Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Some of the nation’s most important technological developments have come out of the military, and the Department of Defense may have done it again with a revolutionary way to make jet fuel out of algae. While many biotechnology companies have been working on ways to transform plant material into fuel, the famed research wing of the Pentagon, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), recently announced that it is close to actually producing a cost-effective alternative to fossil fuels for the U.S. Air Force.
After spending $35 million on research by two companies, SAIC and General Atomics, DARPA officials say the military could soon begin large-scaling refining of oil from algae at a cost of less than $3 a gallon. Furthermore, they insist the cost could drop to something closer to $1 per gallon.
Weaning itself off petroleum-based fuel would be huge for the military, the nation’s largest consumer of oil; it eats up between 60 and 75 million barrels of oil a year. The development of fuel from algae, however, could also impact the commercial airline industry which is always looking for ways to cut its fuel costs.
If the new fuel source proves viable, the discovery could go down in the annals of DARPA’s successes that include creating the first internet and satellite navigation systems.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Algae to Solve the Pentagon's Jet Fuel Problem (by Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian)
SAIC's Algae-Based Jet Fuel Gets DARPA Funding (Seeking Alpha)
Pentagon Explores Alternative Energy to Save Lives (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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