Melissa D'Amico

Electric cars and wind farms: Newsest models for easing oil dependence
July 30, 2008

With a growing need to find alternative energy sources, even oilmen are calling for access to different resources. In areas throughout the world, organizations are working to develop alternative energy sources which may help to end the global dependence on oil.

In a recent Op-Ed column for the New York Times, columnist Thomas L. Freidman calls attention to two major contributors to this goal. These are Shai Agassi, an Israeli businessman, and T. Boone Pickens, an oil billionaire from Texas. Agassi and Pickens have both developed strategies for decreasing the need for oil within their respective nations.  

Agassi, was originally working  for business-management software giant SAP, but gave it up to help alleviate his country’s dependence on oil. He has developed an electric car prototype which may cut the need for oil significantly, and make Israel a model for other nations. In these endeavors, he is working with Better Place, an organization he co-founded.

The overall goal for this development, as mentioned in Freidman’s article, is to “create an electric car ‘system’ that will work much like a mobile phone service ‘system,’ only customers will sign up for so many monthly miles.” Within this system, a subscriber will be given a car and battery, as well as access to recharging outlets and garages used to change dead batteries for new ones.

Agassi explained to Freidman how, “today in Europe, you pay $600 a month for gasoline. We have an electric car that will cost you $600 a month.” This car would come with an unlimited supply of electric fuel, with no extra charges or CO₂ emissions.  

Throughout his career, T. Boone Pickens has made billions of dollars in the oil industry, and yet he is now trying to help break US dependence on oil. Along with his company, Mesa Power, he is building the world’s largest wind farm, to be located in the Texas Panhandle. He believes that “if we create a renewable energy network, we can break our addiction to foreign oil.”

Oil dependence is an issue that is present within nations around the world. As organizations attempt to remedy these problems, they understand that resolutions cannot be made until the nations as a whole take steps to make changes. Through the work of people such as Agassi and Pickens, organizations continue to create model ideas for societies to look into.

Freidman’s article has additionally created a discussion of the differences between the developments and goals for the two men and their organizations.

Posted by Melissa D'Amico on July 30, 2008 | Comments (0)