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The Energy Futurist
The Energy Futurist brings a critical eye to the energy industry, offering facts and figures to support or debunk the hype behind clean technologies like solar and wind to oil and gas.
Chris Nelder
Chris Nelder
Columnist, Energy
Chris Nelder is an energy analyst and consultant who has written about energy and investing for more than a decade. He is the author of two books on energy and investing, Profit from the Peak and Investing in Renewable Energy, and has appeared on BBC TV, Fox Business, CNN national radio, Australian Broadcasting Corp., CBS radio and France 24. He is based in California.
Chris Nelder
Chris may or may not have financial holdings in the companies he writes about at the time of publication, as he is an active investor and trader in equities and ETFs. He also occasionally travels at the expense of companies or their press relations agencies in order to report on a company or industry event related to it. Chris prominently discloses this information when appropriate. These relationships have no influence on his coverage. Companies he covers do not get to review columns in advance, or select or reject topics.
He writes for SmartPlanet, but is not an employee of CBS.
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Obama vs. Romney: Who has the best energy plan?
The energy policies of President Obama and Mitt Romney offer two radically different directions into the future. Which one would take us into prosperity?
95 | September 5, 2012 1:48am |
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The energy-water nexus, 2012 edition
Detailing the water demands of power production and the power demands of water production as power plants are forced to shut down in the drought and record heat of 2012.
12 | August 22, 2012 1:46am |
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Energy policy: Follow the money
Energy columnist Chris Nelder follows the money, and finds out the real reason why our energy policy is severely tilted toward the fossil fuel industry.
61 | August 8, 2012 3:00am |
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The missing link to a $7 billion market
Making freight rail and waterborne transportation infrastructure a national priority could open up a $1 billion export market for American renewables, writes energy columnist Chris Nelder.
15 | July 25, 2012 3:00am |
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California's high-speed rail as an energy lifeline
Energy columnist Chris Nelder finds that California's high-speed rail will save more energy than the state produces with wind, and that its $68 billion price tag is downright cheap.
67 | July 11, 2012 3:00am |
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All energy and climate solutions are local
Energy columnist Chris Nelder outlines how local communities can move ahead on climate solutions and true energy independence now that global climate policy efforts have failed.
13 | June 27, 2012 3:00am |
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The future of oil prices
Energy columnist Chris Nelder reviews why unconventional oil pushes oil prices higher, and forecasts oil prices through 2014 and beyond.
26 | June 13, 2012 3:00am |
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Storytelling our energy future
Energy columnist Chris Nelder muses on the stories we tell about our energy future, and explores some behavioral and cognitive research about the power of storytelling.
23 | May 30, 2012 3:00am |
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The energy transition juggernaut
Energy columnist Chris Nelder reviews public opinion polls and finds that money is no longer able to stop the energy transition juggernaut.
55 | May 16, 2012 2:37am |
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Fuel to Byrne
Energy columnist Chris Nelder digs into the dirty details of U.S. "oil" supply and finds that only about two-thirds of it can actually be used as vehicle fuel.
36 | May 2, 2012 5:00am |
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The cost of new oil supply
Energy columnist Chris Nelder shows why the production costs of oil from tight oil shales, tar sands, deepwater, and the Arctic will mean that oil becomes unaffordable for the U.S. by 2015.
40 | April 18, 2012 5:00am |
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The last sip
Energy columnist Chris Nelder explains why recent projections of oil independence by 2020 are not only wrong, but counter-productive in the long run.
24 | April 4, 2012 5:00am |
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Why baseload power is doomed
Energy columnist Chris Nelder explains why baseload power generation from nuclear and coal plants will be phased out in favor of renewables.
108 | March 28, 2012 5:00am |
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Scoring the rhetoric on Obama's energy policies
Obama takes credit for increasing fossil fuel production, while the fossil fuel industry blames him for falling production. So what's the truth?
36 | March 21, 2012 5:00am |
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High oil prices: Fortunately and unfortunately
High oil prices are changing our world in many ways; some for the good, and some for the worse, columnist Chris Nelder writes.
20 | March 14, 2012 2:16am |
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Oil demand shift: Asia takes over
Energy columnist Chris Nelder shows how the oil demand of the East will overtake the West this year, and why more efficient vehicles won't solve our problem.
32 | March 7, 2012 5:00am |
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A model of oil prices
Energy futurist Chris Nelder presents a model of oil prices, and shows why unconventional oil from fracked shales will reinforce, not relieve, the pain of high oil prices.
15 | February 29, 2012 5:00am |
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Energy independence, or impending oil shocks?
Bring back the good old days of U.S. oil production? Think again. Columnist Chris Nelder skewers recent proposals for energy independence with cold, hard data.
29 | February 22, 2012 4:03am |
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What EROI tells us about ROI
Energy futurist Chris Nelder explains why you can run from EROI, but you can't hide, and why savvy energy investors should use it as a guide instead of ROI.
33 | February 15, 2012 5:00am |
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Everything you know about shale gas is wrong
Is the shale gas gold rush over? Energy futurist Chris Nelder reviews new data showing that U.S. gas production is actually declining in major areas, and that the outlook for shale gas is...
11 | February 8, 2012 5:00am |