The Great Green Fleet is the popular nickname of the carrier strike group serving as the US Navy's proving ground for the strategic and tactical viability of biofuels. The name is an homage to the Great White Fleet of the early 20th century.
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Overview
The United States has only 4% of the world's population, but consumes a quarter of its oil. The Department of Defense is the single largest consumer of oil within the US, constituting about 80% of the federal government's usage profile. It is with that in mind that the US military is seeking to change the profile of its energy usage. While each branch of the military has its own goals and plans, the Navy's goals are particularly lofty:
The Navy's efforts are highlighted by the Great Green Fleet, which first sailed in July 2012 during the RIMPAC exercise. The carrier, the USS Nimitz, was nuclear powered, but everything else, including the Nimitz's strike aircraft, ran on a 50:50 mix of petroleum and biofuel derived from cooking oil and algae. Set to fully deploy in 2016, the fleet will combine advances in fuels, equipment, and navigation all in an effort to deploy the most energy efficient, and modern fleet anywhere in the world.
"The Great Green Fleet will signal to the world America's continued naval supremacy, unleashed from the tether of foreign oil." - Ray Maybus, Secretary of the Navy
Fleet Composition
The fleet is composed of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), the two destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90) and USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), and the fuel tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187).
Concerns
There are reservations from some politicians, as well as military officials that the transition to alternative fuel sources would be too costly. Beyond the strict fuel costs, there are also concerns about the time and resources which would be required to create the necessary support structure to produce the volume of fuel sufficient for the military's needs.
Benefits
The Navy's goals will further their own objectives, but will also have far-reaching effects in the US and beyond. Reducing U.S reliance on foreign petroleum has numerous strategic advantages, and could work to avert future conflicts centered around the acquisition of petroleum stores. The call for alternative fuels has already begun to drive innovation, with companies striving to create efficient processes to bring biofuel availability to the necessary scale the military requires. Energy companies Solazyme (CA) and Dynamic Fuels (LA) are working towards numerous fuels and competing for the contracts offered by the U.S Department of Defense, and continued studies by military and civilian researchers will build momentum in both the scientific community, as well as the energy marketplace. Studies have also shown a decrease in particulate emissions from the use of algal biofuels versus naval diesel fuel. Crossover and cooperation with the civilian marketplace is already underway with comparable studies and efforts underway in civilian aviation and maritime fleets. As all these efforts come together, we will see public acceptance for biofuels grow, and a demand for cleaner, more efficient fuels from populations across the globe.