The armed forces shouldn’t be used as a laboratory for experimenting with methods for cutting Green House Gas emissions (GHG).
In spite of this, the Secretary of the Navy Mabus persists in his efforts to create a “green fleet”.
Now there will be a conference in Washington DC, promoting the development of aviation biofuels where Secretary Mabus is, according to the conference’ brochure, scheduled to speak.
The brochure headlines:
“Meet the policy makers who matter: Connect with the USDA, DOE and the Navy to ensure you are right up to date with the fast changing macro-environment.”
Because the conference is in held Washington DC, members of the congressional staff will almost certainly attend.
The drive is on to pursue government support for aviation biofuels and their use in the armed services. Supplicants are at the money feeding trough.
The brochure bluntly states, “Underpinning all of these challenges is the big question – policy.” Obviously, the conference is held in DC to influence policy makers.
There is only one reason for using biofuels and that’s to cut GHG emissions.
Biofuels do not improve performance or range, but they do increase cost – costs that are several times more than conventional fuels.
The cost of biofuels is around $26 per gallon, compared with the cost of ordinary jet fuel of approximately $4.00 per gallon.
This added cost will deprive the military of funds for use in buying needed equipment or in improving the conditions of our service men and women.
In so far as civilian air lines are concerned, they are already struggling because of the high cost of jet fuel. Biofuels can only aggravate the impact of high costs on the airlines.
The European Union has established a fee for CO2 emissions for any plane that lands in Europe, but rather than confront the EU, the biofuels industry would prefer to burden the airlines with even higher costs for fuel.
American’s will have to pay for the EU CO2 fee, or for the higher cost of jet fuel.
This is a list of speakers and sponsors taken from the conference’ brochure. Note the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy emblems.
Also note the Carbon War Room emblem ahead of the DOE and Navy. The Carbon War Room is to play an important role in the conference, including speaking at sessions.
As described earlier, the U.S. military will be the laboratory for developing biofuels, see Dangerous and Fool Hardy.
Cost, safety and logistical issues will bedevil our military if this effort continues.
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