Great Green Fleece: Air Force Spends $59 Per Gallon for Biofuel

Great Green Fleece: Air Force Spends $59 Per Gallon for Biofuel.(Heritage).The U.S. Air Force spent $59 per gallon on biofuels for a demonstration last month intended to show the promise of the alternative energy source. That’s more than double what the U.S. Navy spent as part of its so-called Great Green Fleet demonstration.
The total cost for the 11,000 gallons of synthetic jet fuel from Gevo Inc., a Colorado-based company, amounts to $639,000.
For its demonstration, Navy officials spent $12 million on 450,000 gallons of fuel, or approximately $26 a gallon. Combining the fuel with petroleum in a 50-50 mixture reduces the cost per gallon to around $15, more than four times the cost of petroleum alone. The company providing the Navy’s biofuel, Solazyme, was a recipient of stimulus grant funding.
The report from Reuters also indicated that among Gevo’s financial backers is Vinod Khosla, a venture capitalist whose firm owns 27 percent of the company. Reuters noted that Khosla has donated overwhelmingly to Democratic candidates in recent elections.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has repeatedly touted the benefits of expanding the Navy’s use of alternative fuel sources such as biofuels.
“It was worthwhile to show that biofuels can compete and can be used in every single thing that we do in the Navy. Everything before now has been a test. This shows that we can use biofuels and other alternative energies in an operational manner,” said Mabus in a conference call following the Naval exercise’s conclusion.
Mabus and other Defense Department officials have cited increases in petroleum prices as the reason for exploring biofuel integration, which drew criticism from Republican officials.
“You are not the secretary of energy, you are the secretary of the Navy,” said Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA). Forbes says he supports green energy, but facing budget priorities, finds the expenses inappropriate.Repeated attempts to clarify the assumptions made by Mabus and other Pentagon officials have not been forthcoming, even to members of Congress or the Congressional Research Service:

“One of Washington’s most influential naval analysts was equally flummoxed. “What is the Navy’s specific projection for how quickly prices for advanced biofuels will drop to levels competitive with those for petroleum-based fuels?” Ronald O’Rourke and his colleagues at the Congressional Research Service ask in a June 2012 report on military energy initiatives (.pdf). ”What studies did the Navy or DOD [Department of Defense] conduct to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of developing a domestic advanced biofuels industry?”
Apparently, no one at the Navy could be bothered to tell him the answer – if an answer existed, that is.”

Hmmmm.......Green re-election fund scam.Read the full story here.