The Department of Defense has heard the industry’s message about how to effectively deploy renewable energy, but significant challenges remain. As the military transitions from testing and goal setting to deploying active project pipelines, close …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  DoD goes forward, after internal wrangle, with advanced biofuels program via $16M phase 1 investment.
With industry cost share, project totals $33M: aims for sub-$4, drop-in military biofuels.
In Washington, the DoD …

by Sandra I. Erwin  (National Defense Magazine)  …Although the Pentagon consumes just 1.5 percent of the nation’s fuel, biofuel investors and green-energy advocates have looked upon the military as a catalyst for a massive expansion of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Produces Drop-In Jet Fuel from 100% Renewable Plant Sugars
In Wisconsin, Virent announced the delivery of 100 gallons of its bio-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for …

by U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation/Biomass Magazine)  After a briefing by senior White House staff on April 17, following their arrival in the U.S., an Israeli delegation of top academic and industrial biofuels research scientists and …

by Zack Coleman (The Hill E2Wire)  An amendment to a $984 billion Senate government funding bill that would have stripped funds from the Defense Department’s drop-in biofuels program failed by a 40-59 vote on Wednesday.
Sen. …

(US Department of Energy/Department of Defense)  General Comments
Although the author has done an extensive literature reading in the biofuels area, the paper does not have any analysis of critical issues of energy systems including petroleum …

by Zack Coleman (The Hill E2Wire)  Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) filed two amendments to a $984 billion government funding bill on Thursday that would gut the military’s alternative fuels program.
The amendments already are drawing criticism …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Neste Oil confirmed that they are using 65% virgin oils, primarily palm oil, and 35% waste residues, but that they are seeking to increase that percent of waste supplied, Neste’s …

Join us in San Diego for a two day discussion about the opportunities and barriers for renewable energy presented by two important sectors in the western region: U.S. military bases and the transportation industry. A …

(Biofuels International)  Australian research company Agritechnology has found a location as it further develops a biofuels demonstration plant.
A site for the plant has been chosen in Orange, New South Wales and it will aim to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The military would like, affordable, domestically-produced, drop-in, renewable fuels.  Drop-in fuel producers would like long-term, stable fuel sale and feedstock purchase contracts.   Why not put those needs together?
According to …

by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/Biofuels Digest)    Are supporters of the oil industry grasping at straws to keep the U.S. military addicted to oil?
…Our reliance on foreign oil has already impacted military readiness, as …

(25 x ’25)  Renewable energy stakeholders were reminded again in recent weeks that misguided criticism and outright misinformation launched against the nation’s pursuit of a clean energy future must be turned back.
…An example of the …

by Julia Whitty (The Atlantic/Mother Jones)  …To get to the Nimitz, 100 miles off Honolulu, our turboprop is flying a 50-50 blend of biofuel and standard JP-5 shipboard aviation fuel. The biofuel is made from algae …

(Green Car Congress)  Researchers at the Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division (NAWCWD) at China Lake have developed a process for the synthesis of high energy density renewable fuels through the selective dimerization of α-pinene, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Could a switch to biofuels make super-dense JP-10 military aviation fuels affordable? Could F18A Super Hornets add payload or extend range?
Currently reserved for tactical missiles because of cost, biofuels could …

By Joshua Rathod (Advanced Biofuels USA) Thinking about the back and forth on EPA’s cellulosic fuel mandates in the last month, the press on the harmful effects of diverting food crops for fuel processing in …

by Pamela Serino (Defense Logistics Agency Energy/Biofuels Digest)  …A mandate in all countries to go to ULSD marine fuel would be my first step to cleaner fuels and lower emissions as many nations still burn …

by Ben Geman (The Hill E2Wire)  Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), President Obama’s nominee for Defense secretary, is backing a controversial ban on military purchase of alternative fuels that have higher greenhouse gas emissions than …

by Sandra I. Erwin (National Defense Magazine)  The biofuels industry is seeing promising signs from Washington. President Obama in his inauguration speech tied green energy to economic growth. Congress agreed to allow the Pentagon to …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  … Blue Sun Biodiesel CEO Leigh Freeman said his company will immediately invest payments from credits earned in 2012 to advance its next-generation biofuel technologies.
…Specifically, Blue Sun is investing in a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Unofficial reports indicate that biofuels provisions have survived a House-Senate conference over the Defense bill.
According to sources, House and Senate conferees have finished work on their conference report on the …

(Pew Charitable Trusts)  The Department of Defense is the world’s largest consumer of liquid fuels (more than 375,000 barrels of oil per day). Last year alone, the military’s energy bill was $17 billion and over the last …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington, the US Senate voted 54-41 in favor of an amendment offered by Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina to repeal section 2823 of the annual Defense appropriations bill.
Sec. …

