Billionaire T. Boone Pickens said that his Texas wind farm is on hold because natural-gas prices have dropped but that his plan for wind power and natural-gas vehicles is still viable to reduce foreign oil imports.
You will recall that I was very excited about Pickens's flying the wind-power banner during a year when green technology was very much a part of the general election discourse. However, given the trouncing that oil has taken in the world marketplace recently, and given how much real money Pickens is likely to have lost in that process, I'm not surprised that he's holding onto his gold rather than spending $2 billion of his own money to seed windfarm development in the Texas panhandle. And it does make more sense right now to spend money on natural gas given its cheapness. Leaving the risky, expensive stuff to the federal government is typical; it's just sad that an innovative citizen is no longer among the leaders in the private sector.
Concerned citizens ought to be hoping for higher fuel prices soon to kick-start wind power as a serious alternative. Consider this 3.6 megawatt tower that GE produces with a 104 meter rotor diameter. One such tower would produce enough energy annually for nearly 400 average homes. A field of 500 of these towers could light up a city of 500,000 with capacity to spare.
No comments:
Post a Comment