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Page added on June 19, 2012
Renewables no fix for U.S. military fuel woes: study
By David Alexander
WASHINGTON | Tue Jun 19, 2012 10:20am IST
(Reuters) – Renewable fuels for U.S. military ships and jets are likely to remain “far more expensive” than petroleum products absent a technological breakthrough, a study for the U.S. Air Force found on Tuesday, questioning a Pentagon push for alternative energy.
The study by the RAND Corporation think tank said that while the U.S. Defense Department is a huge consumer of fuel at about 340,000 barrels per day, that figure is a tiny fraction of the 87 million barrels per day of global demand, too small to influence price significantly.
Efforts to make fuel from seed or algae oils are not producing at the scale or price necessary to meet the military’s demand at a reasonable cost, said James Bartis, the RAND researcher who authored a volume of the report.
“Pending a major technical breakthrough, renewable jet fuel and marine fuels will continue to be far more expensive than petroleum-based fuels,” he said.
5 Comments on "Renewables no fix for U.S. military fuel woes: study"
DC on Tue, 19th Jun 2012 7:06 pm
Wrong again, the US corporate military is the single largest conumser of oil in the world. And since most of that oil is being burned to ensure no one else gets access to oil besides the US and its Petro-dollar partners, I suppose its fitting in a way. The US mercenary forces consume more oil than most countries around the world. If they were a nation, they would be in the top 35 largest nations. Which raises another interesting question. The US cant really afford to burn ‘cheap’ oil to keeps its murdering legions powered, then how does it expect to do so with bio-fools that cost 5-10x as much? Really?
BillT on Wed, 20th Jun 2012 12:45 am
Perhaps the military realizes that it’s days are also numbered? With a total budget over $1 Trillion per year, and costs escalating by double digits annually, taxes falling, poverty spreading, and other countries resisting more and more, perhaps the Empire will be destroyed by Mother Nature in her quest to exterminate the species that is destroying her world. Man.
James on Wed, 20th Jun 2012 4:14 am
Good, now maybe the U.S. will prioritize its use of what energy source it has, and stop fighting wars in other countries that are none of our business.
BillT on Wed, 20th Jun 2012 8:29 am
Ah James, I wish that were so, but, if you remember your history, Rome sent out legions until they finally rebelled because they were not getting paid.
I read somewhere that the Empire is developing nuclear powered drones that will be able to stay in the air for possibly months at a time, and probably will be computer controlled, to find targets. Wait until they are flying over your house. It’s only a matter of time.
Kenz300 on Fri, 22nd Jun 2012 2:30 am
The U.N. announced that 2011 was a record year for global renewable energy investment with $257 billion invested in 2011, and $147 billion of that going to solar energy.