PICKENS AND WIND TURBINES...

BIG MONEY FALLS BEHIND BIG WIND ,
Posted here by Terry Bankert


Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens asked Congress on Tuesday to "clear the path" for his plan to boost use of wind and natural gas for U.S. energy needs.[1] Big money usually relies on big research and can defend their positions with a multitude of studies, as here with Pickens. What is his motivation? Profit of course. He desires to affect public policy to benefit his natural gas interests.[trb]

WIND TURBINES, THE PICKENS PLAN

Pickens has been on a $58 million publicity tour to promote his plan to erect wind turbines in the Midwest to generate electricity, replacing the 22 percent of U.S. power produced from natural gas. The freed up natural gas then could be used for transportation.[1] Why we do not have more solar power and wid turbines is the fault of our elected official , both parties.,[trb]

PUBLIC WIND GENERATED POWER

Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Pickens said the government should begin building transmission lines for wind-generated power or provide the right of way on private land and extend tax credits so the private sector can build the lines.[1] A new public grid and if government is not up to the challenge, let it be private.[trb]
Studies from around the world show that the Great Plains States are home to the greatest wind energy potential in the world — by far. [2] There is room for us in Michigan. To build wind turbines, look for areas of consistent wind.[trb]

The Department of Energy reports that 20% of America's electricity can come from wind. North Dakota alone has the potential to provide power for more than a quarter of the country.[2]

DO ALL TURBINES HAVE TO BE BIG?

Today's wind turbines stand up to 410 feet tall, with blades that stretch 148 feet in length. The blades collect the wind's kinetic energy. In one year, a 3-megawatt wind turbine produces as much energy as 12,000 barrels of imported oil.[2]
Wind power currently accounts for 48 billion kWh of electricity a year in the United States — enough to serve more than 4.5 million households. That is still only about 1% of current demand, but the potential of wind is much greater. [2]
A 2005 http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/may25/wind-052505.html

STANFORD UNIVERSITY STUDY

found that there is enough wind power worldwide to satisfy global demand 7 times over — even if only 20% of wind power could be captured.[2]
Stanford researchers have produced a new map that pinpoints where the world's winds are fast enough to produce power. The map may help planners place turbines in locations that maximize power harnessed from winds and provide widely available low-cost energy. After analyzing more than 8,000 wind-speed measurements to identify the world's wind-power potential for the first time, Cristina Archer, a former postdoctoral fellow, and Mark Z. Jacobson, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, suggest that wind captured at specific locations, if even partially harnessed, can generate more than enough power to satisfy the world's energy demands. Their report appears in the May Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, a publication of the American Geophysical Union.[3]

A TEXANS WIND TUNNEL

Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the United States at a cost of $1 trillion. It would take another $200 billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.[2]
That's a lot of money, but it's a one-time cost. And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil every year, it's a bargain.[2]

GOVERNMENT, DO IT OR GET OUT OF THE WAY, BUILD THE WIND GENERATED ELECTRIC GRID.

"If the government wanted to build a grid, I mean, do it," he said. "But if they don't want to do it, I think the money is there to do it private, and so it's kind of like either do it or get out of the way, but give us the corridors to put it in and it'll be done. You could do this on a very, very fast track if you wanted."[1]

CONGRESS SHOULD DECLARE EMERGENCY

Pickens suggested that Congress follow the lead of former President Eisenhower, who declared an emergency to build the interstate highway system in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]
He warned that oil could cost $300 a barrel in 10 years as supplies drop, if the nation continues to "drift" on energy policy.[1]

PICKENS, PUTS HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS.

Pickens has leased hundreds of thousands of acres for a giant wind farm in West Texas, where he plans to erect 2,700 turbines and produce energy for urban areas such as Dallas and Fort Worth. He has run into some opposition from West Texas landowners who are unhappy with his efforts to obtain rights of way to build the wind farm and a pipeline for a separate water project.[1]

CALIFORNIA REFERENDUMS..MORE OF THE PICKENS PLAN

the referendum process has increasingly become a vehicle for wealthy individuals or major corporations to sidestep the legislative process and push for pet projects that sometimes provide hidden benefits for the authors. [4]

PICKENS ..FUNDS REFERENDUM EFFORT...

