Propane and the Pickens Plan
Official Washington has been in vigorous discussions - internally and externally - about alternative fuels and their role in our energy portfolio today and in the future. We are talking about solar, wind, geo-thermal and bio-methane. We are fully engaged in the national discussion about reducing our dependence on foreign oil by replacing the oil we import as our basic transportation fuel with natural gas.
There is another domestic fuel that is part of the alternative fuel mix, but has not been as widely discussed -- and that is propane. It's an important part of the Pickens Plan.
Propane is largely produced as a byproduct of natural gas. Over 97 percent of the propane which is used in America is produced right here on American soil. A brief chemistry lesson: propane is chemically very similar to natural gas but has one additional carbon atom per eight hydrogen atoms which has the benefit of allowing it to become liquified at relatively low pressures for shipping and storing.
Most Americans recognize propane as the fuel for their barbecue. It also provides heat, hot water, and cooking fuel to millions of rural American homes that extend beyond our highly-developed natural gas pipelines.
Since propane is a very portable fuel, it can help replace gasoline in some of the worst polluting engines -- the small engines used for garden equipment, lawnmowers and generators. These small gasoline-powered engines release many times more harmful air emissions per hour of use than the typical automobile. In fact, some cities restrict their use during smog alerts. New propane-powered alternatives are coming to market that will meet federal (and soon, California's) air-quality standards, permitting their continued use even during periods of heavy smog
Propane is also an excellent replacement for home heating oil. The price spikes during the past few winters mean homeowners in the Northeast have had to become "household hedge fund managers" making an annual bet on what the price of heating oil will be. This, alone, has made propane an excellent choice as a replacement fuel for imported oil.
When you add to that the fact that propane produces 30 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than home heating oil and no particulate emissions, it makes the argument for switching from heating oil to propane even stronger.
All of that is why propane fits into the Pickens Plan so well. The increased use of this clean, domestic fuel is helping us make a dent in our dependence on foreign oil.
In spite of the continuing economic slowdown, we are still importing more than two-thirds of the oil we use. In May, that cost us approximately $21.6 billion - much of which could have been recycled through the American economy rather than through the economies of countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America.
Increasing our use of propane and natural gas as fuel to power our vehicles and industrial applications means less dependence on foreign oil. As part of our continuing effort to strengthen America's energy independence, I am urging anyone who can - in a residential, a commercial, an agricultural or an industrial setting, to closely investigate shifting from imported oil to propane or natural gas.
Your business or family will benefit, and America will, too.
Follow T. Boone Pickens on Twitter: www.twitter.com/boonepickens
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
The TRUTH about the Pickens plan is that it is nothing but a land-grab to suck up most of the water rights down a major corridor in Texas.
Tell ya what T-Boone: disavow ANY claims to water rights/control and we'll take another look at your plan.
If it is true that you supported the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, TBP, then I cannot take you seriously.
He did. And he offered a $1 million to any one who could disprove the allegations and when they did he welched on the bet. He is only serving his own best interest without regard to this country.
I too am disgusted by that episode in his life, for which he has offered neither explanation nor apology.
Still, he makes some valid points about renewable energy in general, and propane in particular. I will continue to take everything he offers with a grain of salt, but so far I think he is being reasonable on this other issue. Billionaires with his power can help to make a difference, and I am glad to see him doing it.
Burning carbon is burning carbon, it doesn't matter whether it's coal, oil or gas.
In the end the result is the same: natural resources removed from the environment by violent means, extra CO2 added to the atmosphere, and most important:
Denying future generations the ability to do the same thing.
We should just be honest and straightforward with out children, and tell them that we do not care about their lives or their futures.
It DOES matter if it's coal, oil or gas. Gas gives the most energy for the least CO2 added to the atmosphere and is a cleaner fuel in other ways than oil or coal. Coal is the worst of the three: it produces the most CO2 per unit amount of energy and is dirtiest.
Should we turn off all the lights and stop driving cars completely so we can tell our children that we care about their lives? What if our children need to go to a doctor and a) can't get there without burning some CO2-producing fuel and b) can't be helped by the doctor because the doctor's office has no electrical power ? We can tell our children that we cared so much about their future that we let them die or starve or go uneducated, just so we'd be sure that there'd be lots of fossil fuel left for them to burn.
The point is that in the short term, propane is cleaner than coal and most petroleum products, and its use is better for our economy than diesel, gasoline, or heating oil, because we have lots of it under our own land.
You are 100% correct that in the longer run we need to drastically reduce our green-house gas emissions. At least we are talking about and making efforts to change the course of the energy 'ship'.
