Pickens Plan

darfaz · 07-10-2008, 11:59 AM

Former oil man Boone Pickens' energy plan is gaining some attention in the media. Here is a summary of his plan.

http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/

Basically he wants to reduce dependence on foreign oil by utilizing the winds of the Great Plains to generate electricy and switch natural gas from being a fuel used to generate electricity to transportation. Seems like an interesting idea, although I'm not sure how long it would take to have a large percentage of people to move to nat gas in their vehicles.

S.B.Nichols · 07-10-2008, 01:20 PM

It's an ambitious plan that I'm starting to like more and more the more I read into it.

It's not the people he has to convince to make the switch to nat gas, its the car companies.

I was a bit concerned at first that he was in it for money (I grew up in West Texas and he is well known in those parts as a nat gas man), but then I learned hes throwing millions of his own money into phase 1 of his plan without any real way to recoup.

RelientKFan7 · 07-10-2008, 01:42 PM

Interesting...

LaserRacer · 07-10-2008, 02:25 PM

I still think that the United States is missing the ball...the majority of Europe has the right idea with its use of nuclear energy. Unfortunately the American people have villified nuclear energy simply because many people don't understand it.

darfaz · 07-10-2008, 04:27 PM

The plan that Pickens has outlined does not address nuclear power as far as I can tell. I think the problem he may have (purely speculative) with increasing nuclear power is the time it takes to authorize and construct new plants. I think 8 years is the minimum from proposal to completion. With his outline it looks like wind power can be on the grid pretty quickly.

Something else interesting is that he himself has constructed a wind farm on his property (as stated above) . He seems to be fully invested in wind which could be problematic in that it is self-serving. Or it could be that he is placing his money where his plan is.

Bryan · 07-10-2008, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserRacer

I still think that the United States is missing the ball...the majority of Europe has the right idea with its use of nuclear energy. Unfortunately the American people have villified nuclear energy simply because many people don't understand it.

that and the NIMBY factor

**Chrysostom** · 07-10-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserRacer

I still think that the United States is missing the ball...the majority of Europe has the right idea with its use of nuclear energy. Unfortunately the American people have villified nuclear energy simply because many people don't understand it.

Isn't John McCain a nuclear fan?

At least somebody is...

JerryLove · 07-10-2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserRacer

I still think that the United States is missing the ball...the majority of Europe has the right idea with its use of nuclear energy. Unfortunately the American people have villified nuclear energy simply because many people don't understand it.

Europe is heavily into several sources of energy. Including nuclear. Including wind.

**slap_j** · 07-10-2008, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysostom

Isn't John McCain a nuclear fan?

He's pro-whale blubber.

**Chrysostom** · 07-10-2008, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JerryLove

Europe is heavily into several sources of energy. Including nuclear. Including wind.

And their gas is unbelievably expensive.

Probably because they use the metric system. Everything gets messed up when your units of measurement are conducive to arithmetic.

How many ounces in a pint again?

Bryan · 07-10-2008, 06:34 PM

LaserRacer · 07-10-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan

that and the NIMBY factor

I understand that...but I would much rather have a nuclear powerplant in my backyard than a coal or oil powerplant.

The problem I see with wind power is the number of windmills necessary to produce a given amount of power. I just takes up way too much space.

mulletman · 07-11-2008, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserRacer

I just takes up way too much space.

Yeah. Gosh. Stay in your own room.

normajean777 · 07-12-2008, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.B.Nichols

It's an ambitious plan that I'm starting to like more and more the more I read into it.

It's not the people he has to convince to make the switch to nat gas, its the car companies.

I was a bit concerned at first that he was in it for money (I grew up in West Texas and he is well known in those parts as a nat gas man), but then I learned hes throwing millions of his own money into phase 1 of his plan without any real way to recoup.

Would he care at all if he wasn't in it for the money?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysostom

And their gas is unbelievably expensive.

Probably because they use the metric system. Everything gets messed up when your units of measurement are conducive to arithmetic.

How many ounces in a pint again?

Haha I'm not totally sure, but its mainly taxes. Canadians pay more than Americans, and Europeans have always paid more than Canadians. Weird hey? You guys have like the cheapest gas of all developed countries. (Yet we have all the fossil fuels).

BTW I would that Obama wants to cut out America's usage of dirty oil. That is oil from Alberta Oil Sands. So basically he wants to stop getting oil from a secure place, Alberta, who is the single largest supplier of oil to America, and replace it with what? Middle East oil? Wind? Who knows?

bobthecockroach · 07-12-2008, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaserRacer

I still think that the United States is missing the ball...the majority of Europe has the right idea with its use of nuclear energy. Unfortunately the American people have villified nuclear energy simply because many people don't understand it.

Europe has the right idea by sticking wind generators and whatever other alternatives they come up with anywhere they can. The United States is backwards and idiotic in their approach to energy, and one day we're going to pay for it when the oil wells run dry.