By Celsias
Posted on Nov. 23, 2011. Listed in:
The U.S. Navy pumped 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel into a destroyer ship and launched its biggest biofuel test yet last week. It was a 20 hour trip along the California coast.
Next year the US Navy is planning to unveil a small carrier strike group of small ships, destroyers, cruisers, aircraft, submarines and a carrier run on alternative fuels, including nuclear power . So the overnight trip from San Diego to Port Hueneme is an important part of the Navy's strategy.
The US Military has declared that it wants to create a "Great Green Fleet" of nuclear vessels, hybrid electric ships and other ships and aircraft powered by biofuels.
The Navy is tipping huge money into this project, spending more than $500 million in the biofuel industry. Its hope is that it will be able to cut its dependence on fossil fuel by 50 percent over the next decade.
Last week's test biofuel was a 50-50 blend of petroleum and a hydro-processed algal oil produced by San Francisco-based Solazyme, which has been altering the genetic makeup of algae to create their fuel.
The Navy is working with many companies on many fossil fuel alternatives , and it has sampled many - from fuel derived from chicken parts through to solid waste and mustard seeds.
The fuel the Navy want is drop in fuel. The Military uses more than 90 percent of the energy consumed by the federal government. Part of the strategy is that the new fuels can be made in the US.
The Navy has tested algae-based fuel on small ships and individual aircrafts but the Foster is the first destroyer to run on it. And it was done without any changes being made to the ship's engine to prepare it for the biofuel.
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