America's Navy will soon be operating, at least in part, on used cooking oil and algae. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack say the DOD will purchase 450,000 gallons of American made biofuel. That's the largest purchase of biofuel ever made by the government.
The purchase is really a drop in the fryer since the U.S. Navy fleet uses 1.26 billion gallons of fuel each year. However, military officials say it will accelerate the development of a fuel source made in the USA. Louisiana based Dynamic Fuels, LLC is the big contract winner.
The biofuel is a "drop-in fuel," That means the Navy won't have to modify any of its engines to burn the fuel.
As part of President Obama's energy security goals, the government plans to spend as much as $510 million over the next three years to help the private sector produce biofuel to power military and commercial transportation.
Secretary Mabus says, "The Navy has always led the nation in transforming the way we use energy, not because it is popular, but because it makes us better war fighters."