The Market Hick

Implementing Pickens' Plan for Public Energy Policy

One more thing about Pickens Plan and using nat gas for cars, what happens if you run out of fuel on the highway? Exactly what type of container do you have to tote along as you walk to a filling station to get what you need to get your car to a station and how would you transfer lng or cng from that container to your car?

Implementing Pickens' Plan for Public Energy Policy

Bellard,

I don't think you get what I mean about range.
I don't mind waiting 10 minutes for a charge but that charge has to last me 300 miles-in 4WD.That means a lot of power.Go out to Utah Badlands/Canyonlands or Flattops wilderness in Colorado.You don't find gas stations behind every elk! Also think of power consumption when you're hauling a four horse trailer.Electric will not get you there and back.Granted these are a few extreme examples but how do people get their boats out to Lake Powell? Ever travel I-70 through Utah? There's a 160 mile stretch with absolutely no services.
What I'm saying is that electric would kill a lot of the Outdoor rec industry if range didn't increase dramatically.You also have to remember that outdoor enthusiasts require a lot more power,on average from their vehicles.You want to put electric refueling stations out in the boonies, you have to start stringing a lot more power lines.

Implementing Pickens' Plan for Public Energy Policy

Actually Big rigs can run on natural gas and CLNE has been approached by several regional/local haul trucking companies about converting their fleets and using their stations. Conversion kits for diesel to nat. gas are available from a company called Westport Innovations(WPVIF.PK)
Mr. Ellard the one concern I have about electric engines is range. I , like you, am an avid outdoorsman(I would like be out hiking right now instead of in front of my keyboard but hey its earnings season and its time to harvest), as such I spend a lot of time in my 4wd pickup far from any conventional fueling stations.So far, I have yet to see any electric engine with a decent range that will get me out to the backcountry and let me roam. I don't see that kind of problem with a nat. gas engine.Thus my own self interest would favor the nat. gas solution.
I like your concept of well to wheel efficiency,never thought of it that way.In this regard piping cng or lng to refueling staions rather than trucking gas would seem to be a benefit,but I wonder how that comparison would work out when pipeline construction costs are factored in. Also what are the energy and site requirements for compression/liqueficat... facilities vs. oil refineries and the potential output of each?