NEW REPLACEMENT FOR FOREIGN OIL

Reprinted from "The Plan" - PickensPlan.com

Natural gas and bio-fuels are the only domestic energy sources used for transportation.

Cleaner

Natural gas is the cleanest transportation fuel available today.
According to the California Energy Commission, critical greenhouse gas emissions from natural gas are 23% lower than diesel and 30% lower than gasoline.

Natural gas vehicles (NGV) are already available and combine top performance with low emissions. The natural gas Honda Civic GX is rated as the cleanest production vehicle in the world.

According to NGVAmerica, there are more than 7 million NGVs in use worldwide, but only 150,000 of those are in the United States.

The EPA estimates that vehicles on the road account for 60% of carbon monoxide pollution and around one-third of hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions in the United States. As federal and state emissions laws become more stringent, many requirements will be unattainable with conventionally fueled vehicles.

Since natural gas is significantly cleaner than petroleum, NGVs are increasing in popularity. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach recently announced that 16,800 old diesel trucks will be replaced, and half of the new vehicles will run on alternatives such as natural gas.

Cheaper

Natural gas is significantly less expensive than gasoline or diesel. In places like Utah and Oklahoma, prices are less than $1 a gallon. To see fueling stations and costs in your area, check out cngprices.com.

Domestic

Natural gas is our country's second largest energy resource and a vital component of our energy supply. 98% of the natural gas used in the United States is from North America. But 70% of our oil is purchased from foreign nations.

Natural gas is one of the cleanest, safest and most useful forms of energy — residentially, commercially and industrially. The natural gas industry has existed in the United States for over 100 years and continues to grow.
Domestic natural gas reserves are twice that of petroleum. And new discoveries of natural gas and ongoing development of renewable biogas are continually adding to existing reserves.
While it is a cheap, effective and versatile fuel, less than 1% of natural gas is currently used for transportation.

The Mechanics

1. Generate 20% of our electricity from wind power.
2. Use wind power to replace natural gas.
3. Use natural gas as a transportation fuel — replacing foreign oil.

We currently use natural gas to produce 22% of our electricity. Harnessing the power of wind to generate electricity will give us the flexibility to shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel — reducing our dependence on foreign oil by more than one-third.

How do we get it done?

The Pickens Plan is a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives, and buy us time to develop even greater new technologies.

Building new wind generation facilities and better utilizing our natural gas resources can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports in 10 years. But it will take leadership.
On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office.
We're organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration.

Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America's energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.

You can start changing America's future today by supporting the Pickens Plan. Join now.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

The United States imports more than 60% of its petroleum, two-thirds of which is used to fuel vehicles in the form of gasoline and diesel. The demand for petroleum imports is increasing. With much of the worldwide petroleum reserves located in politically volatile countries, the United States is vulnerable to supply disruptions.No matter how efficient conventional vehicles become, some of the gasoline and diesel needed to fuel them will need to be imported. I posted a blog on Big Oil that was quite negative. That was done for a reason. Our country needs to curtail it's dependence on oil.

Hydrogen is one of the answers.

Hydrogen can be produced domestically from resources such as natural gas, coal, solar energy, wind, biomass, and nuclear energy, with the potential for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Once produced, it generates power to highly efficient fuel cell vehicles without exhaust emissions. Hydrogen holds the promise for economic growth in both the stationary and transportation energy sectors, along with the end to the nation's "addiction to oil."

Impact on our Health

About half of the U.S. population lives in areas where air pollution levels are high enough to negatively impact public health or the environment. Emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles—such as nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter—are a major source of this pollution. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles emit none of these harmful substances. Their only emission is H2O—water.

The environmental and health benefits are even greater when hydrogen is produced from low- or zero-emission sources such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy and fossil fuels with advanced emission controls and carbon sequestration. Because the transportation sector accounts for about one third of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to climate change, using these sources to produce hydrogen for transportation can slash greenhouse gas emissions.

Marketing

The potential market for hydrogen vehicles is enormous, but the opportunities don't stop there. Hydrogen and fuel cells can power stationary applications such as backup generators, and grid electricity production. They can also compensate for the intermittency of renewable energy production. For example, wind generators can produce hydrogen when winds are high and electricity demand is low. When the wind slackens or electricity demand peaks, fuel cells consume the stored hydrogen to provide grid electricity.

For more information, please visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/