AVFI 2008: T. Boone Pickens lays the future of oil and alternatives on the line
Andrew Littlefair (left) and T. Boone Pickens
The majority of the attendees at the AFVI Expo's Fleet Day breakfast keynote seemed quite pleased to listen to T. Boone Pickens (just like last year). Pickens is the founder of BP Capital Management and had a sit-down discussion with Andrew Littlefair, the president and CEO of Clean Energy. Why do AFVI folks like this guy? He's got a lot of information (he's made billions in the oil and energy industry) and he sees a way to power the future (he's made a huge investment in wind power in Texas, for example. Littlefair said that without Boone, there wouldn't be an NGV industry in the U.S.
A few choice quotes:
- "We are importing 72 percent of our oil. ... We are now transferring $600 billion [a year] out of the United States to a few friends and a hell of a bunch of enemies. I can tell you, we are paying for the war against ourselves."
- "If they [China] had the Olympics today, in this smog, and ran the 100 meter dash, it would have to be a relay."
- "Diesel will never sell, again, below gasoline. It will always be more expensive than gasoline."
- "We're actually dealing with a huge shift of capital out to somewhere. We're going to be reduced to - I promise you it's going to happen pretty quick, too - we'll be reduced to something less than the superpower that we are."
The main problem, Pickens said, is that 85 million barrels a day is as much oil as the world industry can produce. That's it. More simply isn't possible. The trouble is, in the next quarter, demand will be around 86.5m barrels each day. The only solution that Boone sees is to make all the alternatives - he singled out wind and solar - much (much) bigger players in America's energy portfolio. For example, even with all of the problems with corn ethanol, he'd rather use it than foreign oil.
When it comes to natural gas vehicles, Pickens said, the U.S. seriously lags behind the rest of the world. There are 7m natural gas vehicles in the world, but only 150,000 in the U.S. It hurt him to say so, but he wishes the U.S. had followed France into the nuclear frontier. Also, Littlefair and Pickens agree that natural gas is a bridge to hydrogen.
As for politics, Boone is not pleased with the energy policies of either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. He's a McCain supporter, but on the summer gas tax holiday issue, he said that, "I don't know what he has in mind there."
Listen here (40 min):
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gordon 8:42PM (5/21/2008)
Not surprising he's backing McCain since he was a major backer of the Swift Boat guys. He may have a lot of knowledge, but his immersion in politics makes him very suspect as far as I'm concerned. He's putting his money into wind power, so of course he's going to promote that. Too bad he isn't putting his money into biodiesel or cel-ethanol. We might really have something there.
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gsolman6 9:42PM (5/21/2008)
Interesting comment on diesel there. If true that is going to have a significant effect on our freight industry and the German and French auto makers.
I'm thankful that where I live I have the option of wind energy. Costs a little more but the price is guaranteed to 2022...........And there will never be a carbon tax on it either.
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Larzen 11:13PM (5/21/2008)
I live in Redlands, CA.
If anyone can tell me where I can have my little
Toyota pick-up converted to Compressed Natural Gas,
I'll have it done right away. I can't find any
mention of anyone that does it. I'll get a MyPhill
and have it installed in the house. Why do they
make it so hard to switch? Pakistan is ahead of us
in CNG conversions.
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terrence_bethea 9:10PM (5/22/2008)
Basically, he's saying . . . stupid Americans have made me a rich man and tyrants the world over quite powerful. Good thing I've been financially backing the poor leadership that got us here (except Clinton).
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Thomas 11:58PM (5/21/2008)
I looked into getting a CNG vehicle a few months back because the town I live in actually has a natural gas refueling station that the local utility operates. Problem I found was that the conversions and new vehicles were very expensive, like several thousand dollars more. I had hoped they would be relatively inexpensive like propane convesions. I guess with all the compressed fuel lines and stuff it just adds a lot of cost.
It is too bad because from what I understand in addition to costing less to fill up you get longer engine life since it burns a bit cooler I'm told.
