thoughtleaders
BY MARK B. SOLOMON, SENIOR EDITOR
Stepping
on the gas
Boone Pickens’ great
quest is under way. If it
succeeds, the U.S.
heavy-duty truck fleet
will be burning natural
gas instead of diesel,
and the nation’s
dependence on
Mideast oil will be
forever reduced.
NO ONE NEEDS TO PROVE THEMSELVES AT 84 YEARS OF AGE, AND T.
Boone Pickens is no exception.
Over the past 50 years, few have strode so visibly as Pickens across America’s
energy stage. But at a time when he could step back to savor a life well lived,
Pickens has instead embarked on a project that will dwarf anything he or any
other energy titan has ever done.
Pickens’ mission—born from his now-famous 2008 “Pickens Plan”—is to
convert the nation’s 8 million heavy-duty trucks from diesel fuel to cheaper,
cleaner-burning natural gas. It is a multiyear effort that calls for persuading U.S.
fleet owners to commit to investing in more expensive vehicles that run on natural gas. It also requires the development of an extensive infrastructure to provide fuel and maintenance to over-the-road truckers. Pickens sits on the board
of a California-based company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., that is involved in
such an endeavor.
If the conversion program works, it will change the global energy game in profound ways, with the impact being felt long after Pickens and most of us are gone.
28