(America’s Navy)  Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy) Tom Hicks toured a steam plant at St. Julien’s Creek Annex in Portsmouth now running on B20, a 20 percent biodiesel, 80 percent number two fuel …

by Paul Clarke (The Hill E2Wire/Truman National Security Project)  …To free us from the whims of distant countries, America must invest in renewable technologies and take advantage of our energy resources here at home.
Our dependence …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington, the US Senate voted 62-37 in favor of an amendment offered by Senator Mark Udall of Colorado to repeal section 313 of the annual Defense appropriations bill.
Section 313 …

by Geof Koss (Roll Call)  More than one-third of the Senate is calling for removal of provisions in the defense authorization bill that would limit military efforts to develop alternative fuels.
In a Nov. 16 letter …

(Honeywell/MarketWatch/PR NewsWire)  Five aircraft fly together for the first time using renewable jet fuel to National Business Aviation Association convention
UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced today that Honeywell Green Jet Fuel(TM) produced using Honeywell’s UOP Renewable …

by Dan Parsons (National Defense Magazine)  … Military leaders, particularly within the Navy, want to find a drop-in alternative fuel that will reduce their dependence on foreign oil, but do not want to pay a premium …

by Andrew Herndon (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  Gevo Inc. (GEVO), Syntroleum Corp. and Solazyme Inc. (SZYM) may be among a “small set” of biofuel producers vying for supply contracts from the U.S. Defense Department, the world’s largest consumer of …

(Biodico/PR NewsWire/Herald Online)  Today Biodico announced signing a new agreement with the U.S. Navy for the development and evaluation of advanced biofuels and bioenergy.  The goal is to jointly develop renewable fuel and energy technologies …

by Michael Fabey (Aerospace Daily and Defense Report/Aviation Week)  Despite continued opposition from lawmakers like U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the U.S. Navy will continue its efforts to leverage biofuels technology for its ships and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …We say that biofuels are “capital-intensive,” mainly to be polite. It’s like saying that Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun had “land interests”.
…Put it this way. How much …

by Joe Cogliano  (Dayton Business Journal)  A division of Honeywell International Inc. is being tapped by the U.S. Air Force to expand the domestic supply of biofuels.
On Thursday, the Defense Department announced Des Plaines, Ill.-based UOP LLC was …

(Biodiesel Magazine/USDA)  US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Energy for Navy Tom Hicks toured the USS Monterey (CG 61) at the Naval Station Norfolk (Va.) on Saturday, Sept. 8, and …

by Todd Woody (Forbes Magazine)  …Funded with $85 million from Bill Gates and other investors – plus $104 million in government cash and loan guarantees – the world’s only commercial outdoor algal biorefinery went online this summer …

by Todd Atkinson  ( US Department of Agriculture  Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service/Biomass Magazine)  Since the 20th century, scientists have worked to cure cancer. They have yet to succeed.
Many researchers develop hypotheses that end in disappointment, with …

by Amanda Stein (Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System)  …NPS Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Associate Professor Dr. Christopher Brophy, and MAE Professor and Chairman Dr. Knox Millsaps, are working to help the Navy understand …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   …But in many respects, its been a summer about aviation biofuels – starting with the demonstration of the US Navy’s Green Strike Group and continuing to announcements of projects …

by Adam Stone (Defense News)  With the U.S. Navy spending an increasing amount of cash on alternative energy — including biofuels — researchers at South Dakota State University have embarked on a project that could …

by Adam Stone  (Defense News)  The U.S. Army is testing new power packs that could run on virtually any fuel, including gasoline, ethanol and diesel.
Developed by INI Power of Morrisville, N.C., the alternative energy power …

by Susan Cornwell (Reuters/Chicago Tribune News)  A Senate subcommittee approved legislation on Tuesday that continues funding for the Pentagon’s use of biofuels, a senator said, in a move pushing back against critics trying to limit outlays …

by Olga Belogolova   (National Journal)  Republicans in both the House and Senate this year have proposed cutting funds for alternative-energy programs in the defense authorization bill. But these efforts won’t gain much traction, National Journal’s Energy …

by David Alexander   (Reuters)  * Ex-Senator Warner leads veterans in pushing alternative fuels
* Senator Inhofe seeks accounting for Green Fleet demonstration
* Fossil fuel dependence means more conflict, veterans warn
Military veterans and former lawmakers urged …

by Dave Larsen (Dayton Daily News)  The facility will be used to develop advanced jet fuels for Air Force.
The University of Dayton Research Institute will start construction July 9 on a new $850,000 outdoor algae …

by Ysabel Yates (Renewable Energy World)  …For the next two years, Rolf Reitz and his team will be developing a model to work out the right mix of biofuel for the Navy’s fleet. Reitz’s work is critical …

(25 x ’25)  As the “green strike group” makes its way through the waters of the Pacific Rim this week, the performance of the advanced biofuels helping power many of those ships is a cause …

Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest)  …The Navy doesn’t go to war, or even a war simulation, with unproven technology. That sends a message loud and clear to those who hope the Age of Biofuels has not …

(Energy FactCheck)  FACT:  1.  The U.S. Navy’s biofuel initiative began in 2006 when President George W. Bush’s Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, initiated a task force to explore options for reducing the military’s dependence on fossil …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …“It didn’t take long to figure out,” he (Dan Nolan, a retired US Army Colonel and CEO of  Sabot 6) recalled, “how many casualties we were taking in Iraq and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As bio-based companies race across the Valley of Death, in the dash for scale, who’s getting financing now, and how?
The path to financing success in bio-based project development used to …

by Brendan Nicholson (The Australian)  THE Royal Australian Navy has taken a major step towards “greening” its warships and aircraft with a new agreement that will give it access to technology being developed in the …

(MultiService.com)  Advanced biofuels are gaining popularity throughout the United States thanks to their financial and environmental benefits. Domestic biofuels can especially benefit the Department of Defense, which uses a substantial amount of fuel each year. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In this context we’d like to examine assertions made in a feature story on the Green Strike Group published this week in Wired’s online Danger Room, entitled “How the Navy’s …

by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan A. Colon (USS Nimitz Public Affairs/America’s Navy)  The Secretary of the Navy, the honorable Ray Mabus, and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, visited the aircraft carrier …

by Roberta Rampton and Susan Cornwell (Reuters)  U.S. senators who support the Pentagon’s push to expand its use of biofuels said they have a plan to answer critics who argue the fuel is far too expensive …

by Norman Seip (Christian Science Monitor)  The US armed services is working hard to wean itself off of fossil fuels and foreign oil. Yet some in Congress, for short-term savings, want to ban them from …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As the Pacific-based forces of Can-Do battle the Washington-based forces of Shouldn’t-Try, we look at the 6 Big Myths of Military Biofuels
In Hawaii, the US Navy demonstrated its Green Strike Group as …

(The Maritime Executive)  Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187), which is currently providing logistical support for U.S. Pacific Fleet’s biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise off Hawaii, will deliver 900,000 gallons …

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)  With the help of a $2 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, mechanical engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will develop a tool to characterize the performance of a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington, a new study by the RAND Corporation says that the US military’s petroleum demand of 340,000 barrels per day, compared to global demand of 87 million barrels per …

by Zack Coleman  (The Hill/E2Wire)  Congress “needs to get beyond short-sightism” that is stunting investment in and handcuffing Defense Department use of biofuels, a senior White House energy official said Wednesday at a conference in …

by Mark Harden (BizJournals.com/Denver Business Journal)  The U.S. Air Force has flown the first successful test flight using a type of biofuel provided by Colorado’s Gevo Inc.
The single-seat, twin-engine Air Force A-10 Thunder Bolt jet …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The Obama Administration has laid out an integrated strategy for commercializing advanced biofuels, with a focus in this phase on military advanced biofuels at cost-competitive prices with conventional fuels.
The vehicle …

by Galrahn (Information Dissemination)  With the Great Green Fleet putting to sea for the upcoming RIMPAC 2012 exercise, and more specifically now that the USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T AO 187) has 900,000 of super expensive …

by Andrew Holland (Consumer Energy Report)  The RAND corporation recently released a report “Promoting International Energy Security” for the U.S. Air Force that, for the most part, contained the conventional wisdom about oil prices and …

by Margaret Ryan (AOLEnergy)  Biofuels could be a “game changer” for both military and commercial aviation, says Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Terry Yonkers, because they’re proving to have advantages over petroleum-based jet fuels that go beyond …

(Amyris)  Amyris to develop improved DNA assembly and integration across biological platforms
Amyris, Inc. announced today (June 12, 2012)  it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  The Maritime Administration (MARAD) of the U.S. Department of Transportation has released its analysis of a test conducted with algae-based biofuel on one of its large commercial-size vessels. This research used marine …

by Sara Sorcher (National Journal)  Nearly two-thirds of National Journal’s National Security Insiders agree with the military’s push for renewable energy, siding with the Obama administration over some Republicans in Congress who have charged that the …

by Jen Alic (OilPrice.com)  The US Defense Department consumes more energy than any other department or sector in the country, spending around $20 billion annually by some estimates; but ambitious plans to make it the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In Washington, heartbreak came early in the season when the Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to nix the purchase of aviation biofuels, should they cost more than conventional fossil …

by Fred Kaplan (Slate)  …The rationale for barring the Navy from buying the 450,000 gallons of biofuels necessary for the experiment is economic: These fuels are too expensive—about four times more costly than conventional fuels.
To …

