In the history of waste and inefficiency, I would be willing to bet that the world's military organizations are the biggest culprits. When it comes to defending your homeland, or making that big offensive attack, nothing else matters.
Pillaging and burning throughout history have sent mega tons of smoke and chemicals streaming into the atmosphere. Armies on the march in ancient times lived off the land, laying waste to anything and everything they came into contact with, polluting streams, lakes and rivers as they went.
Modern armies are probably worse. In the age of fossil fuels, everything runs on either gasoline or diesel fuel. Whole economies went into tailspins because armies, navies and the air force needed petroleum to operate. New wells were dug, chemicals were literally dumped raw into waterways, and environmental destruction walked hand in hand with each and every conquering army as well as every defeated nation that ever fought a war.
But that is the way of warfare: a total commitment to winning no matter what.
Enter the American Air Force.
In the annals of modern warfare, the overall war winning axiom says that, “they who rule the skies win the war.” The most important strategic weapon of war for modern times is the airplane. But like all internal combustion engines that power every other vehicle in modern war, an Air Force only flies if the tanks are filled with petroleum.
As we all know, most of our petroleum imports come from overseas. This makes our military, including the US Air Force, completely dependent on shipments of oil. If those shipments ever get cut off, the Air Force sits on the ground. And for a strategic arm like the US Air Force to be grounded, that just about hands over the United States airspace to anyone who does have fuel for their planes.
This is where green algae jet fuel comes in. Algae is one of the most abundant life forms on the planet, and can be cultivated easily. Much like corn and soybeans, petroleum based fuels can be manufactured from algae, and because it can be easily grown and harvested, this essentially guarantees a never-ending supply.
The US Air Force has invested heavily into algae cultivation for the express purpose of always having a stable supply of fuel. The manufacturing process has been the key here, to get fuel from algae at or near a break even cost with fossil based fuels. It now appears that they have reached that goal, as algae production will soon begin to supply fuel for the US Air Force.
The ramifications for all of this technology is greater than it seems. Because a plane is a plane and needs fuel to fly, virtually any jet engine powered aircraft will be able to use algae made fuel. The Military might have gotten the jump on the consumer directed aircraft fuel industry, but it will certainly be only a matter of time before these production methods begin supplying fuel for non-military applications.
Needless to say, and Because Action speaks louder than words, the US Air Force is going green. Maybe not quite the way everyone might envision it, given that we are still talking about a war machine. But we can take a little comfort in the knowledge that the next time the USAF rains down death and destruction on an opponent, they are doing it in an environmentally friendly way by burning algae based fuel.
Source: BecauseAction.com
