Winds shifting for Pickens' wind farm plan
T. Boone Pickens' massive wind farm, planned for Texas, is looking for a new home.
The energy tycoon and wind advocate told the Dallas Morning News that a project to install hundreds of wind turbines in the Texas panhandle will not work because of a lack of transmission lines. Instead, Pickens' wind company is looking for other locations in the Midwest and possibly Texas.
"I don't think the first place we build, though, is where we thought we would because we don't have the transmission," Pickens said in an interview done last week.
T. Boone Pickens speaks at the Clean-Tech Investor Summit in Palm Springs, California in January.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)Pickens added that falling price of natural gas--now about $4 per million BTUs--is making it harder for his wind company, Mesa Power, to get the funds to build a wind farm. In 2008, Mesa Power announced it would purchase General Electric wind turbines capable of generating 1,000 megawatts worth of electricity.
"You had them standing in line to finance you when natural gas was $9 (per million BTUs)...Natural gas at $4 doesn't have many people trying to finance you," he told the Dallas newspaper (video). "I'm going to start receiving those turbines in the first quarter of '11 and I don't have that big of a garage to put them in there so I got to start getting ready to use them."
Pickens on Tuesday started a round of media interviews to commemorate the launch one year ago of the Pickens Plan, his proposal to invest massively in wind and natural gas vehicles to cut imports of oil. The campaign, financed by $58 million of Pickens' money, has attracted millions of followers, and Pickens himself has spoken to lawmakers about energy policy.
On CNBC's Squawk Box show Tuesday, he predicted that the price of oil will go from over $60 now to $75 by the end of the year.
He called natural gas a "bridge" to renewable energy and electric vehicles because it's available now and is 50 percent cleaner in terms of carbon emissions than gasoline and diesel.
"You can't move an 18-wheeler on a battery. It won't move. We have six and a half million trucks in America. I want to (convert) 100,000 a year on natural gas," he said. In addition to wind, Pickens has invested in natural gas vehicle companies.
He also said that a significant change in the last year is that U.S. politicians are now starting to take action on policies to reduce imports of oil.
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10254009-54.html
Countries like Denmark and Spain are already using it to provide 19% and 11% of their electricity needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power) As they get more efficient or as more wind turbines are installed, this number will increase.
I am not saying just wind power will meet all our needs, but it can partially fulfill our energy requirements.
Mr. Pickens is looking out for Mr. Pickens.
I'm no expert, but would it not make more sense to dot wind turbines around so that there is less burden on the transmission system rather than clumping them all in one place and having to transmit the power shorter distances. Wouldn't that even out the loads on the transmission system??
The problems are:
1) these windmills are huge and not easy to locate
2) they should optimally be place where they recieve the most wind possible, and that's not where people usually live
3) economies of scale - 100 different small sites cost more to hook up to the grid than a couple of larger sites
I'm not bashing Obama.. but you are blaming Bush.. a single person.. for the bad things that have happened over the last few years. I'm pretty sure we would have at least gone to Afghanistan regardless of who was president.
And lets not talk about how Congress has mucked things up Royally...
The problem with clean energy is that people are willing to dive right into poorly planned solutions just because it's the right thing to do. It's nice that our auto industry is getting a taste of reality.. but that would have happened without the government getting it's hands dirty.
Also, we didn't have rolling blackouts at all under Bush, at any point, period. Los Angeles / California had a few during peak Summer periods, and there was one major crash from a power surge back into the grid up north near Canada / Michigan that spiraled down through the grid. Neither of which had anything to do with the president.
There is a funny story regarding the noise.. apparently wind turbines are loud enough to sleep deprive animals to the point of death ;)
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/05/21/wind-farm-kills-goats/
Obama wants to build more grid anyhow.
Sequester carbon: put plastic bags in landfill.
Don't burn coal... What would santa give to bad little boys?
Seriously, locating the generation closer to the consumption makes the most sense, if T. Boon can find enough wind.
:)
From Senator Inhofe:
Jackson Confirms EPA Chart Showing No Effect on Climate Without China, India
Energy Secretary Chu disagrees with EPA Analysis
Washington, D.C.-During a hearing today in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, EPA Administrator Jackson confirmed an EPA analysis showing that unilateral U.S. action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would have no effect on climate. Moreover, when presented with an EPA chart depicting that outcome, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he disagreed with EPA's analysis.
"I believe the central parts of the [EPA] chart are that U.S. action alone will not impact world CO2 levels," Administrator Jackson said.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) presented the chart to both Jackson and Secretary Chu, which shows that meaningful emissions reductions cannot occur without aggressive action by China, India, and other developing countries. "I am encouraged that Administrator Jackson agrees that unilateral action by the U.S. will be all cost for no climate gain," Sen. Inhofe said. "With China and India recently issuing statements of defiant opposition to mandatory emissions controls, acting alone through the job-killing Waxman-Markey bill would impose severe economic burdens on American consumers, businesses, and families, all without any impact on the climate."
Along with Administrator Jackson's statement, Energy Secretary Chu responded with an unequivocal "no" when asked whether he agrees with the analysis depicted in the EPA chart. "No, I don't' agree with that [EPA] chart," Chu asserted.
"I was somewhat surprised that Secretary Chu disagreed with EPA's analysis of what would happen if the U.S. acts alone to address climate change, which cap-and-trade supporters claim is a global problem," Sen. Inhofe said. "EPA's analysis that global greenhouse gas emission levels can only be stabilized with meaningful, mandatory action by China and India is widely accepted. I extend an invitation to the Secretary to see whether he wants to clarify his remarks."
###
I do think we should use all of our local power options if they make fiscal sense.
He has been hoping that with the increased demand for natural gas via the facade of wind farms and "alternative" fuel initiatives, he would strike it rich to be the richest natural gas tycoon ever. He owns vast tracks of natural gas mining rights all over the US.
Well, we just want the wind farms without the natural gas. After all natural gas is still fossil fuel. But between oil from the mideast and the natural gas in the US, it is a non-decision issue. But Mr. Pickens, don't you try to fool us.
I think Picken's plan is great and if he can make money out it, more power to him. This is what a free market is all about.
It says a lot about how useless wind-energy technology must be when a man like Pickens, who has tons of money to throw away, doesn't want to invest in it.
I'm glad I live in a free market economy.
- by JungleStruggle July 13, 2009 11:20 AM PDT
- Wind power is not a solution. The whole truth about wind turbines is never told by lobbyists and governments.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(26 Comments)How could the very weak and extremely unreliable initial energy source of a wind turbine ever produce a steady power of any significance?
<b>Please think!<br />
And read: ?Wind energy- the whole truth? at: <a href="http://www.windenergy-the-truth.com">Wind energy- the whole truth</a></b>.
<br />
And for <b>green jobs</b> creation in relation to renewable energy read:
<br />
<a href="http://www.juandemariana.org/pdf/090327-employment-public-aid-renewable.pdf">Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources.</a>