. At the time, most paid a buck, lost, and were happy as I was, because the funds went to charity. […]
Flaring gas in North Dakota – what a waste!
/in Over a Barrel Blog wtucker, newleaf /by Arctic LeafYou can see them from outer space. The flames from natural gas flares in the Williston Basin of North Dakota now throw off a nighttime glow larger than Minneapolis and almost as big as Chicago. All that energy is going up in smoke. Ceres, a Boston nonprofit organization, issued a report last week illustrating that […]
And that’s the way it is or isn’t — stable oil and gas markets
/in Over a Barrel Blog mkaplan, newleaf /by Arctic Leaf“And that’s the way it is” was used by my favorite news anchor, Walter Cronkite, to sign off on his highly respected network news show. And that’s the way the content he generally delivered generally was — clear, factual, helpful. I have tried to apply Cronkitism to today’s media analyses and commentary on oil production […]
Make love, not war — a national dialogue on alternative fuels
/in Over a Barrel Blog newleaf /by Arctic LeafRemember the passion, the commitment and vigorous national dialogue concerning the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the women’s movement? No matter how one viewed the issues involved or whether one was pro or con with respect to each initiative, most of the nation, even if only watching the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. […]
Can the Marcellus give birth to CNG vehicles?
/in Over a Barrel Blog wtucker, newleaf /by Arctic LeafWhat if America had so much natural gas it didn’t know what to do with it? Right now that’s the situation in the Marcellus Shale, the vast formation that underlies nearly all of Pennsylvania. There just isn’t enough demand for what’s available. And the same situation could be facing the entire United States in just […]
When California had 15,000 methanol cars
/in Over a Barrel Blog wtucker, newleaf /by Arctic LeafDo you realize that California once had 15,000 cars on the road burning methanol? And that those drivers loved their performance? But that whole experiment came to an end ten years ago because – get this – natural gas was too scarce and expensive. In an era when natural gas is cheap and plentiful – […]
The oil industry and API, at it again. When will they ever learn?
/in Over a Barrel Blog mkaplan, newleaf /by Arctic LeafNever a dull moment! The API is at it again. Just a few days ago, it dramatically issued a survey indicating that close to 70% of all consumers were worried that E15 (a blend of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline) would damage their cars. While the survey was done apparently by a reputable firm, it […]
Robert Rapier loves methanol
/in Over a Barrel Blog wtucker, newleaf /by Arctic LeafRobert Rapier – “R2” as he calls himself in good scientific notation – is one of the smartest people out there when it comes to energy. A master’s graduate in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University, Rapier is chief technology officer and executive vice president for Merica International, a renewable energy company. He also writes […]
Matching ethics and policy: Free markets, subsidies and fuel
/in Over a Barrel Blog mkaplan, newleaf /by Arctic LeafThere is probably a reason that ethicists rarely sit at the public policy table with respect to transportation fuel. Let’s think about it for a few minutes in the context of a diverse group of econo-ethicists. Let’s match the ethics of presently monopolistic gasoline markets, the huge oil subsidies granted to oil companies and, yes […]