T. Boone and Me

Sweetwater, TX -- Sweetwater was once known for hosting the world's largest rattlesnake "roundup" -- 12,000 reptiles every year. Now it calls itself "the world's wind capital" and, by the end of the year, turbines there will be pumping out 3,000 megawatts of wind to provide green power to America's electricity customers. Sweetwater is the County seat of Nolan County, which by itself would rank as the world's fourth-largest nation for wind power -- boasting more wind than the entire state of California. The rattler-friendly pastures and cotton fields around Sweetwater are dotted with General Electric, Siemens, and Toshiba turbines -- big ones, some generating 2.3 megawatts a pop.

T. Boone Pickens was first known as an oil and gas man and then as a corporate raider, but these days he is jousting to topple Sweetwater from its title. Flying with me to visit his wind operations in Sweetwater, he makes it clear that his next wind project is big, Texas-style -- 4,000 megawatts up in the Panhandle north of here. Pickens just doesn't believe that America's energy future is in oil any more. He dismisses the current calls for opening up the coast to drilling, saying that the government's official estimates of oil and gas reserves are wildly inflated -- "the geology just isn't there."

Pickens is infuriated by our continued and increasing addiction to imported oil, which he says now costs us $700 billion a year, and will soon climb to an even trillion. (He is watching the market as we fly, and as oil hits $143 a barrel, the Dow plummets. Boone notes "well, my securities are going to go down, but my commodities book will make up for most of today's loss." Pickens is long on oil, meaning he is betting that the price keeps going up.)

To put it plainly, T. Boone Pickens is out to save America.

But how can wind power, which generates electricity, help us out of our imported oil dilemma? Long-term, it will be through plug-in hybrid cars. But Pickens doesn't think we can afford to wait for the long term, so he's offering an audacious alternative vision -- generate enough wind so that America no longer needs to use natural gas to generate electricity, and then use that gas instead to power up to one-third of our vehicle fleet with compressed natural gas (CNG).

The conversion is clearly feasible. CNG cars are already normal in countries like Argentina, where they cost no more than conventional models. The  barriers in the U.S. have been the resistance of the major oil companies and that we would need to install CNG pumps at service stations. But many fleets already burn the fuel, which is much cleaner, and emits about one-third less carbon than gasoline. And CNG now has another advantage: It costs about half as much as gasoline does. If we were to convert any significant part of the U.S. fleet, the resulting decline in world oil demand would actually reduce oil prices, potentially sharply. It's probably the only short-term (2-3 year) strategy that might.

How to recruit the necessary public support? This would take, it seems to me, a government mandate to get the distribution network in place. After all, the oil industry has hardly rushed to install E85 pumps for ethanol. We can expect that it will fight any effort to break its monopoly. And the auto industry would need to be more than a passive partner if we're going to get enough CNG vehicles rolling off the assembly lines to make a difference.  Will it embrace this play? Lastly, the millions of Americans who own gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs would need to start buying affordable CNG-conversion kits for their vehicles to lower their driving costs. Pickens says he has a game plan, and will announce it next week.

Who knows? I certainly never expected to be inspecting wind operations with Pickens or to be hearing his scorn for the current political notion that we can somehow drill our way out of the oil-price crisis. He's certainly likely to draw an audience that a green wind-power advocate from the Sierra Club could never command. I think we should all stay tuned.

Comments

[frankpatton]

Someone needs to look into what T. Boone is doing with his mining of water, please.

stroy: http://www.wiserearth.org/resource/view/930c455201c5586de00779f1917b415e/group/WorldWaterCommons

[Observer]

Carl Pope and an oil man - the unholy alliance.

[Observer]

The Sierra Club doesn;t care about T's water rights crimes as long as they can use him to their advantage - it will get only token play here if any.

