THIS is just plain BS…

Well, the administration is bending the Navy over (again)…

The Navy has been ‘directed’ to be the test bed for these new ‘bio-fuels’, at a cost of $26/gal!!!  Full articles HERE and HERE

Yep, not $2.60, but TWENTY-SIX dollars a gallon!!!

When you compare it to the ‘expensive’ bunker fuel we now use at $3.60 a gallon, it’s a ‘bargain’ that we are being allowed to prototype these new fuels for saving the environment.

Now a bit of common sense here… Lets say a Destroyer holds roughly 35,000 gallons of bunker fuel, at $3.60/gal that is $126,000 per fillup; at $26/gal that equates to $910,000 per fillup…

Now if you figure it costs roughly $100,000 per DAY to run a Destroyer at $3.60/gal, and now you increase fuel costs by a factor of just over 7, you’ve just driven the Navy out of business!!!

The Navy is already restricting not only the speeds destroyers can run, but the number of days they can be underway to ‘conserve’ costs (which means training suffers).  What next???

And the truly sad part is there is no way to make enough bio-fuel to actually supply the Fleet anytime in the near future at any realistic price…

Comments

THIS is just plain BS… — 21 Comments

  1. Like Jimmy Carter on steroids with a dash of Bill Clinton thrown in for good measure.

    I live surrounded by corn and beans – literally. They grow beans – so they can make fuel – so they can run the tractors – to plant the beans – so they can make the fuel – to run the tractors – to plant the beans – to make the fuel – to run the tractors . . . .

    Something about “insanity” comes to mind!

  2. I’m sorry but shouldn’t the DOE be doing fuel efficency studies?

    Gerry

  3. I’m not a conspiracy nut, but…

    The EPA is fining oil refiners for not adding to their product mix a type of bio-fuel that does not exist.

    Now the Navy is being required to use bio-fuels that basically don’t exist – at least not in commercially viable quantities.

    Artificially stimulating demand for a non-existent product is either ideologically driven, or else someone has bought a lot of commodities futures…

  4. Where do I line up to sell bio-fuel to the Navy? Seriously, who has the is contract and why hasn’t holy hell been raised about it?

  5. How long before we start having ships tied up at the dock because they’re out of fuel money for the quarter?

    Or sailors “voting with their feet” a la Defense Secretary Harold Brown *spit*?

    Putting food in your gas tank is a bad idea.

    And thank you very much for mentioning / recommending “Adak”. It answered a lot of questions I had about the ditching and its aftermath. Well written, and described life pretty much as I remember it. (VP-19, ’81-84)

  6. eia- You are correct sir!

    PH- Yep, one and the same…

    Gerry- You’d think so…

    Tim- yep…

    Matt- If the shoe fits…

    Rev- What else can I say!

    Andy- It is, but ONLY by the Pubs, since all the Dems are invested in the companies…

    AOA- Not really.

    Rick- Excellent point! Glad you ‘liked’ the read too.

  7. I can’t help wondering just how large a political donation the party in power received from the vendor for this decision to bankrupt the military.

  8. All the more reason to vote responsibly in November, and like a gunfight, bring a bunch of friends to vote responsibly.

    Happy 4th, old friend.

  9. How many french fries will need to be sold to American’s in fast food restaurants to make that amount of bio-fuel a day?

  10. Always and forever, a segment of our society thinks the military is a needless expense. Since we have it, why not use it for something useful? Get something out of our investment.

    Too bad these people have come to power with the Obama Administration.

  11. Maybe they’ll just pump the fuel aboard the Littoral Combat Ships…?

  12. The Pentagon paid Solazyme Inc $8.5 million in 2009 for 20,055 gallons of biofuel based on algae oil, or $424 a gallon.

    The USNS Henry J. Kaiser (AO 187) is hauling 900,000 gallons of biofuel to RIMPAC as I type. THe cost to the taxpayers for this ultra expensive green fuel is $24 million.

    Wasn’t Van Jones the “Green Jobs Czar”???

  13. If saving the planet means the end of the Navy’s effectiveness, then Obama is just the man to help us make that sacrifice.

    This article should be titled “How to destroy the US Navy by administrative fiat” and subtitled ” the high price isn’t a bug it’s a feature.”

    It would be interesting to learn about the reliability of any machinery in the test project, though it’ll probably be highly classified. Apropos of nothing, the City of Berkeley CA switched its fleet to 100% biodiesel some years back. They began having lots of problems. It seems the biodiesel was a bit too bio; it was growing mold that started to plug injectors and fuel lines. They quietly went back to petroleum diesel.

  14. Agirl- Yep…

    Gaffer- Well, apparently it IS owned by a Democrat…

    Paw- Planning on it, but all MY friends are LEGAL voters!!!

    Orange- Billions…

    WSF- Excellent point!

    LL- You’re correct on BOTH comments, but the ‘new’ lower price is now $26/gal, and the LCS would need to refuel EVERY day!

    Peter- All your comments are correct, and yes there are huge problems with clogging injectors and fuel lines… NOT a good thing going into battle!

    MSgt- Shhhh, don’t give em any ideas…

  15. Agirl- Yep…

    Gaffer- Well, apparently it IS owned by a Democrat…

    Paw- Planning on it, but all MY friends are LEGAL voters!!!

    Orange- Billions…

    WSF- Excellent point!

    LL- You’re correct on BOTH comments, but the ‘new’ lower price is now $26/gal, and the LCS would need to refuel EVERY day!

    Peter- All your comments are correct, and yes there are huge problems with clogging injectors and fuel lines… NOT a good thing going into battle!

    MSgt- Shhhh, don’t give em any ideas…