The Pickens Plan, billionaire energy investor T. Boone Pickens‘ plan to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, has been getting a tonne of attention since Pickens launched the initiative at the beginning of the month.

And so it should.

First off, Pickens, a qualified geologist, knows a thing or two about oil and energy. In 1956 he founded Mesa Power. The company grew into the largest independent exploration companies in the US.

The British government gave a huge boost to wind energy stocks this week, opening bidding for offers to build up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind turbines by 2020 — triple the amount previously planned.

The European Union has set a target date of 2020 for 20% of its energy to come from renewable sources. The British Wind Energy Association said Britain will contribute 15%, meaning up to 40% of the country’s power will come from wind energy by the target date.

“The richest investment opportunities can be found in the fast-emerging alternative energy sector,” says Mike Burnick in The Offshore A-Letter.

Solar stock Ersol rose to a new record after German engineering giant Bosch said it paid $157 a share, a premium of more than 60%, for a controlling stake in the company. This from The Guardian:

Shares in leading German solar stocks rose substantially on expectations that other big players, including oil groups, are on the prowl in a market that grew to €6.6bn last year and is forecast to top €18bn by 2020.

T Boone Pickens’ recent oil price forecast — he sent oil surging last month with a forecast of oil at $150 a barrel by the end of this year — may not have come true yet, but that diminished the legendary oilman’s status as oil oracle among investors.

When he’s not making oil price forecasts, Pickens is busy investing in energy. He recently announced that his investment vehicle Mesa Power was putting $2 billion into a Texas wind-energy project, boosting clean energy stocks in the process and delighting the wind-energy lobby.

Sky-high crude oil prices are threatening global growth for the first time in decades, according to Thomson Reuters, and are “spurring a desperate surge in interest in energy alternatives and new technology to keep conventional oil flowing.”

“The richest investment opportunities can be found in the fast-emerging alternative energy sector,” says Mike Burnick in The Offshore A-Letter.

Even I was stunned when I saw the Financial Times and the headline said, “Oil Futures Near $140 Amid Fears of Shortage.” As Robin used to say, “Holy smokes, Batman!”

Companies specializing in centralized fossil fuel fired generation need to move towards energy efficiency and diversity of generation, Scottish and Southern Energy, Britain’s second largest energy supplier, said today.

“The days of meeting an unchecked demand for energy through monolithic carbon intensive power stations are coming to an end. Increasingly the emphasis will be on energy efficiency, renewables, cleaned up fossil fuel plant and micro generation,” the company said in a statement accompanying its full-year results, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

US commodities regulator the Commodities Future Trading Commission  (CFTC) has launched begun to investigate possible market manipulation in the US crude oil market amid record oil prices and oil company profits. This from The Daily Telegraph:

The Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC), working closely with other international regulators including the Financial Services Authority in the UK, has begun a series of detailed inquiries over concerns that energy speculators are behind the rising oil price.

T. Boone Pickens is a major oil guy. He became successful buying up oil and gas companies and trading energy for his fund, BP Capital. And now he’s forecasting $150 oil.

Recently, legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens made headlines with another big bet on energy…but it was No ordinary oil & gas investment.