Can Natural Gas Trucks Reduce Oil Imports?
Originally published in the March 2, 2009 edition of Peak Oil Review, published weekly by the Association for the Study of Peak Oil – USA. On February 18 a cadre of political and energy heavyweights gathered in a teleconference with reporters to map out a new direction for U.S. energy policy. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens discussed strategies to develop clean energy sources that will reduce U.S. oil imports. The teleconference was a prelude to a conference on February 23 of the National Clean Energy Project that featured former president Bill Clinton and former vice president Al Gore (1). A key element discussed during the teleconference was a plan to power the long-haul trucking industry with natural gas instead of diesel fuel. The plan would reduce air pollution and oil imports, a plan that Boone Pickens has been promoting since 2007. “We need to work hard to use more domestic
