Biofueled

The Defense Energy Support Center and the commercial airline industry trade group Air Transport Association of America have formed a team called the Strategic Alliance for Alternative Aviation Fuels to buy billions of dollars’ worth of biofuels for use in commercial and military airliners.

The alliance, announced at a press conference today in Washington, is “designed to harness the combined market share of the two sectors to advance the development and deployment of alternative aviation fuels, leverage collective market and purchasing powers and encourage fuel suppliers to bring commercial alternative fuel and renewable energy into the marketplace,” according to a statement released today at a press conference in Washington.

According to the Air Transport Association, the commercial airline industry and the U.S. armed forces are the two largest consumers of jet fuel in the world. The military is expected to consume $14.2 billion worth of jet fuel during fiscal year 2010 -- 125.5 million barrels’ worth.

The alliance will be led by Navy Rear Adm. Kurt Kunkel, commander of the Defense Energy Support Center, located at Ft. Belvoir, VA.

Kunkel said the biggest challenge to making the alliance work will involve making sure the biofuels are “drop-in” -- meaning the existing infrastructure will be able to accommodate their use without significant modifications.

“From a DOD perspective, we like to make sure the critical infrastructure we have is utilized and we want to make sure that is not an impediment to execution,” Kunkel said.

According to Defense Logistics Agency briefing slides presented at the press conference, the four biofuels and quantities requested are HRJ-8 (400,000 gallons), which are Camelina- and Tallow-derived; HRJ-5 (190,000), also Camelina-derived; HRJ-5-Algae (1,500), which is derived from algae; and F-76 (20,055), also algae-derived.