T. Boone vs. FedEx vs. Exxon Mobile (LNG vs Batteries vs Oil)

Articles — By forcechange on January 9, 2009 10:53 am

Environmental Capital reports that a mini-feud between Boone Pickens and FedEx has broken out recently.  FedEx CEO Fred Smith fundamentally disagrees with Pickens that shifting long-haul trucks from diesel to natural gas is the right move.  Instead, Smith argues that hybrids are a better solution, and has backed up this belief by leading FedEx’s transformation to the largest commercial fleet of hybrid trucks in North America.

EC notes that:

“[FedEx's] director of sustainability, Mitch Jackson, upped the ante on Sunday with a blog item blasting natural gas as transport fuel of the future. After citing a list of reasons against using natural gas instead of diesel, Mr. Jackson concludes that “substituting one fossil fuel for another may mean we’re shifting our energy supply, but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going anywhere.”

Pickens responded by accusing Jackson of making a “flawed argument” by misunderstanding the country’s natural-gas reserves and overstating the value of diesel hybrids. 

Jumping into the fray, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson said the Pickens Plan “has a number of flaws in its assumptions” and could end up increasing U.S. reliance on foreign oil. 

Interestingly, every party in this debate has a vested interest in one solution or another.  That, of course, does not make their positions invalid, but it means that a full debate over the merits of each position needs to be waged.  To make the debate easier, though, we’ll just eliminate the CEO of the world’s largest, non-state owned, oil company, whose interests cannot possibly be reconciled with those in favor of a fundamental shift away from petroleum.

That leaves the natural gas versus hybrid-diesel debate.  The answer to this dispute is dependent upon one major question– is battery technology advanced enough to power heavy duty trucks?  We personally have our reservations, but that debate is still unfolding.