Navy Launches Its Largest Biofuel Test for Ship
by Julie Watson (AP/Yahoo! News) The U.S. Navy launched its largest alternative fuel test to date on Wednesday, pumping 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel into a destroyer ship that will embark on a 20-hour trip along the California coast.
The success of the Paul H. Foster ship’s overnight trip Wednesday from San Diego to Port Hueneme is vital to the Navy’s plan to unveil next year a small carrier strike group of small ships, destroyers, cruisers, aircraft, submarines and a carrier run on alternative fuels, including nuclear power. By 2016, the Navy wants to deploy what it calls a “Great Green Fleet” of nuclear vessels, hybrid electric ships and other ships and aircraft powered by biofuels.
…The biofuel that went into the destroyer was a 50-50 blend of petroleum and a hydro-processed algal oil produced by San Francisco-based Solazyme, which has been changing the genetic makeup of algae to construct a new generation of fuels.
The Navy is working with dozens of companies that have been submitting a slew of alternative fuel samples made from everything from chicken parts and mustard seeds to microorganisms and municipal solid waste. READ MORE and MORE (Xconomy) and MORE (MarineLog) and MORE (AP/GovernorsBiofuelsCoalition)
