Category: Blog

The U.S Navy’s recent trials of advanced biofuels during the RIMPAC exercises were attacked by critics for, among other things, the price the Navy was paying for the fuels used in a range of ships and aircraft.

Today at Wired’s Danger Room Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy Tom Hicks responds to those critics with one fact they don’t seem to account for: The price of advanced biofuels is certain to go down.

“We just don’t live in a world where oil prices never go up, technology doesn’t advance, and economies of scale don’t bring down cost; in fact, history tells us that the exact opposite is true. Today, the price of petroleum has more than doubled and the annual volatility is more than 30 percent. It is impossible to accurately predict where prices will be eight years from now, but with ever-increasing global demand and continued political unrest in oil-producing countries, nearly all experts agree that oil prices will increase, and we have seen the price of biofuel drop.”

As commercial quantities of advanced biofuels are produced those prices will drop even more, opening the door to competition with fossil fuels.

There should be no fear that the military will be over-spending on biofuels. Hicks affirms that when the Navy begins using biofuels on a large scale, beyond today’s test batches most critics are attacking, that they will indeed be purchased at competitive prices.

Hicks’ article is also worth reading for his breakdown of some of the resistance in Congress around advancing a domestic biofuels industry.

Read the entire response here.

Just as the U.S. Navy has conducted biofuel testing in military ships and aircraft off the coast of Hawaii, the Federal Aviation Administration published a Policy Statement on Environmental and Energy Policy for U.S. civil aviation. Yesterday’s policy statement lays out guiding principles which include the importance of advancing sustainable alternative energy aviation fuels. It also sets a goal of developing and deploying alternative jet fuels for commercial aviation.

As the policy statement says, achieving goals like development and deployment of “drop in” alternative aviation fuel can only happen through partnerships. ABO has worked with the FAA and commercial airline representatives in Washington to support their drop in alternative fuel goals, and we will continue to do so. The algae industry is poised to support these goals since algae-based fuel is has a chemical composition which is almost identical to fossil fuel.

You can read the entire FAA Policy Statement here.

 

Advanced biofuels, including those derived from algae, have many benefits over fossil fuels. They are renewable, they can reduce our dependence on imported fuel, and developing a new industry will provide thousands of American jobs.

Now it is looking like engines running on biofuels tend to run longer, cleaner and more efficiently. Continue reading Algae Fuels Show Superior Performance

This is a terrific article by the U-T San Diego’s Jeanette Steele. It is a reminder of the great things this country used to do. . . like the space program. The Navy’s initiative on biofuels is something to take pride in!

From the article, Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Jason Fox talked to reporters before heading out to fly his “green flight.”

 Initially, he said, he had questions about biofuel’s safety and performance. But he’s been convinced by reported test results.

“I’ve been in the Navy 13 years, and I’ve never been involved in something this historic,” Fox said. “I’m hoping someday I’m going to look back and this will be the point where we turned away from dependency on fossil fuels. There’ve been many steps that Navy leads the way on, and I’m hoping this is one of those steps.”

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/18/navy-shows-off-great-green-fleet/

Today the U.S. Navy begins its Green Fleet demonstrations in Hawaii–the largest display of biofueled naval power yet. Biofuels derived from a variety of sources, including algae, will be used in U.S. ships and aircraft as part of the Navy’s effort to reduce its reliance on imported oil. In support of the demonstrations, Mary Rosenthal, executive director of the Algal Biomass Organization, issued the following statement:

“The Algal Biomass Organization congratulates the U.S. Navy on its use of domestically-produced fuels made from algae as part of its continued testing program for biofuels. Today’s successful  demonstration of the “Great Green Fleet” at the Rim of the Pacific Exercise  is the latest in a series  of tests by the Navy and other major players that show that algae-based fuels can perform the same, or better, than petroleum fuels.

Fuels made from algae are made in the U.S.A, are 100-percent compatible with existing infrastructure, and in the near future, will be price-competitive with petroleum.  By developing domestic alternatives to petroleum, the U.S. algae industry is helping reducing our reliance on imported oil, creating manufacturing jobs in rural communities, and strengthening our national security.”