Browse > Home / Policy / US lawmakers tell Defense Department to stop buying tar sand and coal-to-liquid fuels, as EISA Act is implemented

US lawmakers tell Defense Department to stop buying tar sand and coal-to-liquid fuels, as EISA Act is implemented

February 29, 2008

In Washington, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)., and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) have called on the Department of Defense to comply with section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act by discontinuing purchase of fuel made from Canadian tar sands or US coal-to-liquid technology. The two sources of fuel are prohibited under the Act because of environmental impacts.

UOP, a division of Honeywell, announced last June that it expected to develop military aviation jet fuel, using a synthetic biocrude made from algae. The UOP project is backed by $6.7 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The program is currently outlined in a recently issued broad agency announcement and is known as The BioFuels program. The goal of the BioFuels program is to develop an affordable alternative production process that will achieve a 60 percent or greater conversion efficiency, by energy content, of crop oil to military aviation fuel (JP-8) and elucidate a path to 90 percent conversions.

DARPA seeks processes that use limited sources of external energy, that are adaptable to a range or blend of feedstock crop oils, and that produce process by-products that have ancillary manufacturing or industrial value.

Current biodiesel fuels are 25 percent lower in energy density than JP-8 and exhibit unacceptable cold- flow features at the lower extreme of the required JP-8 operating temperature range (minus 50 degrees F).

  • Union of Concerned Scientists say biofuels a better option than coal-to-liquid fuel; major West Virginia program under scrutiny
    • A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists said that converting coal into liquid fuel will worsen climate change problems, and recommended more focus on next-generation biofuels. The report s...
  • Entrepreneur calls coal-to-liquid the logical successor to ethanol: “does it make sense to burn your food supply?”
    • In Texas, the chairman of DKRW Advanced Fuels told the Cambridge Energy Research Associates' 2008 conference that refining coal into liquids is the logical step to succeed corn-based ethanol. "Does it...
  • West Virginia Development Authority gives preliminary OK to $5 million loan to Kanawha Biodiesel
    • In West Virginia, the state Development Authority gave preliminary approval to a $5 million loan to Kanawha Biodiesel for its plant in Institute. The company has licensed a proprietary biodiesel produ...
  • DARPA says ahead of schedule to produce jet fuel from biomass at less than $3 per gallon
    • In Washington, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said that the BioFuels project has successfully passed through the first stage of laboratory testing. Project managers say that they expect...
  • US B-1 bomber breaks sound barrier using synfuels as military steps up on biofuels
    • A US Air Force B-1 bomber mission, code named Dark 33, became the first jet to reach supersonic speeds using synthetic jet fuel. The test flight was carried out at the White Sands Missile Range in New...
  • Defense Department says algae oil production costs over $20, must reach $3 or less to be viable
    • The US Defense Department is estimating that the current production cost of algae oil exceeds $20 per gallon. The Department is exploring the potential of algae oil as a jet fuel source, but said that...

    Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under Policy 

    Comments

    Got something to say?

    You must be logged in to post a comment.