Largest Navy Ship So Far Tests Algal Biofuel
November 20, 2011
AlgaeIndustryMagazine.com
ulie Watson at The Associated Press reports on the U.S. Navy’s Nov. 16 launch of its largest alternative fuel test to date—a destroyer named the Paul H. Foster burning 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel over a 20-hour trip along the California coast, from San Diego to Port Hueneme.
The biofuel that went into the destroyer was a 50-50 blend of petroleum and a hydro-processed algal oil produced by San Francisco-based Solazyme. The Navy is currently working with dozens of feedstock suppliers of alternative fuel samples made from everything from chicken parts and mustard seeds to microorganisms and municipal solid waste.
The Navy has tested algae-based fuel on small ships and individual aircrafts but the Foster is the first destroyer to run on it. No changes were made to the ship’s engine to prepare it for the biofuel. “We want to buy fuel made from something other than petroleum that will drop in and work seamlessly for our warfighters,” said Cmdr. James Goudreau, director of the Navy Energy Coordination Office.
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