Biofuels
The Biofueled Military
28/08/12 13:04 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
With its Great Green Fleet demonstration, the US Navy has shown that it can run on alternative fuels, including diesel from algae and chicken fat, although the costs can be as high as $424 a gallon for biofuels. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.) questioned the value of this biofuels program supported by the Department of Defense. S. Pelech points out that as long as major populations continue to rely on fossil fuels to supply their energy needs, the potential risks of environmental damage as well as the costs to consumers will only increase at an accelerating pace. Alternative sources of energy will continue to be less competitive if there is a lack of political will and action to innovate and develop these options by military and civilian branches of governments world-wide. Biotechnology has a lot of offer towards these ends if societies chose to exploit it much more aggressively for such purposes. Read More...