By David Alexander

WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy will formally deploy its so-called “Great Green Fleet” on Wednesday, sending warships to sea on biofuels despite the fact that oil costs have dropped 70 p.c since congressional Republicans first criticized the excessive price of different fuels.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus informed Reuters the deployment is the following step in a fleet-wide effort that has seen the Navy lower its oil consumption by 15 p.c since he took cost in 2009 and the Marine Corps curb its use by 60 p.c.

A concentrate on vitality and energy-saving expertise provides the U.S. Navy a navy benefit, Mabus mentioned. An amphibious assault ship just like the USS Makin Island, which makes use of a twin electric-diesel propulsion system, can keep on station 3 times longer than a conventionally powered vessel, he mentioned.

“It gives us an edge tactically, it gives us an edge strategically,” Mabus mentioned. “It keeps  fuel from being used as a weapon against us.”

Mabus and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will probably be readily available in San Diego on Wednesday for the formal deployment of the Great Green Fleet, when diesel ships in a service strike group led by the nuclear-powered USS John C Stennis refuel with a diesel-biofuel mix.

Mark Cancian, an analyst on the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former White House funds official, mentioned the initiative is as a lot about environmental symbolism as price financial savings or tactical benefit.

Many congressional Republicans objected three years in the past when the Navy sought and gained assist for protection subsidies to assist three non-public corporations construct biofuel refineries. With oil now promoting round $30 a barrel, that skepticism stays.

“They have not changed their position, which is that these are too expensive and not needed,” Cancian mentioned.

FUEL FROM WASTE

The Defense Department makes use of about 14 million gallons of gasoline a day, with the Navy accountable for a few quarter of that, in line with figures from the Defense Logistics Agency.

When the Navy first examined biofuel variations of marine diesel and jet gasoline in 2012, it spent eye-popping sums for small quantities.

In one case it paid $424 a gallon for 20,055 gallons of biofuel based mostly on algae oil. In one other it spent almost $27 per gallon for 450,000 gallons of biofuel, later blended right into a 50-50 mix. The $15-per gallon-cost was 4 occasions the value of standard gasoline on the time.

The gasoline getting used for the Great Green Fleet deployment is a competitively priced mix of 90 p.c diesel and 10 p.c biofuel based mostly on a beef tallow feedstock, Navy officers mentioned.

A California agency, AltAir Fuels, is contracted to provide 77 million gallons of the gasoline between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.

The Navy pays $2.05 per gallon, thanks partly to a subsidy of 15 cents per gallon from the Commodity Credit Corp., a government-owned enterprise that helps farm merchandise.

To increase manufacturing of different fuels, the Navy has awarded $210 million to assist three corporations construct refineries to make biofuels utilizing woody biomass, municipal waste and used cooking grease and oil. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering an extra $161 million in crop helps.

The refineries are anticipated to start operations this yr, with full manufacturing not going till 2017. To additional encourage biofuel manufacturing for the Navy, Mabus mentioned he has signed offers to purchase from Italy and Chile as soon as corporations there start producing.

The Navy has but to contract with an organization to supply various jet gasoline, partly due to the rising industrial aviation market.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack mentioned growing biofuel refineries for aviation gasoline supplied nice potential for creating jobs within the U.S. rural economic system.

“There is a huge market opportunity here if we can get the technology right,” Vilsack informed Reuters. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by SImon Cameron-Moore)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.