I’ve been hesitant to spend too much time or energy on T. Boones Pickens and his new energy plan, because it strikes me as a bit self serving for someone who has vast holdings in energy futures to want to move America from foreign oil to domestic wind, solar and, most specifically, compressed natural gas (CNG). In fairness, however, it is only by making money for (someone) that the massive hold on foreign oil will be broken, so hell, I guess if TBP makes the money and the country and planet benefit, cest la vie.
But I was most intrigued just a few moments ago, when another energy magnate, Aubrey K. McClendon, chairman and CEO of Chesapeake Energy, posted a commercial on CNN in support of “his good friend [sic] TBP.” It was the same kind of thing that TBP is pushing, it’s better for the economy, the environment and national security and such, but it was just one fragment of a sentence that really caught my ear: “…incentives …[for homeowners] to install home CNG refueling units that connect to residential gas lines.”
That’s the game changer.
It will be a mammoth undertaking to convert our current fuel delivery infrastructure to CNG based, and the capital outlay will be enormous – beyond even the imagination of most. Additionally, the energy gods will push the cost of that conversion on to us for a great long time. It is also easy to see how they could simply charge more (and more, and more) for CNG coming from a filling station than what it costs at home, because there are hard costs and intangibles like real estate, employees, repair and maintenance, licensing and certification – and then profit on top of all that.
If the government actually gave me a tax incentive to install a CNG refueling mechanism at my home, I’d convert my cars almost instantly. This plan would give me the ability to save money, help the environment, be utterly un-inconvenienced by filling the tank and automatically centralize my fuel costs.
But much more importantly, it distributes the cost burden of this massive conversion to everyone in the country in (relatively) micro chunks, rather than a couple companies that will need to wager a huge pile of money, making me pay for it over time.
This plan would almost instantaneously break the stranglehold of the current big oil conglomerates and put much more of the energy dollar into play in the general economy. It is completely fair to say that this simply moves control of fuel from one conglomerate to another, but in my opinion, this could be a tipping point that changes the way of thinking in America. If you are refueling at home, how much further does you brain need to go to see your shake shingle roof replaced with shake-shingle-looking solar panels and starting to power your home WITH your home? How much further is the thought then of having a small still on your property that grows little bacteria that eat CO2 and poop H[ydrogen]? How much of a stretch is it to then be comfy with windmills? Or biomass fuels from our discarded leftovers?
I think one of the challenges is the utter enormity of the problem. Clearly, Americans are not big thinkers and getting their mind around all of it is way to optimistic. It’s like getting a Midwesterner shoveling snow to understand global climate change … “well, it’s not happening here!” The brilliance of this tiny element of the TBP plan is the distillation of a huge issue into a tiny chunk that [I] can get my arms around without too much cost and with an immediate benefit. It makes the notion of helping America understandable again – much like during WWII, when Americans didn’t shave as much because steel for blades was being used for airplanes.
I believe that Americans are open to making a difference. Not at huge cost to themselves, and certainly not at the expense of their comfort or convenience. So if TBP can help convince government officials and the public in general that we CAN make a difference and in fact benefit, immediately, then perhaps we’re seeing the apex of a real plan – something that has a real possibility of working.
Check out TBP plan here: The T. Boones Pickens Plan – I’d love to hear your thoughts.
didn’t read the plan, but.
I have a problem with any plan that relies upon a limited resource.
Sun = unlimited (most of the time)
wind = unlimited (depending on altitude)
Ocean Hydro power = unlimited (until the next ice age)
Oil = gonna run out soon
natural gas = gonna run out as well.
CNG is not MUCH cleaner that gasoline. It is, but not life changing huge. If every car and home converted to CNG overnight, I read somewhere that if growth stays the same, the pollution levels would re-claim the existing levels, within 10 years (i think, it was a while ago that i read that).
The unfortunate thing is that all this energy (pun intended) is being spent on figuring out how to replace 1 finite fuel supply with another. Even nuclear suffers this problem.
Basically we will eventually end up burning wood again. Ethanol is flawed because of the source. If land is used to grow fuel, where does the food go? Soylent green anyone?
The idea of using the sun/hydro/wind to split water into H and O is great. It stores the energy for a rainy day, and we can still burn it which makes us all warm and fuzzy for some reason.
The downside to an interim change is that they tend to become permanent. So although your idea of CNG in the home making people think “hey I can put a single on my roof to power my TV” might work, the follow through wont happen without cost effectiveness being in the favor of the consumer. It’s the reason I don’t have solar shingles…
First, I completely agree with the flawed notion of an energy ecosystem built on a diminishing/limited resource, but I also think we need some sort of “mental breakup” because people think that all there is, is gas for their cars. If, for no other reason than to break the oil stranglehold, we can move in another direction then I think every idea AFTER that will be more easily received, financed and deployed. My notion here is more about the collective national energy-stuckness than the perfection of a CNG model. It’s not that CNG is the game changer, it’s the attitude and forced rethinking that is.
I only 50% agree with you about nuclear, because there are some real benefits if we change how we implement it. There are several safe nuke technologies (relatively) that could be another bridge technology towards the ultimate goal, which is, of course, completely renewable sources. But you’re right, people dont (yet) get any kind of warm fuzzy feeling from windmills, solar panels, biomass, hydroelectric or geothermal generation – but that’s sort of my point with this article.
I’ve been researching replacing my Mexican tile roof with panels, and it’s starting to look pretty good, although I’m not ready to go. Essentially, with the tax incentives in place, a 10 year note on replacing my roof will cost just about exactly what my current balanced annual payment for electricity is, so I’d be in great shape in 10 years, but actually, I’d be good in just a couple because my note is fixed while energy prices will rise, effectively saving me more and more money until I am clear of the note.
@ Soylent Green LOL … cripes that’s one movie it will be tough to ever get over
Going back after my first point and dovetailing on your “interim changes become permanent” notion, that’s also why I like the CNG pump at your home idea… because the cost to refit for a different source is small and easily understood, where if we build another large energy infrastructure we’ll be stuck for 100 years or something. The smaller and more atomic we can make energy distribution, the better IMO
@nukes. I am 100% for NUKE. I think nuke power is WAY underutilized because of ridiculous, ignorant fears. Pebble Bed Reactors, FTW!
The roof solar is getting really close. There are few emerging techs that are about 2-3 years out, that are potentially game changing. Add to that IKEA flat packing a solar solution, and your making some serious inroads to the home market. I will do it, when they are not fragile, with 1 little defect ruining the whole thing. I hope Stan Ovshinsky can save humanity. CLICK HERE FOR LINK
I also just realized something.
Sure we won’t be depended on foreign oil, but now we will be dependent on domestic corporations.
Same beast, different fur. Though its more of a cute bunny than a wild lion, but still it bites.
@ “still bites” LOL – in many ways it’s true… whether a foreign corp or domestic corp rapes me, it still hurts. Although we can hope that domestic corps pulling domestic resources will, at the very least, require domestic jobs.