PickensPlan/Utah Chapter

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Comment by Bill Mollring on February 13, 2009 at 12:49pm

VERYWHERE!! We are setting up distribution points in Wailuku, Maui hawaii, Omaha and Ogalala, nebraska. These Units produce lots of energy and can be attached to existing structures, such as, power poles, chimmies,cell towers
To see a Video go to: Click on CONTACT, nex page Click on VBine Energy,
Contact Bill Mollring for info. We have financing 831 402-2037

Comment by Brian Barker on January 27, 2009 at 10:38pm

When the air was really bad a few days ago, a lady on facebook started a group "Utah Air Quality Protest". This led to a website/group "Utah Moms for Clean Air". Well, it gained some interest, and many people who aren't mothers seem to be following it. They had a meeting tonight, which I couldn't attend, but it probably was quite good. I found out this group already has a blog that is quite active at www.utahmomsforcleanair.org. I mentioned this site to the founder, Alice Bain. Hopefully she's checked it out. Anyway, this may be a good avenue to find more people who are interested in Pickens' Plan and environmental issues. I'll see if I can invite more people over here, but we also may wish to attend some of this other group's events as well and connect to more Utahns.

Comment by younkin on January 27, 2009 at 8:04am

The summer of 2008
A true CNG Story

Have you ever had your computer crash? What did you do? Did you reboot it? Did you reformat the hard drive? Or did you call one of your sons friends who was sort of a Nerd and let him do his magic and get it fixed? As we all know mechanical and electronic devices have problems and wear out eventually. For the past 35 years of my life I have been repairing cars, Over this time I have met many mechanics and there are only a few who rise to the top of their field. This is because they have a natural ability to understand mechanical problems and the patience and technical ability to repair cars. Over my lifetime the automobile has went from a simple machine with very few electronic parts to a sophisticated mechanical machine with more computers and sensors than a NASA Rocket Ship. The general public still looks to these few Trained and Certified Technicians to solve their Mechanical and Electronic problems on their Cars.

Many of these talented Technicians here in Utah saw the introduction of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) Vehicles as an opportunity to help motorists do something good for the consumer and good for the environment. It was a Win situation for both the installer and the consumer, or so it seemed? These New CNG car owners would be able to burn clean Natural Gas, a fuel source that we have plenty of here in Utah, a fuel source that is low priced. A fuel source that burns cleaner than traditional gasoline. Instead of being patted on the back for getting their Safety training in CNG, collecting CNG products and installing CNG kits these Technicians were painted as Criminals by the press and others.

Let’s take a look at the Modern CNG Industry as a whole, where did all of the current CNG Vehicles come from? Most of the Dedicated (CNG only) and Bi-fuel (both CNG and Gasoline) vehicles on the road today were built and converted over the past 15 years by Car Companies and Private Retrofitters. Most of these conversions were spawned out of Mandates and Directives from the Government in order to clean up our Air. As the CNG Industry in the US grew and the vehicles got more complicated the older CNG kits were not sophisticated enough for these newer vehicles the older CNG systems were replaced with modern more tunable Kits. Around this time the EPA noticed that some of these conversions were burning dirtier than their Gasoline counterparts so directives were issued whereby the offending Vehicles could be monitored. The older CNG systems were good for their time but as the Vehicles themselves got more sophisticated more tunable CNG kits were introduced. Many of these kits came from companies outside the United State who had been producing these kits for many years. For a while it was profitable for CNG Kit manufacturers to get their Kits EPA Approved, there were plenty of fleets who needed their kits (Government mandates etc.) and the installers and consumers were in some cases receiving rebates and incentives from the federal and state government for theses conversions. As the Vehicles got more sophisticated and the rebates and incentives dried up it was no longer profitable for the Kit Producers to certify their kits, a single certification is only good for one vehicle, one engine family for one year, then the next years the process needs to be repeated.

