Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens has launched a new campaign to substitute at least a portion of the U.S. imported oil with domestic natural gas.

Pickens would like renewable energy sources, wind power chief among them, to run electric power generation plants currently run by natural gas/coal, and use that natural gas to fuel natural gas vehicles.

Economist Glen Langan told BloggingStocks Thursday the PickensPlan is commendable for a number of reasons (it would lower the trade deficit, create domestic jobs, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions), but investors and readers should not view it as a panacea for the nation's transportation energy bill. "It could be a part of the solution, but it won't address the entire imported oil problem," Langan said.

Another oil saver: better engines

What's another key to reducing both imported oil and U.S.-produced oil consumption? Something that the U.S. auto sector has under-emphasized for more than a decade: technology-driven increases in car/vehicle efficiency, Langan said.

Langan said vehicle weight reduction, transmission/drive train improvements, enhanced aerodynamics, and the biggest factor -- increased engine efficiency -- "have the potential to reduce oil imports by almost as much as the Pickens Plan, and the changes won't take 10 years to see the results."

Further, many of the mpg-enchancing technologies already exist, Langan notes; he suggested an additional federal tax credit for automakers to help them incorporate the changes sooner.

"The fleet [all vehicles driven in the U.S.] should average 25-27 miles per gallon right now. Currently we're at about 20 miles per gallon. With appropriate federal tax credits we could be at 30-32 miles per gallon in five or seven years," Langan said.


A 'drive by wire' car

Further, Langan said the chance for large gains in mpg exists in 'drive by wire' technology -- basically replacing hydraulics, gears, and pumps in cars/vehicles with more-efficient electric motors. Hydraulics, belts, gears, and pumps divert fuel power from the engine and lower gas mileage; run those systems on more-efficient electric motors and gasoline mileage will increase substantially.

Hence, Langan views the PickensPlan as part of the transportation energy solution: gasoline/diesel engine efficiency increases will reduce oil consumption quicker, while Pickens' natural gas vehicles will knock-out still another portion of oil use. The long-term goal? "The electric car remains a good choice to displace the internal combustion engine, but affordable, practical electric cars are still at least a decade away, given present battery technology," Langan said.

Oil Analysis: As economist Langan noted, the PickensPlan has merit, but it should be viewed as one piece of the oil consumption reduction puzzle. Numerous 'points for oil savings' exist in the current internal combustion engine model. The above programs, and other policy changes, have the potential to move the nation's oil bill in the right direction: down.