Robert Rapier
Energy Central
Chandler, AZ, United States
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Past articles by Robert:
We Need Win-Win Energy Policies
About a decade ago, a friend asked how high I thought gasoline prices might rise. I said “One day you will pay $10 a gallon for gasoline.” He replied that he would refuse to pay […] → Read More
Why Trees Are An Ideal Source Of Renewable Power
One of the more controversial renewable energy resources is woody biomass, such as trees. It shouldn’t be, because biomass can be a highly sustainable resource, if it is properly managed. I lived in Hawaii for […] → Read More
Addressing Some Keystone XL Claims
Two of my recent articles — namely here and here — seem to have spawned or at least contributed to a firefight between critics of the Biden Administration and its defenders. I know my articles […] → Read More
Nuclear Power’s Future Is Looking Brighter
Between 2009 and 2019, global consumption of renewable energy grew at an annual average of 13.4%. Over that time, renewable energy consumption grew from 8.2 exajoules (EJ) globally to 28.8 EJ. Yet, global carbon dioxide […] → Read More
A Peek At The Efforts Of Two American Lithium Companies
In two previous articles, I have discussed China’s commanding lead in the rapidly-growing lithium industry. In a nutshell, it’s because China has invested heavily into developing its lithium supply chain, while the U.S. has lagged […] → Read More
Why Biden’s Electric Vehicle Charging Plan Might Be Falling Short
Last month the Biden administration released a plan to build a network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the country. President Biden considers this an essential part of the fight against climate change by […] → Read More
Grading My 2021 Energy Predictions
At the beginning of each year, I make several predictions about the energy sector. You can see those predictions and read the context at Energy Sector Predictions For 2021. There is still a little over a […] → Read More
Is Fracking A Threat To Water Supplies?
The shale oil boom that began about 15 years ago enabled the fastest growth of oil and natural gas production in U.S. history. Prior to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the shale boom even […] → Read More
The Double Irony Of Asking OPEC To Increase Oil Production
As I wrote in February of this year in The Inherent Risks In President Biden’s Energy Plan: “If we prematurely discourage investment in fossil fuels — and then our dependence doesn’t decline as rapidly as […] → Read More
Revisiting The Blame For High Gas Prices
No article of mine has generated more views and more reader feedback than my Forbes piece in March of this year: Who Is To Blame For Rising Gasoline Prices? At present, there are nearly 900,000 […] → Read More
Renewable Energy Bucked The Trend In 2020
The is the sixth article in a series on BP’s recently-released Statistical Review of World Energy 2021. Previous articles were: Highlights From The BP Statistical Review Of World Energy 2021 A Record Decline In Carbon Emissions […] → Read More
The U.S. Maintains Its Natural Gas Dominance
The is the fourth article in a series on BP’s recently-released Statistical Review of World Energy 2021. Previous articles provided an overview of this year’s Review, an examination of the data on carbon emissions, and a […] → Read More
The U.S. Remained The World’s Top Oil Producer In 2020
Last month BP released its Statistical Review of World Energy 2021. The Review provides a comprehensive picture of supply and demand for major energy sources on a country-level basis. Each year, I do a series of articles […] → Read More
Energy Leads All Sectors In 2021
The rocky times of 2020 are well behind the energy sector at this point. Last year there were many premature obituaries written for the energy sector, but it has certainly shown plenty of life in […] → Read More
The Colonial Pipeline Attack Was A Major National Security Incident
The majority of U.S. refining capacity is on the Gulf Coast. Refineries there receive a combination of domestic and Canadian crude via pipeline, as well as waterborne imports from all over the world. The crude […] → Read More
Oil Demand Has Nearly Recovered
As the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread last year, I developed an idea. I hypothesized that the pandemic would cause a permanent dent in oil demand. I covered that hypothesis in a couple of articles […] → Read More
Clean Hydrogen From Nuclear Power
Hydrogen was thrust into the spotlight as a promising clean energy source by President George W. Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address. President Bush touted the potential for a “hydrogen economy” that […] → Read More
The Energy Sector’s Blowout Quarter
After three abysmal quarters in 2020 — due to the triple whammy of an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, demand destruction as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and perceptions that oil […] → Read More
Why Gas Prices Rise Nearly Every Spring
Although it wasn’t strongly emphasized in the recent discussions on the rise in gasoline prices, those prices to rise nearly every spring. But why does it happen? There is no question that it does happen. […] → Read More
The Enormous Energy Legacy Of President George W. Bush
I often remind people that a U.S. president’s policies generally have limited impact on the energy markets in the short term. This topic often comes up when gasoline prices are rising or falling. However, over […] → Read More