USAF tests synthetic fuel from coal, gas

The Air Force had been testing the fuel blend on a single B-52 since September, beginning at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert and ending at Minot. About $5 million has been spent on the tests, including some $2 million on the fuel, Harrison said.

At $20 a gallon, the Fischer-Tropsch fuel costs about eight times as much as the standard fuel it uses, so its widespread use in military aircraft could still be years away.
But proponents of the fuel argue that if there was increased commercial demand — and airlines are interested in the outcome of the tests, according to one Air Force official — its price would drop drastically. Furthermore, they say, it would offer a measure of protection should there be disruptions in the flow of global crude.

“The fact that we would not be dependent on foreign sources of crude is the prime driver for this fuel,” said Col. Eldon A. Woodie, commander of the Minot Air Force Base 5th Bomb Wing.

Times Argus