(BusinessWire)  The Advanced Biofuels Association, the Algal Biomass Organization, Airlines for America, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, and the Pew Charitable Trusts today expressed disappointment that the Senate Armed …

by Troy Hooper  (The Colorado Independent)  …House Republicans passed a pair of provisions Friday that would stymie the military’s efforts to incorporate more renewable fuels into its supplies. The defense authorization bill now heads for …

(CNN)  The U.S. Navy for the first time will demonstrate what it calls a Great Green Fleet, a carrier strike group operating in large part on nonfossil fuels, during a larger, 22-nation exercise this summer.
The …

by John Murawski  (News Observer)  The U.S. military’s quest to outfit American soldiers with an all-in-one power source could lead to a nondescript office in a Morrisville technology park where Triangle startups toil away in …

(Advanced Biofuels Association)  Energy security is a vital part of national security; we can improve energy security with advanced biofuel production in the U.S. The Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Advanced BioFuel Association, the Algal Biomass Organization, …

(U.S. Federal Register)  The United States Department of Navy (DoN) in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (DOT FAA), …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As Honeywell and Agrisoma collaborate to pioneer aviation biofuels from a new carinata-based feedstock, critics wonder exactly why the military is paying so much for the biofuels it is utilizing …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture – along with the Department of Energy, and the Department of Navy – will co-host an Advanced Biofuels Industry Roundtable in Washington D.C. on May 18, …

by David Ferris  (Forbes)  At a conference today sponsored by the Carbon War Room outside Washington, D.C., a panel of biofuels entrepreneurs, supporters and financiers pointed to disruptive episodes in American history that bear some similarity to the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Virent, Virdia debut super-performing drop-in aviation biofuels made from drop-in cellulosic pine tree sugars; “passed under conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail,” says Air Force.
In Wisconsin, Virent and Virdia …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In “Four Star Biofuels: How the Pentagon Is Outpacing Civilians in Gen2 Adoption” a special Raymond James look at the military and biofuels demand, Pavel Molchanov writes: “A key differentiator …

(Cobalt Technologies/Sacramento Bee)  Contract Issued to Albemarle to Process First Run of N-Butanol Into Jet Fuel
Today, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake announced a contract award to Albemarle Corporation, a leading specialty chemicals company, to complete its …

(Solazyme/BusinessWire)  -Solazyme, Inc., a renewable oil and bioproducts company, announced today that the USS Ford, a U.S. Navy Frigate fleet ship, successfully journeyed from its homeport in Everett, WA to San Diego, CA using Soladiesel HRD-76®, …

by Naval Sea Systems Command Office of Corporate Communications (MarineLink.com)  USS Ford Conducts Operational Transit on Alternative Fuel Blend.
USS Ford (FFG 54) successfully transited from the ship’s homeport in Everett, Wash., to San Diego, March …

by Brock Vergakis  (AP/Wisconsin Rapids Tribune)  Navy Secretary Ray Mabus defended the service’s investment on biofuels Monday, saying that it is a “false choice” for critics to suggest the Navy should focus on building more ships instead …

The event is the preeminent meeting place for international leaders and energy experts at the forefront of the clean energy movement. Securing energy independence and developing a clean energy industry that promotes the vitality of …

(Midwest Energy News)  Military leaders are increasingly connecting the dots between energy, climate and national security issues. We’ve reported here before on the U.S. military’s push to go green with solar, biofuels and other renewable technologies.
Across the pond, …

by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/Biofuels Digest)  BIO’s industrial biotech czar says that governments should resist attempts to derail the commercialization of advanced biofuels, and not be beguiled by the Solyndra Syndrome
In 2011, consumers spent …

by Tina Casey (Talking Points Memo)  Republicans recently had themselves a good laugh over President Obama’s enthusiasm for biofuel made from algae, but they might want to stifle that chuckle when it comes to another modest-seeming but …

by Kari Williamson (Renewable Energy Focus)  The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) will develop alternative liquid fuels, including biofuel, for US military applications under a US$906,000 contract from the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology …

by Mike Gooding (WVEC.com)  … Fourth district congressman Randy Forbes is challenging the Navy which is making a priority out of going green.
House Armed Services Committee member Randy Forbes had harsh words for Navy Secretary Ray …

by Lori Ranson (FlightGlobal)  Successful commercial biofuel flights operated by US carriers in late 2011 were underpinned by an understanding that price and supply chain infrastructure remain the big hurdles to creating a viable full-scale …

(25 x ’25)  While much of the recent Congressional discussion of renewable energy has focused on failed high risk clean energy startups, what’s gone largely unnoticed by federal policy makers is the incredible overall progress …

(Queensland University of Technology)  Biofuel technology being developed by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers has caught the interest of the US Navy, which is currently in Australia on an alternative fuel fact-finding mission.
The US …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …While most of the United States was focused on the 2012 Super Bowl, the CSPAN television network snuck a revealing interview from Brian Lamb with Secretary of the Navy, former …