Boone Pitches for NGV

27 August 2004

In a letter to the Arizona Republic, T. Boone Pickens, legendary oilman, creator of Mesa, takeover artist/raider and a strong believer in alternative fuels and natural gas takes the paper to task for its assessment of natural gas vehicles following Ford’s announcement. (Earlier post.)

NGV technology continues to be developed and made available. General Motors’ natural-gas, full-size pickup will still be available for sale in 2005, Honda’s natural-gas Civic is still rated the “greenest vehicle on Earth,” and other vehicle and engine manufacturers remain committed to NGVs.

Also, despite Ford’s departure from the domestic NGV market, they are expanding in Europe with a natural-gas Focus and Volvo sedan. The marketplace has only evolved!

Phoenix has enjoyed success with natural-gas vehicles because its leaders have correctly focused their efforts on high fuel use, high-visibility fleets like Valley Metro.

Transitioning mass transit and waste collection fleets to natural gas is critical. These vehicles drive more miles, consume more fuel and have a greater impact in our neighborhoods than most other fleet vehicles.

Ford’s justification for discontinuing production of NGVs to focus on hydrogen technology is disingenuous. Hydrogen-vehicle technology is decades away. Ford is basically telling Americans not to worry about air quality or public health for a couple more decades. The entire natural gas industry supports hydrogen-vehicle technology achievements, but it is not in our best interest to sit and wait. We need to encourage and deploy the cleanest available technology today. That’s NGVs.

A growing and dynamic natural gas industry will accelerate the realization of hydrogen-powered vehicles, not hinder it. The bottom line: Natural gas vehicles remain a realistic and readily available option to improve air quality, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and advance the widespread use of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Pickens is also the founder of Pickens Fuel, which became ENRG, which then became Clean Energy: the largest provider of vehicular natural gas in North America. Clean Energy is a private company whose major shareholders include Boone Pickens, Terasen Inc. (formerly BC Gas Inc), Westport Innovations Inc. and Perseus 2000 LLC.

As an aside, Fortune (subscription required) had an interesting interview with Pickens.

Oil, if it hasn't peaked, it’s very close, in worldwide production. Are you familiar with Hubbert's Peak? I’m a believer in that. We may have peaked on oil.