MAR 04

In case you thought that after all the setbacks, T. Boone Pickens was giving up, he's reminding us that he's still around and he still has a plan (albeit a different one) to free the country of its dependence on oil.

In a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle, Pickens outlined revisions to his original plan that was big on wind power and natural gas-powered cars.  To sum it up in five words:  less wind, more natural gas.  Here are his main points:

• Natural gas prices have fallen 70 percent in the last year making it more attractive than wind financially.
• He's still committed to wind energy, but thinks even if we add wind power, we'll need natural gas to act as a back up until there's better power storage.
• Discovery of more natural gas shales has lead him to believe that now is the time to amp up its use in generating electricity and converting 18-wheelers to run on it.  Doing so would decrease oil demand by 2.5 million barrels a day.
• He believes Congress will pass an energy plan by Memorial Day, hopefully including the Natural Gas Act that would support converting trucks and fleet vehicles to the fuel.

I agree that power storage is a huge hurdle wind and other renewables have to overcome if we want to start replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, and until we get there, having natural gas fill in those gaps isn't a bad idea, but I am disappointed that he's lost the huge enthusiasm he once had for wind energy.  It was nice having an ex-oil tycoon dreaming big about wind.

via Houston Chronicle

Comments (6)

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Storrage is not such a big issue
written by Alex, March 05, 2010

I don't think energy storage is such a big issue. The wind is not always blowing, but it is always blowing some where.

If you build enough wind and solar plants in enough different locations, you get the reliability that you need.

Especially if at the same time you are pushing radical efficiency. Renewable work a lot better if we need less power, and there are millions of "nega-wahts" available in the system.

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written by Doc, March 05, 2010

I think the recent limitation revealed in real world energy productions is the lack of sufficient transmission line infrastructure, not the wind or lack of generators.

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So....
written by Marc, March 05, 2010

Does that mean T. Boone is Bullish on Bloom Box? That sounded dirty for some reason...can't quite put my finger on it haha.

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T Boone's Switch
written by Moe, March 05, 2010

From the get go I smelled a rat with this guy. It was all a bait and switch scheme on a grand scale. The real target was to promote gas as a "renewable alternative" or with the "green mantle". Sorry, boone, the rabbit is out of the hat.

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@Alex
written by Alexander, March 06, 2010

If you build enough wind and solar plants in enough different locations, you get the reliability that you need.

This is right in theory, but in practice we would have to transmit huge ammounts of electrical energy to very large distances which makes the price of such electricity skyrocket. For more information and figures read Ted Trainer's book "Renewable energy can't sustain consumer society".

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Natural Gas is not a good alternative
written by Paul, March 11, 2010

Natural gas could very slightly decrease oil imports, but at what costs? People in areas with gas shales are being poisoned by companies irresponsibly digging natural gas in a process called "fracking". It puts chemicals I can't even spell or pronounce in people's drinking water and underground aquifers that make the water FLAMMABLE. I repeat: water coming from these people's faucets can be lit on fire. Pickens should tough it out and stick with the wind.
Check out gaslandthemovie.com

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