[Very Interesting]

Carl Pope - you failed to do your homework - here is T. Boone stating, as of July 8, that we should "drill everywhere" - wow. I hope you research your other information more than this.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/25564736

[Very Interesting]

Asked whether drilling for oil should be allowed everywhere, Pickens answered "I say yeah, let's go ahead and do it."

[Very Interesting]

He dismisses the current calls for opening up the coast to drilling, saying that the government's official estimates of oil and gas reserves are wildly inflated -- "the geology just isn't there."

Well, which is it your oil buddy wants to do? have you sold us out?

[mary, nashville, TN]

while i appreciate previous comments regarding mr. boone's previous exploits, what he is proposing is at least raising the options as a solution to drilling in alaska and offshore coastal areas, which to me is absolutely not acceptable. i am waiting to see what more is to come from his new "army" with great interest.

[Robert]

As a backer of the attacks on Kerry, Pickens just doesn't have credibility. Here is a guy who did all he could-- including slandering a war hero-- to get an anti alternative fuels, anti conservation, pro big oil administration into office. He didn't just support the Bush cause, he put his MONEY behind it. This is a man, it seems to me, who cares a great deal about his money. Corporate raider, hedge fund mogul, conservative attack man, what in this resume tells you he is sincere when he says he wants to get America on a greener path? Carl, if you don't show some caution in supporting Pickens you are in danger of calling your own judgement into question.

[Robert Michael Foster, MA]

You wrote: "generate enough wind so that America no longer needs to use natural gas to generate electricity, and then use that gas instead to power up to one-third of our vehicle fleet with compressed natural gas (CNG)." How can you save much natural gas with windmills that are not peak power generators? Natural gas is mainly used for peak power generation. Pickens just wants us taxpayers to put in power lines for him, since Enron free enterprise is failing to put them in for him. There was a reason that they were called "public" utilities before Enron. Back, then, electrical power plants and lines could be planned for over the long term and the plans could be executed.

[Patricia J Potter]

The leadership of the Sierra Club should be questioned. The main problem is pollution and global warming. Natural gas still pollutes.
We require an organized program to utilize alternate non polluting fuels before even thinking of the polluters.
This is just another money making scheme.
Since the public is now alarmed about global warming the industrialists are trying to package a program which will provide them with a steady income stream that will be bought into by the public.
Whatever is the Sierra Club thinking?

[Earl Killian]

The Honda Civic CNG (a small car, not representative of the US fleet) goes 0.23 miles on a cubic foot of NG. The NG used for electricity in the US would power Civics (but not bigger cars) only 57% of the miles driven annually in the US.

The wind power that Pickens proposes to build, if used directly for transportation instead of trying to substitute for NG, would power a fleet of similar sized plug-in vehicles 109% of the miles driven annually in US. Wind fueled plug-ins would eliminate foreign oil consumption, unlike CNG vehicles. Indeed, wind powered plug-ins would turn the US into an oil exporting nation again.

Why is this?

The efficiency of NG in a car is about 20%. The efficiency of NG electricity generation is 52-60% (using combined cycle technology). Delivery of that electricity to the car wheels is over 70% efficient, so you get over twice the miles from a cubic foot of NG using it to produce electricity as you do burning in a car’s internal combustion engine.

Basically electric propulsion is efficient. Fuel cells are inefficient, and internal combustion is very very inefficient.

[Maryann Harvey]

I don't like hearing about T. B. Pickens funding the Swift Boat propaganda but when a billionaire is willing to fund clean energy, I'm listening. Yes, he's gonna make money from it, but if it can help clean up the environment, isn't that the point?

[Ben Williams]

I agree with most of your comments about Pickens' role in the Swiftboat attacks and his past in the oil industry. However, the man is by far and away the leader in clean energy right now. If you want to rake him over the coals, that's fine. But if you choose to take that route, then please, please give us a plan better than Pickens' Plan.

[oilfield equipment]

i wonder how much money it will cost to have every town on wind power. I would love to see it but unsure what the cost will be.