http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/10/the-pickens-plan-boon-or-boondoggle/ Business, Better. Since 2005 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:15:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.triplepundit.com/2008/10/the-pickens-plan-boon-or-boondoggle/comment-page-1/#comment-11603 Rob B Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:23:09 +0000 http://www.triplepundit.com/wordpress/2008/10/the-pickens-plan-boon-or-boondoggle/#comment-11603 Sounds like many of the sources you're quoting have magic wands in their pockets. I wish they'd get them out and use them. Pickens is more interested in our heavy transportation industry. I drive a hybrid (Highlander)and already get 30mpg on E10. PHEV will be a major step forward and the market is working on it already. NG is not as major a transformation as most of the suggestions. It's a short step from there to H2 enriched NG (HCNG). And another short step to H2, all using the same basic ICE technology that we are too heavily invested in to discard. ICE H2 PHEV is where the passenger and local delivery fleet will go. The H2 will eventually be derived from electrolysis of H2O when wind energy is abundant and the process is improved. . . The immediate crisis facing us now though, is twofold. Climate and the US balance of trade or payments. Forget about who we buy oil from, friendly or unfriendly they'll continue to sell it to us at commodity prices. The problem is buying too much of it and using it too inefficiently (artificially low gasoline/diesel prices), thereby not getting enough value for our dollars. That means we are essentially handing too many dollars to the world market with no returned value. It would be better to burn the money. Now, I'd rather skip NG and go straight to an H2 and electric planet. But we have to get from here to there and we have to do it now. The Pickens plan is not a good roadmap for this transition, but it's the best one we can implement now. I wish he'd focus a little more on PHEV's and distributed power too, but his tools are for profit market tools. I think it's better than nothing but not as good as government leadership, incentives, and investment. Another interesting aspect of the PP is that it seems to be bridging the partisan gap. Hmmm? Sounds like many of the sources you’re quoting have magic wands in their pockets. I wish they’d get them out and use them. Pickens is more interested in our heavy transportation industry. I drive a hybrid (Highlander)and already get 30mpg on E10. PHEV will be a major step forward and the market is working on it already. NG is not as major a transformation as most of the suggestions. It’s a short step from there to H2 enriched NG (HCNG). And another short step to H2, all using the same basic ICE technology that we are too heavily invested in to discard. ICE H2 PHEV is where the passenger and local delivery fleet will go. The H2 will eventually be derived from electrolysis of H2O when wind energy is abundant and the process is improved.
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The immediate crisis facing us now though, is twofold. Climate and the US balance of trade or payments. Forget about who we buy oil from, friendly or unfriendly they’ll continue to sell it to us at commodity prices. The problem is buying too much of it and using it too inefficiently (artificially low gasoline/diesel prices), thereby not getting enough value for our dollars. That means we are essentially handing too many dollars to the world market with no returned value. It would be better to burn the money.
Now, I’d rather skip NG and go straight to an H2 and electric planet. But we have to get from here to there and we have to do it now. The Pickens plan is not a good roadmap for this transition, but it’s the best one we can implement now. I wish he’d focus a little more on PHEV’s and distributed power too, but his tools are for profit market tools. I think it’s better than nothing but not as good as government leadership, incentives, and investment.
Another interesting aspect of the PP is that it seems to be bridging the partisan gap. Hmmm?

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