a new alternative for solving the energy crisis?
9.Jul.08 | culture, politics |Energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens has created a new campaign aimed at solving the energy crisis in the United States. I’ve seen his ads on tv for the past week or so talking about a new alternative for solving our dependency on foreign oil and I finally took the time to watch the video on his website. It’s pretty interesting and although doesn’t claim to be the solution, he does claim that it will reduce our dependency on foreign oil enough to buy us some time and solve the problem down the line.
I must say I am extremely intrigued, however I’m just not quite sure how it will be completely implemented in our oil-based economy…
Eric |
9.Jul.08 @ 2:59 pm
So, the only way to move those pie pieces like that are to either have 38% of the market buy natural gas-powered cars for economic reasons, or to mandate those percentages. which one is he hoping for? i’m guessing with the “right leadership, and all of us in it together” speech at the end, he’s looking to the latter.
monts |
9.Jul.08 @ 5:31 pm
that’s a good question… i’m guessing that it’d probably be some combination of the two. we keep slowly mandating higher MPG standards for automobiles, so this would probably fit under that same category.
however, at the same turn if oil prices continue to rise exponentially then i think people will begin seriously looking at natural gas cars as an alternative if it’s more cost effective. that’s why buying a prius is so difficult right now (a waiting list that can last up to 9 months in some markets).
rags |
10.Jul.08 @ 9:42 am
Ok, we all basically agree that there is a problem right? Do we also agree that Texas oil men are not generally saintly humanitarians interested only in the well-being of humanity? I hate to be overly cynical, but he said in the video that he is investing in wind power while the entire video is a promotion of wind power. It sounds like he is trying to create a boom market for himself. It is true that we will never drill our way out of this problem, but what is wrong with drilling to help ease the problem a bit? We are not all going to be able to purchase natural gas cars or even hybrids unless Commrade Obama mandates it. It’s not as easy as moving numbers around on a white board. What about the infrastructure? Who will change all the gas stations over? I agree that wind power is a great untapped resource. I’ve heard that we are the Saudi Arabia of wind power (whatever that means), but the environmentalists won’t even allow us to full use it because those huge windmills are like rotating guillotines for birds. Anyway, it is terribly frustrating because 1) no change will happen over night or even within 10 years and 2) every so called solution has its own drawbacks and detractors.
I saw this fascinating headline on Reuters yesterday. They were talking about the G8 summit in Tokyo, but the headline was this: “Who is going to save the world?” Huh…
monts |
10.Jul.08 @ 11:37 am
I totally agree that he’s in this for a profit, there shouldn’t be any disputing that one bit… I think he’s trying to lead the way and be on the cutting edge because in the energy industry to be on the cutting edge means more money once others start to fall in line. He should be loaded if wind power ever takes off… not to mention natural gas vehicles.
Tracy did some research into natural gas vehicles and said that they may burn cleaner but actually get less mpg’s than oil-based cars. I’m supposing that it’s still a burgeoning technology that has some major kinks to work out.
He did mention the infrastructure part in his video saying that it would be about $200 billion to create/change, but at the same time he said that in the long run it would save us trillions of dollars… He doesn’t seem to take into account certain things like the cost to rebuild after tornadoes (he’s building this in tornado alley) and typical maintenance but at least he’s talking about it.
Scott T |
10.Jul.08 @ 1:32 pm
I have no problem with Pickens or anyone else making a lot of money off this. Especially since they are assuming most of the risk with developing it.
I used to work summers for a county highway department and all of our big dump trucks & pick-up trucks ran on propane. That was over 25 years ago, so the technology is already there. It always made me a little nervous to fill the trucks at the propane tank
Timmy B |
10.Jul.08 @ 4:53 pm
Scott T, Propane is actually more stable than gasoline. Flashpoint is much more narrow for propane than gasoline. And yes, propane is used in many vehicles…most of the Swans Icecream trucks utilize propane for the engine and refrigerant, farm tractors, trucks…propane is used in the farming community quite a bit already.
Jason |
10.Jul.08 @ 6:00 pm
The future of the hydrogen car should be where all the money goes. Toyota gets something like 60mpg on their hydrogen fuel cell car and its 100% environmentally friendly. There are some really good studies out there that show how great this technology could be if the big motor companies would get behind it.
My 1992 Plymouth Grand Voyager with 225k miles on it gets an avg 22mpg with mostly city driving. My brothers 2006 Toyota Sienna gets around 23mpg average, similar driving. So you are telling me almost 15 years later they cant do any better than this. Its a cover up, and until people cut the demand like in half nothing will change. Barack, Mccain, Repubs, Dems, etc will all never do nothing to help the issues at hand unless we the consumers force the oil companies into a spot where demand is so low, they have to look to alternatives.
How that happens I’m not sure.