Now comes the famous Summer of 2008, the gasoline prices are tripled, the consumers are squeezed and here in Utah we have a clean burning money saving Alternative, CNG. As the car dealers began pulling in overpriced factory converted vehicles the Independent Repair Facilities began training their technicians and searching for CNG kits to install.


World wide the United States is behind the curve when it comes to CNG Conversions. As we try to catch up with the rest of the world and help clear the air. As we go into this New Year we need to rethink our approach to CNG Conversions. We need to work together, all CNG Shops, those who install Certified (EPA) and Imported (non certified) kits. We can all come together and help each other. The Certified Kits need Safety Checking and testing from time to time, some older systems may need to be retrofitted with an Imported kit. We need to share tuning information and mantainence schedules. The Imported kit conversions need to be checked for Safety and Emissions.

Each individual State needs to Certify and Safety Check the CNG Vehicles within their borders. At this time the EPA Certification Process is cumbersome, antiquated and not flexible enough to keep up with the current influx of CNG Conversions. People need to be able to convert what ever vehicle they are driving, not just the Fords and Chevy’s that the government and state fleets have been driving. The Citizens want CNG, the Politicians want CNG, the Pickens People want CNG, and those driving gas guzzlers want relief through CNG.
There is an answer:
1) Streamline the conversion and certification process.
2) Create an Emission testing program tighter than the original EPA Standard.
3) Create a Safety standard for all CNG Vehicles and systems.
4) Let the State implement and regulate this program using the Certified Automotive Technicians of the State.
5) Create a board of Certified Technicians to help train others in the testing and repair of CNG systems.
6) Implement these programs using existing Safety and Emission stations.

Comment by Clint G. Salisbury on January 16, 2009 at 8:41am

Hey Chapter. We have a meeting at Bluestar Juice and Java tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. the address is 2795 South 2300 East. Take I-80 East and take the Holladay 2300 South exit. It's right there off the ramp.

Comment by Peter Kellly on January 4, 2009 at 8:30am

7:56am on January 4th, 2009, John Purvis said…
Kelllly: Your sarcasm is pretty bad, and where do you come off with this “we” stuff. Why do you think you’re the voice of anyone except yourself? And why do you post your vendetta stuff against me in a group forum? I don’t mind, but you do waste space and do detract from whatever good qualities you might have. Do you have any? Do you do anything except whine while others accomplish things? Now, I am glad I at least woke you up, albeit on the wrong side of the bed.

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Comment by utahCNG on January 1, 2009 at 1:53pm

JWilde,
Thank you for your post, this is exactly what I was looking for this is the most important issue we can tackle in the next 30 days, so I urge everyone to get involved and write the PCS. This kind of decision making by our government officials is exactly why we haven't made much progress in energy independence for more than 4 decades in the US.

Comment by Peter Kellly on December 31, 2008 at 5:01pm

Purvis, I see by the mass e mail that your still living in the U.S.A. I thought we would be done with you after the election. One other observation. You are still so up beat and nice! You are by far the most positive person I've seen posting E mails for Mr. picken's plan. What a great leader. Must be why this site has grown so large, and has created so much interest in Utah. You offer a large tent. One that will accept many points of view.

Comment by JWilde on December 30, 2008 at 6:49pm

Hello folks,
If you're as worried as I am about the recent PSC ruling and what it will do to Utah's nascent NGV market, please visit www.cngchat.com immediately. The community is organizing to fight this ruling, and we urgently need your help.

Comment by utahCNG on December 30, 2008 at 1:01pm

Is there any kind of effort to protest the NG price hikes proposed by the PSC in UT? If so I'd love to figure out how to help and get petitions signed etc. If they succeed in raising prices to $1.43 that will spell the death of NGV's in Utah.
Greg

Comment by Dani Lanz on December 15, 2008 at 5:06pm

Please join your congressional district group--LINK HERE to become a part of your local effort to move the Pickens Plan to the next level!

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