Monthly Archives: October 2011

Synthetic Fuels Puzzle

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Peter Spitz

There is an interesting question regarding the contribution that so-called “synthetic fuels” (i.e. those made from raw materials other than crude oil) could make to our motor fuels supply. Technology for several of these fuels has been commercialized, with substantial … Continue reading →

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Petrochemical Industry Regains Its Mojo

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Peter Spitz

When the domestic petrochemical industry was created in the 1950s, the U.S. became the first large-scale producer of olefins (ethylene, propylene) from natural gas liquids (ethane, propane) extracted from natural gas. Availability of natural gas at 25 cents per  million Btu on the … Continue reading →

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The Chemistry All Around Us

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Peter Spitz

As I think almost everybody knows by now, 2011 was the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) and it’s almost over. Nigel Davis, a good friend, who writes a column on the industry for ICIS, told me about a video (“Chemistry – … Continue reading →

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Future Energy Supply: Breakthroughs Needed

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Peter Spitz

Few resources are more important to our future than the availability of clean, domestic energy. New and alternative energy sources must  be developed and commercialized as rapidly as possible. Major breakthroughs or large improvements in scale and economics are needed for … Continue reading →

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Problem Solving

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Peter Spitz

I’ll be blogging a lot about the chemical and energy industries, but it’s a fact that chemical engineers have interesting jobs in a number of other industries. I learned this quite early when taking my master’s degree in Chemical Engineering … Continue reading →

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Resuming Manufacturing Growth

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Peter Spitz

To everyone interested in an agenda for reversing the loss of manufacturing jobs in this country and creating an environment for growth I strongly recommend a book recently written by Andrew Liveris, the chairman of Dow Chemical called Make it in … Continue reading →

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Chemical Engineers: Front and Center

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Peter Spitz

Here is some background on why I wanted to start this blog. I wanted to become a chemical engineer when, in high school, I learned that chemical engineers are trained to figure out how a new product developed in a … Continue reading →

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