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Page added on October 11, 2012
T. Boone Pickens: Natural gas should be next fuel
Natural gas is T. Boone Pickens’ energy source of choice these days. In a presentation Monday to The Daily Advertiser’s Editorial Board, the well-known billionaire oil man outlined a plan to become more energy-independent by using a resource that lies in abundance under North America.
Pickens presented the idea of cutting fuel costs while becoming less dependent on oil from OPEC, part of his Pickens Plan.
In its initial stages, it would involve manufacturing 8 million 18-wheelers that would run on natural gas.
“That cuts OPEC down by 75 percent,” Pickens said Monday. That’s 3 million barrels (of oil) a day.”
Pickens’ ideas make sense on a couple of levels.
Natural gas is abundant in North America — or under it. That would mean a more reliable energy source than oil from the Middle East, where the situation is often volatile and where the United States is almost universally unpopular. The U.S. is almost as vulnerable to being cut off from its oil supply as it was during the Oil Embargo of the 1970s.
Natural gas is also cheaper and 30 percent cleaner than gasoline or diesel, Pickens said.
Pickens presents his case in a matter-of-fact, commonsense way. While he doesn’t come off as passionate about the cause, he is enthusiastic. Determined might be a better word. He appears determined to convince others of the logic of eventually switching to natural gas.
“We’re No. 17 on the list in the world for using natural gas for transportation and we have more natural gas than any other coutnry in the world.
“So here you are. You’re being stupid to continue to import oil from the enemy.”
The man himself seems down-to-earth and appears to have an energy that belies his 84 years.
“Y’all probably thought I was 94,” he said.
No. Not hardly.
Although Pickens declares himself not to be a fan of letting government take the reins, he is a proponent of the so-called NatGas Act, which is, at least for this legislative year, dead in the water.
NatGas, or H.R. 1380: New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2011, would have provided certain incentives for manufacturing natural gas vehicles or using natural gas as a fuel.
But why trade one fossil fuel for another one? What about “green” alternatives?
Not so long ago, Pickens espoused using wind energy as an alternative and came away with a costly lesson, losing $150 million, by his own account.
The fact is that alternative power sources are nowhere near being ready to run an entire country. Or even an entire state.
So, should the nation go dark for the years or even decades it will take for wind or solar power or other alternatives to be developed?
Or should the nation embrace natural gas, at least as an interim measure?
That would certainly help the economy of this state, where there is a high concentration of people who have the know-how and the equipment to extract this resource from the ground, as well as a fair share of the resource itself.
And it is a realistic solution for the nation as a whole.
10 Comments on "T. Boone Pickens: Natural gas should be next fuel"
Arthur on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 11:50 am
NG IS going to be the next fuel of choice, the question is, are we going to use it wisely and set up a new energy base with it or are we going to continue with ‘happy motoring’, as JHK uses to call it.
BillT on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 12:14 pm
And Pickens is not at all prejudiced is he…lol. Pure propaganda. Natural gas is only plentiful until it isn’t. Stop the fraking and the bubble pops.
Where is most of the natural gas NOT from fraking? Russia.
Hubbertsfreak on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 2:45 pm
T. Boone Pickens, how is your wind farm doing? Yes, lets spend all of our remaining capital and resources to convert everything to natural gas just in time for it to become scarce.
Plantagenet on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 3:44 pm
Obama says there is a 100 year supply of NG in the USA. Lets use NG instead of imported oil.
Bob Owens on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 5:15 pm
There is some limited room to use gas as a transport fuel and this should be pursued. It makes more sense then using it in electric generators. Still, there are serious limits. The tanks are large with high psi and range is limited. Civilian cars using the fuel make sense but nothing will beat reducing the use of and conserving what we already use. All new civilian cars should be limited to 4 cylinders. That would save more gas than all the NG transport substitutes we can dream up.
Gale Whitaker on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 5:33 pm
Using trucks instead of trains for long haul delivery is incredibly stupid. Since the US has not reasonable energy policy we will just muddle along.
ian807 on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 6:52 pm
If the EIA figures are correct, an we really do have 2,203 trillion cubic feet of natural gas left, that amount of gas is energetically equivalent to about 40 years worth of oil use in the United States. Net energy from oil is decreasing each year and so, we will use more natural gas to make up for that, so it won’t last 40 years. 30 years, perhaps, if we don’t convert it to liquid fuel. 20, perhaps, if we do.
Newfie on Thu, 11th Oct 2012 10:04 pm
Industrial Civilization is a massive Ponzi scheme based on consuming ever increasing amounts of steadily depleting reserves of non-renewable resources. It will soon be an exhibit in the Museum of Failed Civilizations as resources essential to the economy arc into depletion.
BillT on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 12:53 am
ian897, all of these articles look at small slices of a huge picture and never mention net anything. It is net not gross that determines the future. If you have 10 cf. of gas and use 6 cf. to get those 10 cf., you net 4 cf. not 10 cf.. HUGE difference!
Once a barrel of oil got 99 net. Now a barrel of oil gets about 2-3 net from tar and shale. HUGE difference in available energy.
Arthur on Fri, 12th Oct 2012 3:52 pm
ian807 & Bill, I am not entirely convinced that the US does not have this potential of 2.2T ft3… but I do know that if this amount will be exploited, half of the US will be turned into a wasteland in 40 years time, a nightmare of poluted soil and groundwater that is impossible to reverse. France for this reason has refused to give permission to exploit this technology.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444450004578001971243057726.html
WSJs vile comment: “Once again, Hollande chooses ideology over prosperity.” No reason is given as to why France decided like this.
Do not forget to read the reader’s comments to know what’s coming in the US: unlimited fracking.