Like you, I personally doubt that we as a species will do enough to prevent run-away global warming before there are terrible repercussions for our descendants. I know for sure that people my age won't be around long enough to see the worst effects of this trend, but that doesn't stop me from caring.
when the US Gov repairs roads as part of infrastructure they should be adding technology to turn blacktop into solar panels. its a wasted opportunity.
given that all matter is energy and the earth is a giant electrical battery (magnetosphere - lightening storms etc). im very unimpressed with our energy production science. we're not going to have floating cities and flying cars until we solve this problem to scale.
spending massive infrastructure dollars on incremental baby steps that keep us trapped in 200 year old technologies seems like a huge waste of money. pickens is a dangerous con man. he should be locked up. you can steal more through large scale shady business transactions than mugging people one person at a time, but the outcome is the same, if not worse.
T Boone Pickins was one of the major financial donors to "swift boat veterans for truth" he tried to destroy John Kerrys service record. . he is doing this because he is a business man, he knows full well oil is over, trust him? not on your life I dont trust him.
I tired to post similar, but it did not get through. Glad yours did. He contributed to swift boat, George Bush, and he is a billionaire oil man who now owns a huge chunk of a natural gas interest. Can he be an advocate for green energy? Sure, but you must ALWAYS consider the source AND the motivation.
"you must ALWAYS consider the source AND the motivation''
Similar to Al Gore and his cap and trade "investments"?
T. Boone....
I am so hoping this country is able to start and keep up our Green Economy. I believe your thoughts and ideas, along with any Congress passes, could only lead to more jobs, and a good independence from the Mideast. Thanks for a great post.
Notice how the Repubs from TEXAS want a new gold plated power line to T. Boone's lands in TEXAS for windmill power to the Midwest and Northeast. And, how T. Boone's good buddies in Natural Gas want us to buy all our energy from TEXAS through pipelines from TEXAS. Recall how their refineries in TEXAS and their off-shore platforms off TEXAS have repeatedly failed us in the past from storms? And, if we centralize everything down in TEXAS as to gas and natural gas and wind electricity, will we not be creating a serious NATIONAL SECURITY problem in TEXAS?. I believe we can find other places to plant windmills, e.g., Great Lakes, Outer Banks, mountain ranges, and other areas of the U.S. with good wind power. And, we can make our own fuel like ethanol and bio-diesel without so much control from the natural gas and hot air people in TEXAS.
Love Texas, love Texans, hate BigOil&Gas&HotWind from Texas.
I can't get past the self-interested duplicity in all of this myself. Why doesn't the American Government step in and grap some of thie disgusting windwall for the broke and needy people, Isn't it OUR natural resource. T.Bone calls this capitalism. I call it rape.
Right on.
This would be an even bigger problem if Texas seceeds (sp)!
"T. Boone's good buddies in Natural Gas want us to buy all our energy from TEXAS through pipelines from TEXAS."
I didn't see that as part of the plan. What about the natural gas fields in Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Pennsylvania?
"their refineries in TEXAS"
Again, what about the refineries in states like LA, CA and others.
We need solutions not fe.arm.on.gering, Whitley.
This is a piece of the puzzle as no one thing will solve all our problems. This bridge to our energy future will keep cashflow circulating here in America while we work to establish a viable renewables network.
You're right. There are other facilities. The problem is that all we see and hear are commercials on CNN and FOX and other outlets about building power lines to Texas, and laying more gas pipelines out of Texas. T. Boone's and his sidekick Audrey McLendon's commercials are all about Texas, not LA, CA, NM, inter alias. All of the current propaganda campaigns are addressed to Texas. When T.Boone recently appeared on CNN with Ted Turner, he pulled no punches. He confessed that he wanted to make money in Texas. I can't begrude him wanting to make money in his state, but I still feel we need to spread our sources of energy throughout the nation.
Like I said, love Texas, love Texans, hate BigOil&Gas.
Please. Just give him whatever he wants so I can stop hearing him say, "I have a plan."
Testing testing 123
The movie...."There Will Be B.l.o.o.d"....
Eat less beef. One concrete way you can decrease our dependence on oil. I like Rudy's bbq here in the ATX as much as anyone but if you eat it less you make a difference and it tastes even better, having not had it for a while.
Think of how much energy it takes to transport cattle, feed, meat, etc.
I miss Rudy's... hmmmmm...
We eat far more beef than we need to, or what is good for us. We are genetically hard wired to love meat, fat, and sweets, but there are other foods that are better for our bodies and better for the environment.
