Billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens said Wednesday that natural gas should become the transportation fuel of choice in the near future in the U.S. if the nation hopes to move toward energy independence.
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Speaking at an energy conference sponsored by Oklahoma State University's Spears School of Business, Pickens dismissed biofuels as a potential solution to meet the nation's energy demand and said oil prices _ which have neared $120 a barrel this week _ could rise as high as $150 a barrel before demand would begin to fall.
Pickens - an Oklahoma native and former wildcatter who now heads the Dallas-based hedge fund BP Capital Management LP - also expects energy to be a key issue during this year's presidential race, saying $600 billion in spending for oil annually leaves the country.
"Somebody has got to come up with some plan to stop the outflow of that kind of money," he said. "We've got to have something different and it's got to be pretty quick."
The 1951 Oklahoma State graduate has been credited by others in the industry for making prescient predictions about the direction of oil markets. He also founded a company called Clean Energy, which went public in 2007, to advocate the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
Pickens said it's essential to explore renewable energy resources, including wind and solar, as well as continuing developing nuclear energy to go along with traditional energy sources such as oil, natural gas and coal.
He hopes to build a wind farm in the Texas Panhandle that he said could produce 4,000 megawatts of power annually, twice the production of a typical nuclear power plant. More wind farms could be built in corridors in the central and southwestern U.S., he said.
"This is a huge business that is going to happen," he said.
Even while working on developing alternate energy sources, Pickens said he remains bullish on oil, natural gas and coal, calling the latter "our number one natural resource" but recognizing the need to make the use of fossil fuels use more environmentally friendly.
"Whatever we do to clean it up is good. Conservation is good," Pickens said. "But all of it has to fit into a plan that works for us."
That plan, he said, shouldn't include biofuels such as ethanol because "you can't get enough to make a difference." He instead touted reducing the use of natural gas in power generation and using it more as a transportation fuel.
"It's a domestic resource, it's cheaper and it's cleaner," he said.
Pickens' idea about natural gas as a common transportation fuel is not far-fetched, said Tom Ward, the chairman and chief executive officer of Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy, another speaker at the conference.
"I think it's very practical," Ward said. "Over time we're going to have to find a way to use less oil and to use more natural gas, because it's our opinion as an industry that we can produce more natural gas. We're seeing that oil is a little bit harder to find.
"The technology is here. All we have to do is to do a better job of making people believe that they can come up with the right automobiles, like Boone is doing. ... I can see in the future where you can just go out to your house and have a spigot where you use your natural gas from your house and just fill up your car."
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We should experiment with natural gas vehicles in rural areas as we do with propane. These people have farther to drive for day to day activities. The natural gas is coming from these area anyway, so it seems more feasable to try it in these areas first.
One of the problems (besides those other power lobbiest not getting their share), is the Compressed part of CNG. Just imagine Mr. or Ms. I.Q. None filling up for the first time at their house. The use of propane was generally limited to rural ranches and farms, and yes there were some that learned the hardway, but because the overall usage was less, the number of retards were less. Put it out for public consumption, no way, until there are "idiot proof" convieniant (sp) way to dispense. And Darwin's theory could be applied, its the collateral damage that would be deemed unacceptable. I'll bet there are still people that fill up an unapproved plastic container full of gasoline while it sets in the back of their carpetd trunk or SUV. They'll learn the hard way.
I dont know why people are looking at this with such awe. For years cars, trucks, and tractors have ran on propane, what I would call a cousing to Nat. Gas. The idea isnt far fetched and would be cost effective, Oklahoma is btw the nations 2nd largest producer of natural gas.
You can fill up at your house with a machine called PHIL from Fuelmaker. But the cost to fill up on CNG from a ONG station is only $.91 per gallon so why spend the $3,000 to get it at home. I have been driving a CNG SUV for 2 years with no problems and the $.91 a gallon is great. In oklahoma if you convert your car you get a dollar for dollar tax credit, if you convert it to bi-fuel you get a $.50 to $1 tax credit, if you buy a CNG car you get a 10% tax credit. There is a place in Tulsa that can convert your car also they can give you all the info on tax credits. www.tulsagastech.com
If it is so efficient and practical, why isn't the free market process making it happen? Sounds like natural gas lobbyists looking for another government handout.
I agree 100% in what he is saying. We must find another way if we are going to keep driving our cars. There has been gas powered ways to run a car on natural gas the products were made right here in Oklahoma But some laws stop them from being used. You could pull up to your house gas line and fill up the car and drive off. But the people that be stopped it dead in its tracts. So from Boon's home town lets get it on and start running on gas.
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Hey Matt, what is your mpg on the natural gas?