Pickens is the chief executive officer of Clean Energy, the nation's largest provider of compressed natural gas, or CNG, fuel. His multi-million-dollar national advertising campaign promotes CNG as being an environmentally sound fuel source that could reduce America's dependency upon foreign oil by 30 percent over 10 years.
Hicks has several business interests, including WV CNG Inc., a Wood County company that is the distributor of FuelMaker Corp. products in West Virginia and eastern Ohio. Canadian-based FuelMaker Corp. produces FuelMaker, a commercial level on-site natural gas fueling system, and the Phill, an appliance that allows owners of CNG vehicles to refill overnight from their home natural gas line.
Domestic Production
What are the perks of using CNG? Nearly 87 percent of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically. The vehicles generate 60 to 90 percent less smog pollutants and 30 to 40 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline and diesel engines.
According to NGV America, a typical dedicated natural gas vehicle, or NGV, can reduce exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide by 70 percent, non-methane organic gas by 87 percent, nitrogen oxides by 87 percent and carbn dioxide by almost 20 percent below those of gasoline vehicles.
The government offers tax credits to encourage consumers to purchase the alternative energy vehicles.