Pickens Plan: T Boone Pickens Calls For Increased Renewable Energy Use

By: CaraTan   Date: 31 July 2008

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July 31, 2008 – Billionaire oil tycoon T Boone Pickens announced on July 30 that the US must seek independence from imported crude oil and instead use alternative sources of energy, especially wind power, to cater to its energy requirements.

Mr. Pickens said that oil imports by the US have risen from 24% in 1970 to 70% and the country is spending a whopping $700 billion per annum on importing oil. Oil prices are unlikely to decline in the long term because the daily world demand of 86 million barrels is higher than the world's production of 85 million, which is at its peak and is unlikely to go up, Pickens added.

Pickens, who has invested $10 billion on a wind farm that is under development, suggested that wind turbines could be erected in the Midwest to generate electricity to substitute about 20% of the power produced from natural gas in the US. This natural gas can then be used to run vehicles that are currently completely dependent on gasoline and diesel.

Pickens called the move by the Republicans on July 30 to block tax incentives for alternative energy in the Congress as an unfortunate event that displays a complete lack of leadership on energy. He said he hoped that the political stalemate on energy could be broken shortly. In an interview with Reuters, Pickens said that what was needed was to exert pressure on political leaders, so that they could comprehend the extent of the problem and come up with a solution for it.

Pickens pointed out that America, which has about 4% of the world's population and consumes around 25% of world oil, is far behind European nations such as Germany, Spain and the Netherlands that are already reaping the huge benefits of generating substantial power from wind.

Mr. Pickens admitted to being involved in creating an "army" of business leaders and mainstream Americans who can help him promote his plan to overhaul the US energy policy in favor of natural gas and wind power. Pickens is spending $58 million to market his “Pickens Plan" through TV commercials and public meetings. He stated that the main motivation for making such an investment was his fear of the dependence on foreign oil undermining America’s economy and security.

 

According to the “Pickens Plan," which ultimately aims to replace 38% of US oil imports and reduce the nation's annual oil import bill by hundreds of billions of dollars, it should become mandatory for all government-owned vehicles to run by natural gas.

 

Alternatio Cirqui, EconomyWatch.com Energy Correspondent


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