The U.S. Navy recently trumpeted a shipment of Italian biofuel its “Green Fleet” got at a “competitive price,” but the military’s cost calculations mask the high cost of fueling up warships with green fuels.
T.A. Kiefer, a retired Navy captain and energy consultant, told the trade publication Ship & Bunker, the Navy’s claim they fueled their ships with biofuels for just $2.26 per gallon obscures the true cost to taxpayers.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told Reuters in June the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, gassed up with a fuel that was blended with 5.5 percent palm oil biofuel. The Navy said it cost $2.26 per gallon.
“A 5 percent blend should not even be called biofuel; it is petroleum fuel with an expensive additive,” Kiefer said.
According to Ship & Bunker, the fraction of biofuel used by the Navy actually costs $13.46 per gallon. The 94.5 percent of the conventional fuel the USS Mason filled up on only cost $1.60 per gallon — based on the current average price per metric ton.
[excerpted]http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/07/us-navy-obscures-the-true-cost-of-its-green-fleet/
