Another project falls due to low petroleum prices. Also, the economy looks to stay stagnated for longer than most expected and thus we don't need more energy production.


"(Reuters) – Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens has called off plans to build the world's biggest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, the Wall Street Journal said.

Pickens said the wind farm project was scuttled partly because of the lack of adequate transmission lines to carry the electricity from remote locations to cities, according to the paper.

The oil tycoon had hoped to build new transmission lines but could not secure financing, the paper said."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090708/bs_nm/us_pickens_windfarm

Tex, our original thread on the Pickens Plan:
T Boone Pickens Plan (http://www.gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1259)

Its a good thread Tex, especially where you tear DocM a new one a few times :)
I find myself coming back to it every so often for a chuckle ;)

_-=

Texas,

I think you conflate two issues... Pickens lost quite the chunk of change on depressed oil prices but I think what has put the windfarm on hold is actually low natural gas prices.

Natural gas is actually used quite heavily in electric power generation, largely because NG plants have relatively low capital cost, the fuel cost can be passed along to the consumer in fuel surcharges and the power can be dispatched to meet peak load requirements. High NG prices do discourage NG use, to some extent, but the high prices must be sustained for a long time.

NG prices have swung by a factor of perhaps two over recent years; prices are volatile because there's more or less fixed "pumping" capacity, so providers will take what they can get, and the demand is relatively variable (economic activity, good/bad winters).

And it's fairly clean, so it's a popular alternative to coal or oil (easy smog control). Some companies will build their own NG-fired electric generating capacity as an economic alternative to buying power on the grid. Usually, in fact, I think they do co-gen and use the heat, too.

Too bad. Now, a hefty carbon tax on that CH4 - that would encourage windfarms.

Of course, if you're thinking the utility and relative environmentally-friendly nature of NG means that it will see more use and prices will rise... I'd agree with you on that, so let's build the windfarms in advance of the need.

Texas,

I think you conflate two issues... Pickens lost quite the chunk of change on depressed oil prices but I think what has put the windfarm on hold is actually low natural gas prices.

Natural gas is actually used quite heavily in electric power generation, largely because NG plants have relatively low capital cost, the fuel cost can be passed along to the consumer in fuel surcharges and the power can be dispatched to meet peak load requirements. High NG prices do discourage NG use, to some extent, but the high prices must be sustained for a long time.

NG prices have swung by a factor of perhaps two over recent years; prices are volatile because there's more or less fixed "pumping" capacity, so providers will take what they can get, and the demand is relatively variable (economic activity, good/bad winters).

And it's fairly clean, so it's a popular alternative to coal or oil (easy smog control). Some companies will build their own NG-fired electric generating capacity as an economic alternative to buying power on the grid. Usually, in fact, I think they do co-gen and use the heat, too.

Too bad. Now, a hefty carbon tax on that CH4 - that would encourage windfarms.

Of course, if you're thinking the utility and relative environmentally-friendly nature of NG means that it will see more use and prices will rise... I'd agree with you on that, so let's build the windfarms in advance of the need.






Yes, you are right about the NG relationship as well. I was specifically talking about petroleum prices because Pickens wanted to displace it's use with the NG saved by using the wind farms. However, now that our current economy uses less of both NG and Petroleum we really don't have any more need for more energy generation, if you don't care about CO2 emissions. I am confident business decisions will not be made on CO2 emissions. Not in this economy.

New power generation can be sustainable and renewable but the amount of national debt we are holding will not allow us to replace existing energy infrastructure with sustainable infrastructure, especially when the prices of fossil fuels are so low.

After peak oil? That's a whole new ball game.