Renewable Fuels Will Power Aircraft, Most Ships
The U.S. Navy will employ a biofuel blend to power aircraft and
most vessels participating in a maritime exercise that's slated to
be conducted near Hawaii next summer. In a conference call with
reporters held Monday, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and U.S. Department
of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack discussed a contract the
Defense Logistics Agency announced last week for 450,000 gallons of
biofuel that will power a Navy carrier group during a maritime
exercise next summer.
SECNAV Ray Mabus
The contract is the largest government purchase of biofuel in
history, and provides $12 million to suppliers Solazyme and Dynamic
Fuels LLC, a joint venture of Tyson Foods, Inc. and Syntroleum
Corporation. Solazyme's biofuel is algae-based, Mabus explained,
while Dynamic's is made from used cooking oil and non-food-grade
animal fats. So-called drop-in fuels can work without engine
modifications, and Mabus noted the Navy has already certified that
its ship and aircraft engines will perform on the new fuels.
He said the fuel "met all our criteria -- that it be a drop-in
biofuel, that come from nonfood sources, and that it not increase
the carbon footprint." The fuels will be combined in a 50-50 blend
with petroleum-based diesel and aviation fuel to power the U.S.
ships and aircraft taking part in the Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC
exercise, the world's largest international maritime exercise,
scheduled to take place off Hawaii next summer, the Navy secretary
added.
The carrier that anchors the strike group is nuclear-powered,
Mabus noted, but all other Navy craft involved in the exercise will
use biofuel.
The Navy plans to follow the RIMPAC demonstration with a 2016
multi-month carrier group deployment using 50 percent biofuel for
surface ships and aircraft, Mabus said.
Vilsack (pictured, left) said the biofuel purchase is a
turning point in the partnership that includes the U.S. Department
of Transportation, the Navy and the Energy Department under
President Barack Obama's "Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future,"
which tasked the three to advance a domestic industry capable of
producing "drop-in" biofuel substitutes for diesel and jet fuel.
More than 300 facilities in the United States are now producing
ethanol and biodiesel, he noted.
"Today's announcement, I think, underscores the fact that the
future for the Navy ... [and] this country lies in energy security,
and basically controlling our own destiny by producing our own
fuels in a creative and innovative way," Vilsack said.
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