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.

FMI: www.navy.mil, www.usda.gov