A Game Changer (T. Boone Pickens)

[Dogmudgeon]

Forget the wind, nix the nukes, and say good-bye to Solartopia; Pickens is probably underestimating the amount of deep shale gas by two orders of magnitude. (After all, the World is more than just America.)

THIS is why "The Pickens Plan" shifted so quickly from photogenic wind turbines to cheerfully camouflaged hydrofrac installations working the Bennett and Marcellus formations. No Sheiks, No Nukes, ¡No Problemo! -- it's the swiftest Swift Boat evah!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t-boone-pickens/a-game-changer_b_467831.html">A Game Changer (T. Boone Pickens)

I've been in the energy business my entire career, and I can assure you this 81-year-old has chased down more deals than anyone you'll ever meet. A lot of those deals didn't pan out - that's just how the game is played - but every now and then a big kahuna comes along. When it does, you'd better jump on it.

Right now, as our country struggles to rebuild its economy and replace millions of lost jobs, that sort of game changer has landed right in our lap: America has more shale gas than it knows what to do with.

Last year, thanks to new drilling technologies, the nation's estimated total gas resources jumped by 35 percent from 1,532 trillion cubic feet to 2,074 trillion cubic feet. I couldn't believe these numbers the first time I heard them; that's enough natural gas to power our country through the 21st century. And as it turned out, that was just the start of the story.

Last week, J.P. Morgan released a report saying that North America doesn't have 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place. It has 8 trillion cubic feet. That's four times last year's new and improved numbers. This incredible surge in total gas resources will completely reshape the international energy landscape. Domestic natural gas is going to be so plentiful and so cheap that liquefied natural gas carriers from Qatar and the Middle East will stop coming to the U.S. They'll go to India and China instead. We just won't need them anymore.

...

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/t-boone-pickens/a-game-changer_b_467831.html">Read it all at the Huffington Post -- "The Postess with the Mostest".)

Imagine The Perfect Energy Storm: Oil prices are skyrocketing, geriatric boomers are screaming bloody fission, and a decadal cold snap makes global warming science an easy target for the Right. Along comes Ginormous Amounts of Natural Gas. It's dirt cheap and squeaky-clean (never mind the carbon dioxide and radon) and we can finally put our boots in them ol' Oil Sheiks' ass, to use an Iraq War era "countryism".

"Hey, carbon capture and sequestration is just about ready. Why the heck not?"

By 2050, Pickens only exists as a gas company name, the boomers are gone, and the Republic of Arabia has been holding democratic elections for decades. CO2 levels are around 475 ppm, but the world is enjoying an unprecedented era of wealth and growth.

Then, the inevitable decadal warm spell kicks in.

That's a game changer, all right.

--d!

[joshcryer]

1. Careful bashing natural gas on these forums.

You're liable to be flamed.

[hatrack]

4. Or at least flared!

:hi:

[FBaggins]

2. You're saying that there's 100 times as much gas as he thinks?

That's overly optomistic... to say the least.

[TxRider]

3. You missed a couple of points.

Pickens has not switched from windmills, natural gas was always part of the "plan"..

His change in wind mill strategy comes from Texas deciding not to build out the grid necessary to carry the wind power from his planned panhandle wind farm location.

So he postponed part of his order for windmills with GE as he had no place to put them, and is putting up as many as he can in other locations in Texas and other states.

[Nathanael]

5. Cut His Wind Order in Half

It is my hope that Pickens is serious about developing renewable energy. However, he continues to back-pedal with wind power. His original order of 687 wind turbines has been cut to 300. It is hard to continue to believe someone's words when his/her actions don't follow suit -- Pickens came out speaking big wind words, ("I am going to build the world's largest wind farm") and then they consistently fizzled. Now, he speaks almost exclusively about developing natural gas in the United States. He sees serious potential in this industry, and that is where he is going to stake his money. Wind may slip right out of his business plans.

Here are some good links:

http://www.energyboom.com/wind/t-boone-pickens-wind-energy-charlatan
http://www.energyboom.com/wind/t-boone-pickens-proving-be-hot-air-about-wind-energy
http://www.energyboom.com/t-boone-pickens-pickens-plan-shell-game