Mr. Robert Rapier
Engineering Director
Accsys Technologies
Robert Rapier has a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering, and has devoted his career to energy-related issues. At various times he has worked on cellulosic ethanol, butanol production, oil refining, natural gas production, and gas-to-liquids (GTL). Robert has written a number of articles on energy and the environment for various web sites, but is primarily associated with The Oil Drum and his R-Squared Energy Blog. He is also the author of the chapter "Renewable Diesel" in Biofuels, Solar and Wind as Renewable Energy Systems: Benefits and Risks, edited by David Pimentel.
Robert has long been critical of grain-based ethanol, arguing that the environmental and social costs are too high to justify the limited energy return. In 2005 he testified against a grain ethanol mandate before the Montana State Legislature. Robert sums up his position on biofuels as "I don't believe that all biofuels are bad, but we need to carefully consider the tradeoffs." Robert is presently employed as the Engineering Director for Accsys Technologies, an environmental science and technology company that has commercialized a technology that can mitigate the destruction of tropical rainforests, while at the same time sequestering carbon and lowering energy consumption.
