US Navy Tows the Nation Towards Alternative Energy

If anybody doubts the potential of these fuels, consider Brazil. As I said, I was just there last week. Half of Brazil’s vehicles can run on biofuels -- half of their fleet of automobiles can run on biofuels instead of petroleum. Just last week, our Air Force -- our own Air Force -- used an advanced biofuel blend to fly a Raptor 22 -- an F-22 Raptor faster than the speed of sound. Think about that. I mean, if an F-22 Raptor can fly at the speed of -- faster than the speed of sound on biomass, then I know the old beater that you’ve got, that you’re driving around in -- (laughter) -- can probably do so, too. There’s no reason why we can’t have our cars do the same.

In fact, the Air Force is aiming to get half of its domestic jet fuel from alternative sources by 2016. And I’m directing the Navy and the Department of Energy and Agriculture to work with the private sector to create advanced biofuels that can power not just fighter jets, but also trucks and commercial airliners.

President Barack Obama, Remarks by the President on America's Energy Security, March 31, 2024

I thought it was interesting that during the Presidents big energy speech a few weeks ago, the President discussed energy security and alternative energy development in the context of USDA, Department of Energy, oh and the US Navy. It strikes me that Ray Mabus, who early on was pushing (or dragging depending upon how you look at it) the Navy to get serious about alternative fuels has been quite successful in that effort. Background on the broader issue of alternative energy in the DoD can be found within this RAND report, which I think is very useful for framing the issue and challenges.

At Sea Air Space this week there was an interesting panel that discussed alternative energy. It was a lot better than I expected, but it was the answer by Thomas Hicks to one of the questions late in the session that got my attention.

An article at the National Defense blog somewhat captures the gist of the conversation, but what Mr. Hicks said during Q&A was that the government intended to help create the alternative fuels market to move it "near competitive" with existing fuel source options. I watched the session live and have not seen the videos from Sea Air Space posted publicly online, so I can't do the exact quote, but it was a remarkable statement.

Because in the context of everything the DoD has done with alternative fuels, one could say the policy objective driving the US Navy's alternative energy strategy is to build a new viable economic market for alternative fuels in the United States based on Mr. Hicks comment. I find that remarkable, and would love to see a RAND study on the viability of the government building any brand new alternative economic market competitive with an existing market in the United States. This is different than other examples of government market influence like Health Care and Retirement (Social Security) as the approach the government is taking with energy is to attempt to invest enough in the private sector to mature relatively new technologies.

It might actually work, because the more competitive the technology is in the market, the more private investment the technologies will attract. The snag in "Green Energy" over the last few years has been the weak economy, which had led to lower energy prices, which then led to a real slow down in investment money. With energy prices rising again and the economy in rebound, with the technology still moving forward thanks in some part due to continual DoD investments... you never know.

Hopefully the Navy League will get videos of their Sea Air Space speeches and panel sessions online soon, because there is a lot to discuss from the conference but without the videos, it will be impossible for me to get the quotes right. As one who watched as much as I could from the online live feed, I have to say Sea Air Space was an enormous success - and I participated from my seat in New York.