Navy Looks to biofuel to Power the Fleets of the Future

By Warren Peace, Stars and Stripes

European edition, Tuesday, May 11, 2010

STUTTGART, Germany — Following the successful test of its F/A-18 “Green Hornet,” the Navy is moving forward with plans to use biofuels in more of its equipment and loosen foreign oil’s grip on the service’s energy supply.

The Navy wants to fuel 50 percent of its vehicles with some form of alternative fuel — mostly biofuel — by 2020. Biofuel is produced from renewable resources, especially plant biomass, vegetable oils, and treated municipal and industrial wastes.

Currently, only 1 percent of the fuel used by the Navy comes from renewable sources. The shift to biofuels was inspired in part by oil market fluctuations, according to Rear Adm. Philip Cullom, the head of the Navy’s Task Force Energy. The Navy spent $5.1 billion for fuel in 2008 when oil prices reached a record high of $147 per barrel, compared to $1.2 billion the previous year, when oil was $33 per barrel.

The Defense Department has an annual energy budget of about $20 billion. For every $10 increase in a barrel of oil, the DOD spends $1.3 billion in additional energy costs, according to a recent DOD press release.............

Navy looks to biofuel to power the fleets of the future | Stars and Stripes