Pickens, a member of Clean Energy's board, doesn't flinch at that question. The country faced the same question a century ago, in the beginning of the automobile age, he said.

"If somebody said, 'Henry (Ford), have you thought about it? You don't have any filling stations!' He'd say "Gosh, I haven't thought about that. Well I'll forget this idea.'"

"That's not what he said. He said, 'Don't worry about it. You will get filling stations. If the car shows up, filling stations will come.'"