Pickens says natural gas “only option” for U.S.

TEXAS - Oil baron T. Boone Pickens made headlines when he announced that he would be making a massive investment in wind power. He had made plans for a 4 GW wind farm in Pampa, Texas a town along U.S. Highway 60 northeast of Amarillo. The site was set to become the largest wind farm in the U.S.

However, a mere 667 turbines into the construction (likely about a sixth of the total planned turbines) Mr. Pickens is pulling out of the "green gold" project of which he has contributed $10 billion. A deciding factor was the difficulties in securing heavy transmission lines need to link the generators to the nation's power grid. Mr. Pickens tried to get financing for the lines, but the deal fell through.

Now he is pulling out of the project, mostly. He states, "The capital markets have dealt us all a setback. I am committed to 667 wind turbines and I am going to find projects for them. I expect to continue development of the Pampa project, but not at the pace that I originally expected."

Mr. Pickens made a fortune off his venture oil and gas firm Mesa Petroleum that after initial success began gobbling up oil and natural gas companies in the 1980s. Now it appears that Mr. Pickens is returning to his roots. He comments that natural gas is "the only option at this point" and continues, "There's no other, there's nothing else to replace it. It's the one and only resource in America that today can replace foreign oil. It is a cleaner, abundant fuel."

Still he remains optimistic on wind power, stating, "We've got more wind than anybody else in the world, just like they have more oil. I think that's the future of this country. We'll get there."

President Obama's alternative energy efforts have pleased Mr. Pickens, as does a new bill which will offer tax credits for the production of alternative fuels vehicles, including cars that can run on natural gas. In addition to introduce new tax credits the bill will require 50 percent of all new vehicles purchased or placed in service by the U.S. government by December 31, 2014, to be capable of operating on compressed or liquefied natural gas.

Cheers Mr. Pickens, "We're going to now use natural gas in place of foreign oil."

Major wind and solar installations continue to gain traction in America, but the death of the Pickens project in Texas showcases the problems with America's power infrastructure. America is suffering from a decrepit and poorly maintained power grid which not only lowers efficiencies (raising power costs) and contributes to brownouts, but also hinders alternative energy projects. As America has expanded, the grid hasn't expanded quickly enough with it, as this project showcases.

Related News

empty space

Experiment Shows We Can Actually Generate Electricity From The Night Sky

LONDON - There's a stark contrast between the freezing temperatures of space and the relatively balmy atmosphere of Earth, and that contrast could help generate electricity, scientists say – utilizing the same optoelectronic physics used in solar panels.The obvious difference this would have compared with solar energy is that it would work during the night time, a potential source of renewable power that could keep on going round the clock and regardless of weather conditions.

Solar panels are basically large-scale photodiodes - devices made out of a semiconducting material that converts the photons (light particles) coming from the Sun into electricity…

READ MORE
wec deal

WEC Energy Group to buy 80% stake in Illinois wind farm for $345 million

READ MORE

why-atomic-energy-is-heating-up-again

Why Atomic Energy Is Heating Up Again

READ MORE

seattle-city-light-initiative-helps-customers-reduce-electricity-bills

Seattle City Light's Initiative Helps Over 93,000 Customers Reduce Electricity Bills

READ MORE

american dollars

PG&E Supports Local Communities as It Pays More Than $230 Million in Property Taxes to 50 California Counties

READ MORE