If you listened to or read our post on T. Boone Pickens speaking at the AFVI Expo in May, then you know that he's a big proponent of wind power and natural gas (some say he needs to learn more about hydrogen cars). Mr. Swift Boat is all over the media today because of an announcement regarding something called "The Plan," Pickens' big new idea to shift some of the $700b the U.S. spends each year on foreign oil into increasing domestic energy production. Unsurprisingly, Pickens says that wind and natural gas are the ways to go. Maybe this is what he meant when he said he wanted to be a player in the fall election.

Pickens spoke to NPR this morning about The Plan, which includes installing 2,500 wind turbines in Texas to deal with Peak oil (The Plan website says that happened in 2005). As for natural gas, Pickens says it should win as a power source for vehicles because it is cheaper than gas, abundant and domestic.

If you need a jolt of irony with your lunch today, check this out. Pickens told NPR that, "The mistake was made because we didn't have the leadership that stepped up and said, 'We cannot continue to import foreign oil.'" One reason no one stepped might be that people like Pickens invested a lot in oil companies looking for oil in foreign lands. Sheesh. h/t to Dave B.

[Source: Pickens Plan, NPR]

Click above for more shots of the Nereus concept

The idea of using wind power on the water is anything but new. These days, though, sails have taken a back seat to kites as the primary method of capturing the wind. Here is a new concept, though, that we've yet to see: a kite-powered submersible water craft. Called the Nereus, this concept is meant for adrenaline junkies, not really as a primary source of transportation. Still, it sure does look like fun. Steering is accomplished with the footrests, which are attached to the rear rudder. The vehicle is intended to run both on top of the water and submersed in it. Once a good head of steam is generated, the rider pushes down on the handles which are attached to front-mounted fins, which force the machine underwater. No action is needed to ascend back to the surface, as the combined pull of the kite and the design of the vessel itself take care of that little problem for you.


[Source: Behance Network via Gizmodo]

Nissan seems to both boost its green image and save some money in electricity by installing two additional windmill turbines at its Sunderland plant. This means that the eight wind turbines there will be able to produce six percent of the electricity the plant needs to keep running.

Its estimated this project will save Nissan £1.4 million in electricity bills, plus stop 4,000 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. The windfarm, which is installed not on top of hills but at ground level, is claimed to be low-impact. Sunderland's factory also holds an ISO 14001 Certification in Environmental Management. This plant produces the Qashaqi, Note, Micra and Micra C+C.

Nissan also installed solar panels in its Barcelona plant in Spain. Both projects belongs to the marque's Green Program for 2010.

Related:

• Nissan's opens a new "green" Engineering Center in Japan
• Nissan using fuel cell fork lifts at Smyrna assembly complex
• Nissan to save some CO2 by installing solar panels on Spanish plants

[Source: Nissan Europe]

One problem with wind power is that you can never be sure when the wind will be blowing. If you rely on wind power, you've got problems when the weather chooses not to cooperate, which is like... always! One obvious way to collect the excess electricity to be used later would be with big batteries, but there are other ideas regarding the best way to store the power. Take for instance this scheduled power plant in Dallas Center, Iowa. In lieu of storing the power as electricity, the plan for this group is to store the energy in a giant underground "balloon". Well, not exactly a balloon, but a cavern of porous sandstone layers 3,000 feet under the ground. We've never seen balloons made of rock, but if that's what it takes to make green energy available to the masses... well then, rock balloons it is!

[Source: Ecotality via Engadget]

We first saw the aptly named Venturi Eclectic at last year's Paris Motor Show and the company has now brought one to sunny southern California. The sunny part is important since the roof is covered with photo-voltaic cells. If left parked in the sun all day it can absorb enough energy to extend the standard 30-mile range by an extra 4-5 miles. If a breeze is available the roof mounted wind turbine can purportedly add another 10 miles of range. Venturi hopes to start selling the first 200 examples of this neighborhood electric vehicle next spring for just over $30,000. The team from Popular Mechanics got to sample the Eclectic and have put up a video of the experience.

[Source: Popular Mechanics, thanks to Matt for the tip]