Why manned spaceflight is ultimately doomed
When I was a little kid, Star Trek was a staple. No surprise – I was born in the year when Neil Armstrong strode down the surface of the moon for the first time. And I sucked it in. I…
How we could have avoided the German Wings disaster
Dear Airline executives I am a frequent traveler and heavy user of airline services. As a consultant for the energy industry, my work is global and I spend a lot of time musing about the safety of the planes I…
The third reign of life – clean energy from another realm
Most of us will remember from our time at school that life is divided into different reigns. One of them belongs to Bacteria, scientifically called Prokaryotes. They are simple singular cell life forms with no cellular core and RNA swimming…
AGRI and a new energy future for the Black Sea region
2011 I was briefly involved in a project called AGRI – the Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Interconnector. I was intrigued because even if this project was daring and exotic, it had immediate appeal to me. But I underestimated the signs of…
Hit me and I get stronger – the effects of long-term sanctions
Is there anyone who does not know about the sanctions against countries like Iran, Cuba, or North Korea and now against Russia? If one looks at the news only, sanctions appear to be a very effective means of turning violent…
The rebirth of the real economy
More than 6 years ago – in 2008 – something big happened. The world economy took its first big knock from which it has not recovered since. For many, it has set in motion a spiral that threatens to blow…
How to beat chicken and egg in LNG bunkering
Just imagine it’s Christmas but nobody is there. That’s a bit of what LNG for bunkering feels like. It has it all: LNG is cleaner than anything else cutting some cheese with the environmentalists, it’s cheaper than diesel which must…
The future of labor
A couple of days ago I was engaged in an online discussion about joblessness at age 45 and beyond. I was struck by the obvious magnitude of the problem and also by the sometimes extreme honesty with which the participants…
Ragnarok for oil sellers – and you thought the mayhem is over
All those interested in Norse mythology (I am sure there are some Thor fans out there) will have a clue about what happens when Ragnarok hits us. It is a series of events that eventually destroys most of everything we…
The real reason for the (so called) low oil price
So we have lived through the last OPEC meeting in Vienna holding our breath about what the oil producers might be doing to stop the oil price from falling even lower. The oil price is still not low right now,…
You might well be the one and only
How many times have you had a great idea but your in-built censure mechanism prevented you from spilling it to the world? I bet any of you had countless of those moments. Great ideas are extremely frequent. So frequent in…
Alaska LNG – no lessons learned from Australia
Something is exciting up in the north. It’s big, it’s cool, it’s the new darling of the LNG world. World – meet Alaska LNG. Shall we be excited? For a second we might, but there is something strange creeping up…
Evolution in the LNG garden
Modern man with all his marvels is roaming the planet because of a simple, yet powerful mechanism called Evolution. It’s simple because it mechanically tries out every possible pathway to find what works best. It also eliminates those solutions, that…
Where is the oil-price headed?
If one does a long-term project, one needs good forecasts. But what is a good forecast? The one which gives you the truth – or something reasonably close to it. Judging by past performance, all this crystal ball gazing has…
LNG, CNG and electric vehicles – what’s doing what
I cannot remember how many times I had the issue on the table. What’s better? CNG or LNG? My answer is simple – none. Each one of them serves a different purpose and hence, they cannot be compared. They do…
Oculus Rift – a revolution in waiting
For the technophiles among us – Oculus Rift is a revolution that will buzz gaming aficionados by mid-next year. And we all wait eagerly. It’s all too easy to dismiss it as a pure gaming gimmick but if one looks…
80 USD oil is not cheap
I am feeling a little like in a warp bubble – don’t you? Browsing the news feeds I am swamped with posts about projects that are not doing well because the oil price is so low, and countries are in…
The last wonderland for LPG and condensate exporters
The world of those who trade liquefied gasses and light condensate products is in turmoil. At last, the ripples of the US shale revolution are hitting the refinery products markets. And they leave no stone unturned just as shale has…
The real hybrid car – not just a Prius
Since Toyota has bequeathed the Prius to us, all eyes are on hybrid cars. And it’s hard not to admire the technology that has gone in. It’s also hard not to have a heart attack at the sight of the…
The demise of the dinosaurs – some parallels
65 million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the planet. They had conquered every niche of life and ruled the elements. Huge marine Dinos dominated the seas, the biggest land animals ever roamed the planet and the skies were full of airborne…
Movement of goods – logistics 10 years from now
When about 10 years ago I was unleashed on the LNG world, I did not imagine that future logistics would be something I was going to spend a lot of time with. When we talked of logistics, we talked of…