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Navy tests alternative fuels for jets, ships

The Navy hopes to test fly an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet using non-petroleum-based fuels as early as next year.

A team of chemists at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., is testing alternative fuel formulas using items such as algae, weeds, animal fats and liquefied coal.

Their goal is to create an alternative version of today’s jet fuel, known as JP-5, which could be easily transported and burned by today’s fleet.

“If we have done our job properly, the sailor will not notice the difference,” said Rick Kamin, the fuels lead for the Navy Energy Coordination Office. “It’ll all be JP-5 when it gets to the ship, and they’ll only know it as JP-5m.”

The reasons for the push toward alternative energy are two-fold: bolstering energy security and reducing environmental concerns, Kamin said

The military would like to reduce its reliance on foreign oil imports that help fuel much of today’s fleet. And many alternative fuels could burn cleaner, reducing air pollution and the greenhouse gases that drive global warming.

The Navy is working with General Electric, which manufactures the Super Hornet’s F414 engine, to test prospective fuels. Super Hornet-maker Boeing also is helping to test whether the fuels are compatible with the plane’s existing parts, Kamin said.

The Navy also is working to develop alternative fuel for ships, but officials have not decided what type of ship will be the first to test it, Kamin said.