Oilman Pushes Wind, Natural Gas to Combat Foreign Oil

Multibillionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens promises that you’ll see his face on TV this fall as much as John McCain and Barack Obama. No, he’s not running for president, he’s pushing for more investment in wind energy to cut down on the amount of oil imported into the U.S.

A very interesting article in USA Today discusses his plan in depth, but in short he points to successful wind communities in Texas as the future of clean energy in the U.S., which in turn will help reduce the need for foreign oil. It all sounds great, except for one thing: Pickens envisions that the electricity provided by wind power will allow cars to run on natural gas.

We don’t get that leap in logic, even after reading his plan. What we do get is that Pickens is heavily invested in both wind and natural gas and would profit from either one.

The idea of more wind farms is a good one, especially as automakers are promising plug-in electric hybrids. Electricity generated by wind would be clean, renewable and could even help produce hydrogen if hydrogen vehicles became affordable. If ethanol could be created from waste products then be used to fuel plug-in hybrids, we’d have an even cleaner solution.

Shifting to natural gas for powering cars is not a great idea for many reasons. Natural gas is controversial — it is drilled for just like oil and can have devastating effects on the environment — and is non-renewable just like oil. There’s also no infrastructure for delivering natural gas to cars. It is, however, clean-burning and would cost much less than gasoline at current demand levels. As always, we’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below. 

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens wants to supplant oil with wind (USA Today)

Comments

[Bowrider]

I'm all for it. I'd be interested in hearing more about the natural gas argument (guess I could read about it). It seems more viable and more realistic.

[markt]

YEEEEEEEHHAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW, an oilman dumps one billion dollar dead end to travel down another one.

[LM]

The CLEANEST, and only acceptable solution, and true ZERO CO2 car would come from hydrogen pulled from sea water through solar and wind power.

That is the ultimate, but so is fusion and we see how far that's come.

[ziggy]

I've seen interviews with this guy and he seems to know what he's talking about. People don't make millions/billions of dollars without have some intelligence (unless your name is Bush)

[Nate]

I love the idea about wind energy becoming a main source of power. If we invest in wind and hydrogen then we will be able to maintain our Large Suvs. Gas Guzzlers will no longer be an issue. If the big 3 in Detriot were smart they would help invest in these new technologies to save their own company in the near future.

[Rich]

I like the idea of generating electricity for our eletric/gas hybrids from the wind's power. Then, make the hoods and roof panels of our hybrid cars out of solar panels for an additional source of free solar electric power. Drop the weights of our hybrids by using composite materials. T. Boone Pickens is a good guy who is sick and tired of his country playing the role of a puppet on a string that tiny Middle Eastern nations can make dance a jig whenever it suits their amusement. We need to be self-reliant when it comes to our energy or else we will continue to play the role of the fool for the Middle Eastern nations.

[Adrock]

Well, my motto is to always trust a man by the same of T. Bone or Pickens, so I'm all for it.