Air Force Tests Alternative Fuels on UAVsDecember 03, 2010
 The U.S. Air Force is rushing to certify that its fleet can be powered using a blend of alternative and fossil fuels by 2011. The service has an even loftier goal of running on a 50-50 blend incorporating biofuels for all aircraft flying within the Continental United States by 2016. Before reaching that milestone, the service has to test the impact of alternative fuels on all the aircraft in its fleet. Now up is a test on its Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles. The Global Hawk test is considered a challenge because the drone flies at high altitudes and low temperatures. The success of the test is measured by whether a plane flies without any mechanical trouble but perhaps more importantly, whether a pilot on the ground can sense a difference in the handling of the craft, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor. The U.S. military is the world’s single-largest oil consumer, the Wharton Aerospace & Defense Report noted in an earlier article. The Air Force burns about 2.5 billion gallons of fuel each year, according to the Monitor article. The driving force behind the greening of the Air Force is not simply about trying to reduce the military's carbon footprint but also to spur development of alternative fuels, which in turn would lower dependence on oil from volatile regions. But there are several challenges—ranging from cost to scientific know-how—in relying on bio fuels and other alternative fuels. The Air Force wants to create alternative and biofuels from plant and animal fats that can be pumped into an aircraft without having to change any aircraft parts, according to the article. If they had to change the parts, the transition to biofuel-compatibility would become major expense. Agricultural space is also an issue—growing the amount of plants required to produce enough biofuel would take vast tracks of land. Drought or infestation could easily disturb the supply of this alternative fuel. Analysts and industry leaders also believe that one unintended consequence could be a fall in the price of oil as demand slides. That could make the cost of developing alternative fuels and processing plants less economically appealing and slow the transition to biofuels. In the meantime, the service is looking for other ways to increase fuel efficiency, including creating shorter flight paths and digitizing manuals to make them accessible via a laptop rather than flying shelves packed with binders. |
|
