Oil baron T. Boone Pickens has a plan for America’s energy future. The PickensPlan sets a course that leverages America’s wind resources to wean the country of dependence on foreign oil.

Pickens’ plan is a very basic one in theory. America beefs up wind-powered generation to 20% or more of our total capacity. America in turn reduces our dependence on natural gas fired power plants. Then the natural gas that we’re not using in power plans gets utilized in the transportation sector. The use of natural gas in transportation greatly reduces America’s need for imported oil.

Mr. Pickens is currently taking steps to implement the wind portion of the plan by developing up to 18,000 megawatts of wind in the vast open spaces of the Texas panhandle. That plan took one more step towards reality this past week when the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved almost $5 billion in transmission upgrades to support the development of the wind projects. Benefits from the recently approved lines might be seen in as little as three years.

Does The Plan Make Sense?

The plan makes sense in that it sets out to develop a large amount of clean energy. Both the state of Texas and the country as a whole are likely to see economic and environmental benefits over the long term. The money invested in building massive wind farms and epic transmission projects will create sustainable employment for thousands of American workers. Once completed these projects will generate millions of megawatts of clean energy which means cleaner skies and less dependence on foreign oil. The energy generated will be less expensive than natural gas fired generation and that should help to bring down electricity prices for consumers.

The natural gas part of the plan does not make as much sense as the wind part. It’s true that new wind will reduce the need for natural gas generation. But massive wind farms won’t eliminate the need for natural gas in electricity production. Natural gas plants can generate on command. Wind farms can’t necessarily do that. Natural gas plants can ramp to meet unexpected demand. Wind farms can only ramp if a portion of their capacity is purposefully witheld. So while T. Boone’s wind farms will replace some of the need for natural gas plants, plenty of plants will still be necessary. And then there’s the transportation issue.

Natural Gas Vehicles

Natural gas use in the transportation industry in the U.S. is severely limited. According to the Pickens Plan Only 150,000 natural gas vehicles are in use in the U.S. In order for a shift in natural gas use to take place the auto industry will need to be on board with the plan.

Honda manufactures a natural gas vehicle with their Civic GX model. The car is sold in very few markets, has a $10,000 mark up over the standard Civic and requires special equipment installed in the home at extra cost to the buyer. These factors, and the lack of refueling stations, make the Civic GX a tough sell to most drivers.

And while there are various commercial natural gas fleets (some cities have natural gas buses) around the nation they represent only a small fraction of total vehicles on the road. If the Pickens Plan is to come to fruition then vehicle manufacturers will need to get on board and start developing more vehicles that run on natural gas. That does not seem likely as most of the buzz in the auto industry is focused on electric or hydrogen powered vehicles. Vehicle manufacturers are not likely to get on board until there is a workable plan to create a natural gas delivery infrastructure to support refueling. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Transmitting That Power

The other major issue, which Pickens seems to have well in hand in Texas, is transmission. The state of Texas has vast open spaces that provide great opportunities for new transmission. Not so in the rest of the nation. Oh, and those lines will cost tens of billions of dollars to build. Plus there are “right of way” issues. All these details and more will continue to slow the integration of wind in areas that are populated enough to really need it.

Watching With Interest

Clean Energy Digest will be keeping an eye on T. Boone Pickens and his large Texas projects. If nothing else Mr. Pickens initiative just might become the standard bearer in the U.S. for building and transmitting wind energy on a massive scale.