The Pickens Plan

[SDG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQa-ibNOKM

[LUKE2447]

I'm an "OIL MAN" but.... Yeah mm hmmm and you are not invested in these now? LOL! Yes, I think alternative energy needs to be developed BUT not if it is not efficient. We don't need to prop up bad ideas just because it's alternative.

[Rico]

Originally Posted by LUKE2447

I'm an "OIL MAN" but.... Yeah mm hmmm and you are not invested in these now? LOL! Yes, I think alternative energy needs to be developed BUT not if it is not efficient. We don't need to prop up bad ideas just because it's alternative.

This Pickens fella is a billionaire, and he made his money in oil. There's a push right now to convert all the electricity generated in the USA from renewable sources. Wind generation is just one of the options on the table. Texas just approved massive funding for transmission lines to carry the electricity generated from windmills to where it's needed.

[DividedThigh]

the plan as it stands is not workable, solar and wind wont do for cars, next, lol, dt

[SDG]

Originally Posted by DividedThigh

the plan as it stands is not workable, solar and wind wont do for cars, next, lol, dt

You obviously didn't watch ... what it would do is free up natural gas for cars ... a option being used on city buses, for instance .... while feeding our electrical needs

[Rico]

Originally Posted by DividedThigh

the plan as it stands is not workable, solar and wind wont do for cars, next, lol, dt

It would in terms of generating the electricity to power electric vehicles. From what I have seen on TV, and read about in articles, Texas is a perfect place for these windmills. They have vast amounts of basically useless land and more than enough wind to power windmill farms. My understanding is this Pickens fella is investing a billion dollars into windmill technology.

[Ferd]

Pickens plan has potential. the problem is, if he gets ANY interfearance from the government it will screw the whole thing up. because all our congress can do is screw things up.

DanA is right, Pickens wants to move the electrical infrastructure to wind and solor, shifting natural gas to cars.

He also says in the short term to DRILL.

I agree with parts of the plan but I dont think natural gas is the real answer for powering automobiles.

We need to drastically change our transmission infrastructure if wind is going to be a major player. AC (alternate current) doesnt transmit well over vast distances. Wind energy is most available in areas far from most human activity.

We would have to shift to a DC (direct current) type mega transmission system that will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to create. The pain is short term, because once the innital investment is made, the wind itself is free. We still have to deal with limitations on how windmills work. you cant generate electricity below 5 knots and you cannot run the windmills in wind above about 20 knots.

there are some that are working on new wind caputuring systems that may be able improve these limitations.

the really big problem is that wind often occurs during off peak hours. there are no viable methods to capture and store wind energy (although a company in England is working on an under water energy storage method).

Solar has its issues. go to the link below ans scroll thru the list of options until you find the section "The Free-Market Case for Green." It is a five part TV interview and will give a great deal of info on where Solar is and where it's headed.

http://tv.nationalreview.com/uncommonknowledge/

The Free-Market Case for Green


Bottom line, a shift to wind/solar will cost several hundred billion dollars to make it really work. Its do-able but will be very expensive on the front end. And I am not convinced the technologies are really "there" yet. we are close but there are still issues that make them more expensive than current fuels...

[DividedThigh]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

You obviously didn't watch ... what it would do is free up natural gas for cars ... a option being used on city buses, for instance .... while feeding our electrical needs

we dont have the battery capacity to make it work, and i did watch, make assumptions about yourself danny, not others, dt

[Rico]

Originally Posted by DividedThigh

we dont have the battery capacity to make it work, and i did watch, make assumptions about yourself danny, not others, dt

That would depend on your commuting distance on a daily basis, DT. I can't remember the exact figures, but I seem to remember a car getting ready to be put into production that will go 75 miles or so on just the batteries. A car like that would be perfect for going back and forth to work, depending on how far you drive.

[DividedThigh]

wont work for a lot of people , over an hour commutes and traffice, gonna be a lot of cussing and stalled out, out of juice cars, lol