|
HE'S a Texas "oil baron,” he's politically conservative and he's a man with a 10-figure net worth. So why is Boone Pickens chasing windmills? Alternative energy is the future of this country, Pickens says, and he's got his sights set on greener pastures — even though he admits not particularly liking the looks of those giant turbines.
Pickens is building what would be the nation's largest wind farm, in far west Texas. He's also a fan, with obvious self-interest, of expanding the market for clean natural gas as fuel to run vehicles as well as make electricity and heat homes. With world consumption of oil outpacing world production of oil at critical times, alternative energy sources are surely needed. Pickens expressed skepticism for the economics of ethanol but admits the corn-based fuel blend must be part of the mix. His wind farm has the potential to generate 4,000 megawatts of power. By comparison, the aborted coal-fired power plant proposed for Red Rock by OG&E and others would have produced less than 1,000 megawatts. The Pickens project, so large that it takes in parts of four counties, will cost $11 billion, including the expense of transmitting wind-generated power more than 300 miles to link with a power distribution system. Pickens has been involved with energy production his entire career and sees great potential in the central corridor of the country, including Oklahoma. The corridor's abundance of oil, natural gas, coal and wind will make it an energy producer for years to come. In his nearly 60 years in the business, Pickens has seen many energy boom towns come and go. The newest one, he says, is Sweetwater, Texas. What has Sweetwater booming isn't oil or gas. It's the wind. |
