Google's Energy Plan

http://blog.google.org/2008/10/clean-energy-2030.html

The energy team at Google has been crunching the numbers to see how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. Our analysis, led by Jeffery Greenblatt, suggests a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 40%. Al Gore has issued a challenge that is even more ambitious, getting us to carbon-free electricity even sooner. We hope the American public pushes our leaders to embrace it. T. Boone Pickens has weighed in with an interesting plan of his own to massively deploy wind energy, among other things. Other plans have also been developed in recent years that merit attention.

Thoughts on Energy....

A few interesting notes on alternative energy and energy independence.....

1.  The Chevy Volt.  Chevy is working on an electric car that will go 40 miles each day on pure electricity.  Once you hit 40 miles, it will switch to fuel.  Vice Chairman of GM, Bob Lutz claims that 80% of Americans drive less than 40 miles per day.  See this informative and entertaining clip with further details with Vice Chairman Lutz and his guest appearance on "The Colbert Report"

2.  T Boone Pickens and the Pickens Plan.  I've seen the commercials, but it was quite interesting to read up on the plan.  The basic tenants are as follows:

a. America is addicted to foreign oil

b. America is the Saudi Arabia of Wind Power (see cool wind maps)

c. Building wind facilities in the corridor that stretches from Texas to N. Dakota could produce 20% of the electricity for the US at a cost of $1 trillion.  It would take another $2oo billion to build the capacity to transmit that energy to cities and towns.  That's a lot of money, but it's a one time cost.  And compared to the $700 billion we spend on foreign oil each year, it's a bargain.

d. Building this corridor of wind power across middle America would stimulate the economy of rural America

e. America has an abundance of a cheaper, cleaner fuel for transportation....natural gas.   98% of the natural gas used domestically is from North America compared to only 30% of petroleum.  Natural resevoirs of natural gas are twice that of petroleum and prices per 'gallon' are at less than $1.  

f.  We currently use natural gas to produce 22% of our electricity.  By harnessing the power of wind to generate electricity we can shift natural gas away from electricity generation and put it to use as a transportation fuel.

The Pickens plan believes it can reduce dependency on foreign oil by more than one-third in less than 10 years.  

Not being an energy expert by any means, my humble take is that it sounds pretty realistic (not too grandiose) and the facts / financials make sense.  And I just feel like I'm supposed to agree with T. Boone Pickens.  For more details, visit The Pickens Plan