Navy and Air Force Working On Jet Fuel Made of Plants

The Navy demonstrated the "Green Hornet," an F/A-18 Super Hornet powered by a 50/50 biofuel blend, on Earth Day, April 22, at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., as part of its Energy Strategy.

Meanwhile, the Air Force is flying an A-10 Warthog around using a blend of jet fuel and biofuel made out of the same stuff. Apparently, they're working independently of each other.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has made energy independence a top priority for the Department of the Navy and the Green Hornet flight is an important step in the certification and ultimate operational use of biofuels by the Navy and Marine Corps, a spokesman said.

The secretary's energy reform targets include:

* By 2016, the Navy will sail a "Great Green Fleet" composed of nuclear ships and surface combatants with hybrid electric power systems using biofuel and aircraft flying on only biofuels.

* By 2020, at least half of the Navy's shore-based energy requirements will come from alternative sources and half of total Navy energy consumption will come from alternative sources.

"[The flight] will demonstrate that our systems can work on biofuel," Mabus said in his remarks at a recent energy forum at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Md. "After it is successful, and we are absolutely confident that it will be; we will move to expand biofuel testing to our marine gas turbine engines and to the engines of our tactical vehicles."

The biofuel blend to be used in the Super Hornet is derived from the camelina sativa plant, which is a U.S.-grown, renewable, non-food source. So is the Air Force's.

The objective of the biofuel test flight programs is to confirm there is no difference in performance between the biofuel blend derived from the camelina plant and standard petroleum-based JP-5. The Navy's ultimate goal is to develop protocols to certify alternative fuels for use in Naval Tactical systems.

The Air Force flew the A-10 Thunderbolt II on March 25 solely on a blend of biomass-derived fuel similar to soybean and mustard derived from camelina and conventional JP-8 jet fuel; the first flight of its kind.

The alternative fuels certification office is also preparing to test fuels made primarily from plant oils and animal fats. They are part of a family of fuels called "hydro-treatable renewable jet," or HRJ, fuels.

The Air Force hopes to create biomass fuels that the it can certify for use across its spectrum of aircraft and support vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Navy Fuels Lab at NAVAIR Patuxent River, Md., will develop certification requirements for a variety of biofuel sources, including chemical properties, material compatibility, component and propulsion system performance and weapon system performance.

The Defense Energy Support Center, which oversees procurement of biofuel for the Navy, recently awarded a $2.7 million contract to Sustainable Oils of Seattle and Bozeman, Mont. for 40,000 gallons of the camelina-based fuel.

Neither news release, issued separately, indicated the Navy and Air Force are working together on developing the fuels, however. Nor did they mention what the aroma of hundreds of planes burning a mustard plant is going to be.

A refinery is being built by Tyson Foods to use animal fats from its food production factories to create biomass fuels (fried chicken, anyone?). Another company, called AltAir Fuels, is building an HRJ plant near an existing refinery in Washington state.

The Air Force is the Defense Department's largest consumer of jet fuel, but burns only the equivalent of a mid-sized airline. It's closely cooperating with industry as part of a consortium of commercial airlines and engine manufacturers called the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative.

The expectation is that once biofuels are certified for use, production economies of scale will make them affordable, on par with petroleum-based jet fuel.

Biomass fuels also can be made from algae and other plant oils. Both options are being vigorously pursued by the aviation industry and the Air Force as well, they said.