White House Official: Congress 'Short-Sighted' on Biofuels

Business News/Analysis, Defense, Federal Agency, Federal Legislation, Policy

July 17, 2012

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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 Washington, D.C.
Heather Zichal, the White House deputy assistant for energy and climate change, told attendees at an Energy Department conference on biomass that lawmakers have hurt the Defense Department’s efforts to diversify its fuel supply.
“The Defense Department isn’t making these investments in renewable energy and renewable fuels because it sounds good. They’re doing it because it makes sense from an operational and national security perspective,” Zichal said. “Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped some in Congress from putting forward short-sighted legislation that would undermine military’s ability to invest in alternative fuels.” READ MORE and MORE (The Hill/E2Wire)

Excerpt from The Hill/E2Wire: Some states have begun investing in natural gas fueling infrastructure, and firms such as FedEx have started converting their truck fleets to that fuel source.
Morse said converting trucks to use natural gas would cost $7,000 per vehicle, an expense that could be recouped in about one year.
The administration supports natural gas as one option for transportation fuel, but that it should not come at the expense of biofuels, the White House official said. It announced $30 million of funding for natural gas vehicle technology research Thursday through the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.
But what is lost on some lawmakers is that natural gas does little good for the military, said Cheney, who is now CEO of the American Security Project. Compressed natural gas vehicles are explosions waiting to happen in war zones, he said. The aviation industry likely will need dense liquid drop-in fuels, which is something natural gas cannot provide, he said.
Andrew Holland, senior fellow for energy and climate at the American Security Project, said ex-military at the White House meeting said natural gas was not a serious option for the military. READ MORE

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