The Navy Biofuel Initiative Under the Defense Production Act
Abstract
The Secretaries of Energy, Agriculture, and the Navy have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assist the development and support of a sustainable commercial biofuels industry. The objective of the MOU is the construction or retrofitting of multiple domestic commercial or pre-commercial scale advanced drop-in biofuel plants and refineries. The MOU would support the Navy s goal of deploying a Green Strike Group by the end of 2012, and Great Green Fleet by 2016 fueled in part with a 50/50 blend of hydrotreated renewable jet fuel (biofuel). The Navy proposes to use authority under the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) to develop a domestic industrial capacity to supply biofuel. In its FY2013 Congressional Budget Request, the Department of Energy (DOE) requested authority to transfer funds to the DPA Fund, offering the justification that it will support the MOU with the technical expertise to move pilot-scale demonstration projects to larger-scale production in support of the Navy s Green Fleet Goal. Agriculture, Energy, and the Navy expect to fund this initiative at $510 million in aggregate over three years. In the past, Congress has found it in the interest of national defense preparedness for government to assure that a domestic industrial capacity exists to produce fuel. Congress set aside the (now depleted) Naval Oil Reserves and Oil Shale Reserves to provide for the Navy s fuel requirements. Congress later promoted alternative fuel from coal through the U.S. Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act of 1944 to aid the execution of World War II, and to conserve and increase national oil resources. The act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to construct, maintain, and operate plants producing synthetic liquid fuel from coal, oil shale, and agricultural and forestry products.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 22, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA590502
Entities
People
- Anthony Andrews
- Daniel H. Else
- Jared T. Brown
- Kelsi Bracmort
Organizations
- Library of Congress