And so, on the ballot this November, one of the richest men in the world is backing an initiative aimed at getting drivers in the state to shift away from gasoline to other fuels, notably natural gas.[4]

PICKENS GETS HIS MONEY FROM NATURAL GAS

Perhaps not coincidentally, the chief proponent of the idea is the nation's largest supplier of transportation-related natural gas: T. Boone Pickens, a multimillionaire who ranks as the world's 369th-richest person. [4]

WHEELING AND DEAL FOR TURBINES

Pickens, 80, once a wheeler-dealer in the oil market, more recently has been focusing on wind power and natural gas, and he hopes the state and nation will do the same. [4]

WE ARE TOO DEPENDENT ON FOREIGN OIL THE PICKEN WIND TURBINE INITIATIVE IS ONE PARTIAL SOLUTION

Warning that the United States is too dependent on foreign oil, he has been taking out TV commercials and lobbying politicians to shift away from petroleum to wind-powered electricity and natural gas-powered vehicles. [4]

NET WORK OF WIND MILLS NEEDED

Nationwide, his Pickens Plan would push the federal government to help private industry build a $1.2 trillion network of windmills – similar to windmills he already is building in Texas – to provide electricity. [4]

PUT WIND POWER IN THE HOMES AND NATURAL GAS IN THE CARS

Using wind power instead of natural gas for electricity, he says, would allow drivers to start fueling their cars with natural gas – similar to that sold by his Clean Energy Fuels Corp. in California – rather than gasoline. [4]
"I want a federal mandate that any new vehicles should go on natural gas," Pickens said during a question-and-answer meeting with The San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board, attended by editors and reporters from the newsroom. The board regularly invites newsmakers to discuss current events. [4]
In California, Pickens is behind the campaign for Proposition 10, which would provide subsidies for alternative fuels – with a strong tilt toward natural gas. [4]

EXTEND THE 2005 LAW

Specifically, Pickens asked Congress to extend a 2005 law intended to speed up the creation of energy corridors, and to give him control over any transmission lines he builds for wind-generated power. All electric transmission lines are now regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.[1]

TAX CREDIT FOR ENERGY PRODUCERS

Pickens also called for a 10-year extension of a tax credit for energy producers. He estimated it would cost taxpayers $15 billion a year in production tax credits for 200,000 megawatts of wind power.[1]
"When you look at $700 billion dollars going out of country every year for purchase of oil, $15 billion is somewhat insignificant," he said.[1]

OH NO!... LIBERMAN BACKS PICKENS

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., called Pickens' plan bold and said he hoped Pickens' testimony would "infect people in a position in Washington to do something about it."[1]

REPUBLICANS PROTECT THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

But the oilman's plan raised questions with Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who asked if it would hurt the chemical industry, which relies on natural gas as raw material. He said the industry probably won't like seeing natural gas costs increase.[1]

IT WILL NEED PUBLIC INVESTMENT

Pickens estimated it would cost about $500 billion to increase wind energy production from the 4,000 megawatts to be generated at his Texas wind farm to 200,000 megawatts, the amount needed to power 20 percent of U.S. energy needs. Transmission lines and the tax credit would add another $15 billion.[1]

PICKENS PLAN REDUCE 38 % OF OUT OIL DEPENDENCY

At that level, he said, "You're approaching about one year's supply of oil that you're buying. But don't get the idea that replaces that oil, it doesn't. It will only replace 38 percent."[1]
In addition to the hearing, Pickens also met privately Tuesday with Democratic and Republican members of Congress as well as Texas senators. [1]



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[1]
AP
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5j9mo_MIL2CuFCSm1uwkWp_A3MNOAD92345BO0

[2]
http://www.pickensplan.com/theplan/
[3]
Stanford University Study
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/may25/wind-052505.html

[4]
San Diego.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/calbreath/20080727-9999-1b27dean.html

[5]
Comments of Terry Bankert to include unattributed CAP headlines
http://attorneybankert.com/

---- see more at
ENERGY ALTERNATIVES INTERNET ADVISOR
http://energyalternativesadvisor.blogspot.com/


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