Great Green Fleet

The Great Green Fleet is the popular nickname of the carrier strike group serving as the US Navy's proving ground for the strategic and tactical viability of biofuels. The name is an homage to the Great White Fleet of the early 20th century.

Overview

The United States has only 4% of the world's population, but consumes a quarter of its oil. The Department of Defense is the single largest consumer of oil within the US, constituting about 80% of the federal governments usage profile.[1] It is with that in mind that the US military is seeking to change the profile of its energy usage. While each branch of the military has its own goals and plans, the Navy's goals are particularly lofty:

The Navy's efforts are highlighted by the Great Green Fleet, which first sailed in July 2012 during the RIMPAC exercise. The carrier, the USS Nimitz, was nuclear powered, but everything else, including the Nimitz's strike aircraft, ran on a 50:50 mix of petroleum and biofuel derived from cooking oil and algae.[3] Set to fully deploy in 2016, the fleet will combine advances in fuels, equipment, and navigation all in an effort to deploy the most energy efficient, and modern fleet anywhere in the world.[4]

"The Great Green Fleet will signal to the world America's continued naval supremacy, unleashed from the tether of foreign oil." - Ray Maybus, Secretary of the Navy

Fleet Composition

The fleet is composed of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), the two destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90) and USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), and the fuel tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187).[5]

Concerns

There are reservations from some politicians, as well as military officials that the transition to alternative fuel sources would be too costly.[6] Beyond the strict fuel costs, there are also concerns about the time and resources which would be required to create the necessary support structure to produce the volume of fuel sufficient for the military's needs.[7]

Benefits

The Navy's goals will further their own objectives, but will also have far-reaching effects in the US and beyond. Reducing U.S reliance on foreign petroleum has numerous strategic advantages, and could work to avert future conflicts centered around the acquisition of petroleum stores.[8] The call for alternative fuels has already begun to drive innovation, with companies striving to create efficient processes to bring biofuel availability to the necessary scale the military requires.[9] Energy companies Solazyme (CA) and Dynamic Fuels (LA) are working towards numerous fuels and competing for the contracts offered by the U.S Department of Defense,[10] and continued studies by military and civilian researchers will build momentum in both the scientific community, as well as the energy marketplace.[11] Studies have also shown a decrease in particulate emissions from the use of algal biofuels versus naval diesel fuel.[12] Crossover and cooperation with the civilian marketplace is already underway with comparable studies and efforts underway in civilian aviation and maritime fleets.[1][13] As all these efforts come together, we will see public acceptance for biofuels grow, and a demand for cleaner, more efficient fuels from populations across the globe.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Closson, Stacy (October 2013). "The military and energy: Moving the United States beyond oil". Energy Policy 61: 306–316. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.102. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  2. ↑ McKenna, Phil (May 2011). "US Navy Chief: I'm On a Mission to Stop Using Oil". New Scientist 210 (2811): 29. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(11)61043-9. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Reardon, Sara (2012). "Eco-Warriors: The Next Wave". New Scientist 216 (2889): 6–8. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(12)62796-1. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Navy, US. "Great Green Fleet Factsheet" (PDF). Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Navy, U.S. "Great Green Fleet". Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Blumberg, Gary A. (June 2013). "The origin of the Department of the Navy's biofuel initiative and the volatility problem for defense energy". Calhoun Institutional Archive of the Naval Post-Graduate School: 1–67. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  7. ↑ Biello, David (July 2011). "The False Promise of Biofuels" (PDF). Scientific American 305 (305): 58–65. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0811-58. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  8. ↑ Hicks, Tom (August 2012). "A Dialogue with Thomas Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy". Industrial Biotechnology 8 (4): 168–171. doi:10.1089/ind.2012.1534. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Savage, Philip E. (November 2012). "Algae Under Pressure and in Hot Water". Science 338 (6110): 1039–1040. doi:10.1126/science.1224310. PMID 23180853. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  10. ↑ Hall, Carin. "US Navy's 'Great Green Fleet' Remains Armed With Algae". Energy Digital. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  11. ↑ McKenna, Joseph (June 2012). "GREENING THE MIXTURE: AN EVALUATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE'S ALTERNATIVE AVIATION FUEL STRATEGY". Army Command and General Staff College Archives: 1–70. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  12. ↑ Khan, M. Yusuf; Russell, Robert L.; Welch, William A.; Cocker III, David R.; Ghosh, Sujit (August 2012). "Impact of Algae Biofuel on In-Use Gaseous and Particulate Emissions from a Marine Vessel". Energy & Fuels 26 (10): 6137–6143. doi:10.1021/ef300935z. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Winchester, Niven; Dominic McConnachie; Christoph Wollersheim; Ian A. Waitz (August 2013). "Economic and Emissions Impacts of Renewable Fuel Goals for Aviation in the US" (PDF). Aaea & Caes: 1–40. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Cacciatore, Michael A.; Dietram A. Scheufelea; Bret R. Shaw (December 2012). "Labeling renewable energies: How the language surrounding biofuels can influence its public acceptance". Energy Policy 51: 673–682. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2012.09.005. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
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