very nice Delia. But seriously, people need to study his plan. It may be the way out of our dependence from foreign oil.
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73 Tii. My Daily driver
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who profits? thats what you should be asking

im pretty sure i heard that this is an oil guy who has extensive holdings in natural gas.

we have plenty of sunshine in the southern states, why havent we put solar panels on every roof
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'O=00=O'
Long Live The Legend.

neanderthal wrote:

who profits? thats what you should be asking im pretty sure i heard that this is an oil guy who has extensive holdings in natural gas.

pickens admits openly that he will make money, but that doesn't mean that the plan is some sort of scam. i think it makes sense. it's not the solution to our energy situation, but it will certainly make a difference if it works as planned. proven technology that will keep billions of dollars in our economy. i like it.
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'71 2002

I only skimmed the site so maybe I missed this analysis, but while natural gas may be relatively cheap right now (and my winter heating bills make me question that), but a substantial uptake in demand for natural gas would have a corresponding impact on prices. It seems like I've heard of big issues with storage and distribution of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, also.

But at least people are looking at these issues now and hopefully working hard to solve the problems. I'm a big supporter of doing whatever we can to reduce our reliance on oil. I think that would make most of our Middle East problems go away.
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Matthew Cervi
'73 tii

MatthewCervi wrote:

but a substantial uptake in demand for natural gas would have a corresponding impact on prices.

demand should remain flat. the electricity generated by the new wind farms allows power plants that currently consume natural gas (ng) to decrease their ng consumption. this ng is then made available to the distribution network for the ng vehicles

MatthewCervi wrote:

It seems like I've heard of big issues with storage and distribution of renewable energy sources like solar and wind, also.

true, the distribution network is huge investment, $200 B according to the the plan.
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'71 2002

T boone Pickens makes the local news here in oklahoma often enough, he has a bazillon dollars in each pocket and in the bank, but he has given many millions to one of our states bigger/biggest university for stadiums/sports & most recently academics, so he may have a profit incentive, but he's already so rich from oil & gas, who cares ? That said, He hasn't given me a dime to work on my old cars, but CNG is only 90 cents a gallon, so 4 times cheaper fuel right now. The down side is the conversion kits, I did a quick search & didn't see promising answers, seems the EPA is part of the problem there. Some of the local UPS delivery trucks around here have been running CNG for years, drivers say they run just fine, like regular gas vehicle. If they can
make conversion kits come down in price & be available for more vehicles, I think it could be a better plan than everyone has to buy a new CNG vehicle.

I think the real question is:
How fast can I make my 2002 go on CNG ?
Or, what kind of effect would a CNG conversion have on a performance tuned motor ?

Looks like you need a storage tank, a regulator or two, and specialized injectors & probably separate gas line.

Seriously, solar & wind power need to be used more & more, in whatever way possible, it's kinda obvious technology is constantly making these types of power generation more efficient, year by year.
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2002 owner since 1980

MatthewCervi wrote:

....while natural gas may be relatively cheap right now (and my winter heating bills make me question that), but a substantial uptake in demand for natural gas would have a corresponding impact on prices.....

Here in Californiia it is no longer cheap. The state built a slue of gas=powered electric plants in the early part of this decade b/c it was the cheapest way to create electricity. Not now; it's costing the same or more than the "conventional" ways.

In terms of cars, my guess is that the future is hydrogen (BMW does too, BTW) and electrical is solar.
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“...democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”

-Winston Churchill

[the faqer formerly known as schnell540]

Coincidentally, I have been doing some work on a wind farm the last few weeks.
These turbines are huge. Almost 400 ft hight when the blade is at the top, diameter from tip to tip is 132 ft. This site, with 45 turbines already built, is in the process of building 80 more, at a cost of 2 million each for the turbine assembly alone, and they only have a lifespan of 20 years.

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Our company has been supplying related electrical materials to wind farm jobs across the United States. Sales are up and growing each and every day to the hundreds of thousands. This is definitely a trend.
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73 Tii. My Daily driver
Volvo V70 Turbo,Wagon

Ad Deum Per Fidem Mores Culturam