Alternate Fuels
The New York Times reports that the US Air Force is planning operational tests of an alternate to oil-based fuels. A B-52 will have two of it's engines powered by a fuel derived from natural gas. The long range plan is to derive the fuel from coal, which is plentiful and relatively inexpensive.
By late this summer, on the hard lake beds of the Mojave Desert, where the Air Force tests its most secret and high-performance aircraft, a lumbering B-52 is scheduled to take off in an experiment in which two of the giant bomber's engines will burn jet fuel produced not from crude oil but from natural gas. The plane's six other engines will burn traditional jet fuel — just in case.
The Air Force consumed 3.2 billion gallons of aviation fuel in fiscal year 2005, which was 52.5 percent of all fossil fuel used by the government, Pentagon statistics show. The total Air Force bill for jet fuel last year topped $4.7 billion.
Although the share of national energy consumption by the federal government and the military is just 1.7 percent, every increase of $10 per barrel of oil drives up Air Force fuel costs by $600 million per year.
This sounds promising. The initiative to pursue alternate fuel supplies was put in place by Donald Rumsfeld.
By Juggler, Sunday, 14 May , 2006 @ 10:01 am
Though natural gas burns much cleaner than petrol, it’s still a fossil fuel, so this is, at best, a baby step.
By Bradley J. Fikes, Sunday, 14 May , 2006 @ 4:41 pm
Juggler’s right. And even hydrogen isn’t really an answer, because it takes energy to separate hydrogen from the the other materials it’s locked up in. That energy has to come from somewhere. — perhaps it will be nuclear and solar power.
By Gaius, Sunday, 14 May , 2006 @ 4:52 pm
I understand it’s only a step, but it’s good they are thinking of alternatives.