U.S. Navy looks to prairie, SDSU for alternative fuels

News release - 10/06/2011

The Daily Republic - Brookings, SD

BROOKINGS — What’s an administrator from the U.S. Navy doing out in the plains of South Dakota? The answer can be found in the plains of South Dakota and the labs of South Dakota State University. With the Navy using 28 million barrels of petroleum in 2008 in its planes, watercrafts and other vehicles, the military is in the market to find alternative fuels, such as those created from oilseed crops, like camelina, and from biomass that uses native grasses, like prairie cordgrass. Chris Tindal, director for operational energy for the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, discussed the Navy’s initiative to "sail the green fleet" at a Wednesday talk at the Performing Arts Center at South Dakota State University. His talk was sponsored by the North Central Regional Sun Grant Center at SDSU, directed by Jim Doolittle. Kevin Kephart, SDSU’s vice president for research, called Tindal’s talk an opportunity for the public to see the potential that alternative fuels have for South Dakota. Establishing a new industry Kephart said, "The Navy’s goal to obtain half of their fuel needs from biofuels is among the most laudable regarding renewable energy. Achieving this will require nothing less than establishing a new industry. Providing biofuels to the military will require engagement from agricultural communities across the country, thereby bringing new opportunities for economic development. "The Navy has taken a position that environmental sustainability and food security are also important aspects of the goals they have developed. Mr. Tindal also recognizes the need for university research to develop better performing feedstocks and has reached out to the Sun Grant Initiative," Kephart said. SDSU has a long history researching corn-based ethanol and also is looking at fuels made from other feedstocks such as oilseeds and native grasses.

Growing clean fuel needs Tindal said the Navy wants to reduce petroleum use in its commercial fleet by 50 percent by 2015. By 2020, the Navy wants 50 percent of its total energy consumption to come from alternative sources. For example, the U.S. Navy plans to sail the "Great Green Fleet" by 2016. Green diesel, made from vegetable oils, can be processed to military grade jet and diesel fuel using existing technologies, Kephart said. Intensified research should increase the fuel yields possible from oilseeds. By 2016, the Navy will need 3.36 million gallons of JP-5 jet fuel and F-76 diesel to be blended with an equal amount of petroleum. By 2020, the needs will grow one hundredfold — to 336 million gallons. The challenge for fuel developers is that the alternative must be invisible to the operator, meaning that it: Meets fuel performance requirements; Can be mixed or alternated with petroleum fuel; and Requires no change to the aircraft or ship, or the delivery system infrastructure. The long-term strategy "As a long-term strategy, development of technologies to produce green diesel and jet fuel from cellulosic feedstocks will need to be expanded," Kephart added. "Research and development is currently underway to employ thermochemical processes that contribute to improved logistics of the feedstocks and subsequent production of green diesel and jet fuel." For example, university researchers are now in the second year of what is proposed as a four-year, $16-million effort to convert feedstocks into alternative jet fuel in a cost-effective way. The research involves three different colleges within SDSU. Doolittle is project director for the study, which involves three principal investigators from three SDSU colleges — Engineering, Agriculture and Biological Sciences, and Arts and Sciences. "The Department of Defense wants us to develop processes to make fuel from biomass that is the same, by performance standards, as petroleum-based fuels for their planes, tanks, and other military equipment," Doolittle said. The work being done by SDSU researchers focuses on rapidly heating feedstocks to 400 degrees Celsius in the absence of oxygen. The process isn’t a new discovery. Rather, mechanical engineering professor Alex Moutsoglou said, "The quality, upgrade and cost of fuel from biomass are the objects of the ongoing research. Our hope is that we can come up with a cost-efficient way of converting feedstocks to a drop-in fuel." So does the U.S. Navy. For more information on Tindal’s talk, contact the Vice President of Research office at 605-688-5642.