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BillySharps 12:26AM (5/22/2008)
The only time hydrogen should be mentioned is to point it out as a red herring. There will never be any need to develop hydrogen powered vehicles or a hydrogen infrastructure. BEVs do everything a hydrogen vehicle can do at a fraction of the cost. Nothing will ever be a "bridge" to hydrogen because there will never be any need to develop hydrogen as an energy carrier. Natural gas contains more energy and is easier to store. What's the point of hydrogen?
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Ronaldo 7:38AM (5/22/2008)
Does anyone know about MESA POWER (the company associated with the Pickens' multi-billion dollar investment in wind power)? Is this a publicly traded company?
If I wanted to invest in a Pickens company (or associated company), could someone let me know of something out there... Thanks for your help.
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Snark 9:06AM (5/22/2008)
"Boone Pickens, Oilman." If that weren't the guy's real name, I'd be bitching about lazy scriptwriting. That's even better than "Daniel Plainview." Nothing's wierder than an oilman going all hippie alt-energy on us.
"I...DRINK...YOUR...JAMBA JUICE! I drink it up, boy!"
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MarkR 9:41AM (5/22/2008)
I don't know about y'all but he mentioned something I've been suspecting for the past year that really scares me for the near tearm issues. Boone said, "I promise you it's going to happen pretty quick, too - we'll be reduced to something less than the superpower that we are."
And hes in the circles to know something like this. Finally someone is speaking openly about the elephant in the room. Nothing like an top tier Oil tycoon going eco with solar etc. and telling us how bad it is to import oil and export billions of dollars. I think this is an oh S#$% moment.
scary stuff.
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Edsel 9:55AM (5/22/2008)
He's right on the money. We're headed into an economic depression that will make the 1930's era depression look like a walk in the park. This has been developing since the early 1970's.
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Tim 10:30AM (5/22/2008)
Buy gold the you hold, downsize NOW and save as much as money while you can. If you can, try to pay off your home or buy a smaller one so they can't take it when you loose your job. Those within luxury industries will suffer first as these are the first things people stop buying during a recession/depression. Stock up on guns and NEVER EVER give up your guns.
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Jon 12:25PM (5/22/2008)
Every one knows that T. Boone Pickens, Warren Buffet, etc. are liberal, hippie, elitist, socialist, America-hating dead-enders. All we need to do is drill in the Arctic wildlife refuge and everything will be hunky-dory. Damn communists.
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jeffzekas 2:09PM (5/22/2008)
Funniest comment: "We only make a profit of one cent a gallon." Hoo haw! Those oil guys really have a sense of humor! Next thing you know, they'll be telling us that they LOSE money on every gallon sold, and are working for the betterment of America!!!
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MattKelly 2:24PM (5/22/2008)
He has a simple solution to the coming peak oil dilemma, take natural gas currently used to produce electricity and transfer it to transportation which will displace 38% of our oil imports and replace it with clean wind power. Genius if you ask me. Last year at this conference he predicted at this time we'd be paying $4/gallon and he was right. He also says within 24 months it will be $7/gallon--and I agree how can this nation's leaders accept the largest transfer of wealth from this country to the Middle East--$600 billion/year? Atrocious.
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Kevin Nugent 6:46PM (5/22/2008)
I also agree with that guy who said "we are funding very few friends and alot of enemies"He is exactly right . If we did not buy oil form those countries screwing with us , they could no longer support the war and they woudl fall not by our hands but simply because they have no economic base to stand on .
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kent 5:40PM (5/25/2008)
We are on our way now by 2011 we will have fuel that can use chicken fat Syntroleum Corp stock ticker (SYNM) and others like Rentech, Inc (RTK) called Synthetic Fuels allready test with Airforce many soon to come incentives that promote renewable energy also started. I see noyhing but good news now.
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Jim 6:49PM (3/02/2009)
Why don't they offer to the population the chance to invest with them on this Wind Turbine Farms? Is it because we don't understand? We actually do understand and it showed when we hit the $4.00 per gallon for gas and the price of all our energy needs has skyrocketed these past few years. Where is the technologies at for having our own solar and wind turbines for our home to produce for ourselves so we don't pay anybody?
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