Pentagon Prioritizes Pursuit Of Alternative Fuel Sources

[steven johnson]

Looks like the Pentagon is anticipating increased cost pressures on energy for defense in the future and is preparing for it.

Monday, April 13, 2009; Page A13

To help reduce consumption, the Pentagon is using $300 million of the $7.4 billion it received from the economic stimulus package to accelerate existing programs for developing alternative fuels and saving energy.

Garbage, for example, is a commodity never in short supply when the Army goes to the field. A battalion-size forward operating base generates a ton of trash a day. The Pentagon is developing mobile units -- small enough to fit on a five-ton flatbed trailer -- that use an anaerobic microbial process to convert garbage into oil.

About $6 million is aimed at improving a program run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to convert algae into jet propulsion fuel 8, or JP-8, that could power Navy and Air Force aircraft.

Other initiatives include $27 million to develop a hybrid engine the Army could use in tactical vehicles and $2 million to develop highly efficient portable fuel cells that could reduce the battery load carried by infantry soldiers.


Pentagon Prioritizes Pursuit Of Alternative Fuel Sources