This discussion is not the point of this post, but you make a valid point.
t Boone-you should be more worried about getting your Ok. St. Cowboys ready for another grueling Big 12 football season(only to see the champ lose to Florida in the BCS championship-AGAIN)
Propane is a cleaner form of energy than all other fossil fuels, however, it leaves a carbon footprint as big as oil or coal. Money spent converting to propane is money that could be spent on a real solution to eliminating the greenhouse gases that emanate from fossil fuels which contribute to climate change.
FreddieVee
Propane isn't particularly cleaner or dirtier than natural gas. The carbon emissions per BTU vary with the amount of carbon relative to hydrogen: highest for coal, then oil, then propane and natural gas. Money spent reducing carbon emissions by switching to lower-carbon-emissions fossil fuel is indeed money that could be spent on the long-term solution. But where near-term carbon emissions can be reduced cheaply enough, that should be done too.
Mr. Pickens,
Sir, about 20 years ago I switched everything in my home over to Propane. We live in the country so natural gas was/is unavailable. I was forced to switch back to fuel oil when the price of Propane got too high. Then fuel oil skyrocketed. Not wanting to switch again, I simply made some improvements to my home that saved heat from escaping and things worked out.
The only way you will sell the American people on any type of new, or old energy, will only happen when it costs less than it does now. That's the simple truth. Most people are not buying the Al Gore con-job, so if you really want to do something that will make a difference, make it cheap!
For any Conservatives that are sick and tired of being called a racist, I suggest you take the pledge... http://iamnotaracist.wordpress.com/
GoldenAgeMaster,
If you think Racism has anything to do whatsoever with Global Climate Change you are delusional. No wonder you can understand this issue, but your grandkids will... They may very well look back at people like you similar to how we look now at those that supported slavery. Maybe you are right - you are a Racist.
A standard "barbecue" bottle of propane contains 4.73 gallons and is only filled 85% (4.02 gal.) for safety reasons. It costs around $20 at one of the many convenience stores/gas stations that swap out empty bottles for full ones. That's $5/gal. While that is fine for my gas grill, how long would a bottle of propane run, say, a lawn tractor? My John Deere model 115 (19.5HP) uses about a gallon of gasoline per hour at a current cost of about $2.80.
Well, propane contains 91,690 BTU per gallon, versus 125,000 for gasoline, so I would imagine it would take more propane to do the same amount of work - 1.36 gallons. So that $5/gal. becomes the equivalent of $6.80 for the same amount of energy. You are not going to get people to pay 2 1/2 times as much to run these machines, smog alerts or no.
Propane bought in 5 gallon tanks is more expensive than propane bought in larger quantities. I don't have the data in front of me, but I used to take several 5 gallon tanks at a time down to a propane farm, because they would give me a commercial rate when I filled up two or more tanks at once. Even when I filled up only one tank, the price at the tank farm was less than half of the price at the local store. I used to fill up one tank for under $10, when the local price was $20 and up.
Propane has been used on forklifts for decades, because its exhaust is far less poisonous in warehouses.
Propane has also been used on over the road trucks for decades, but in much smaller numbers. Still, if diesel and gasoline get back up to $4/gallon, or become scarce, those running their trucks on propane will look very smart.
I live in a rural area and my house is heated with propane.
I also have a '77 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 that runs on domestic propane. It's my feed wagon so it goes long periods of time without being used but whenever I need it I know it will start right up, unlike gas that goes bad and often "gums up" the carburetor when not used regularly. It runs as well or better than my late model gas burning Toyota.
Propane and natural gas are important pieces in the plans for our energy future. It just makes sense to use our own resources as the bridge to energy independence. The infrastructure is in place and we can put thousands of Americans back to work NOW.
Excellent Post!
You are 100% Correct, any vehicle can be converted to run off of Gas or Gasoline, I believe stead of CAFE Standards passing legislation that new vehicles be Flex-Fuel and Propane/CNG powered would automatically reduce US dependence on Foreign Oil by 35% in less 10 Years and by 50% if a US Subsidized Program would be funded in the New Energy Bill.
-Sarge
T.Boone and his natural gas buddies are stating that we MUST CONVERT all of our vehicles to natural gas. Of course, we know what will happen when any Texas oil-gas company gets a monopoly. If we were so foolish as to convert our vehicles, they would nail us to their walls price wise. They even make public statements like "diesel trucks cannot burn ethanol, you must use natural gas." We've been burning ethanol in diesels for decades with glow plugs. You can't believe anything these Texans oil and gas men say.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
