Found this good news on SYNM BB at IHUB....Earnings come out before the bell on Thursday.
-52H will use synthetic fuel
BY: Jim Skeen, Los Angeles Daily News
08/07/2007
In a step toward weaning the military from foreign oil, the Air Force will certify the B-52H bomber to fly using synthetic fuel.
Secretary of the Air Force Michael M. Wynne is scheduled to visit Edwards on Wednesday to announce the completion of the certification process for the B-52H. Flight testing for the effort started at Edwards last September.
The Air Force wants to certify its entire fleet to use domestically produced synthetic fuel-blend by early 2011. The Air Force wants to have half of its aviation-fuel supply coming from alternative fuel sources by 2016.
"This synthetic fuel initiative to certify the fuel for military aviation is being accomplished in close cooperation with our partners in the commercial aviation industry," said Bill Anderson, the Air Force's assistant secretary for installations, environment and logistics. "By working together, we can expand the market for synthetic jet fuel and make it more economical to produce by greatly increasing demand."
Air Force officials said they recently ordered 281,000 gallons of synthetic fuel for further testing on the C-17 and B-1 engines in the coming year. NASA is also interested in synthetic fuels and will receive 9,000 gallons of synthetic fuel from the Air Force so it can begin evaluating its use in various engines and systems.
The Pentagon effort, started in 2001, is called the Assured Fuel Initiative. The idea is to ensure an energy supply regardless of uncertainty in oil-producing countries or problems spurred by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina's damage to Gulf Coast oil refineries.
The Air Force alone consumes 3.2 billion gallons of fuel annually, accounting for about 80 percent of the federal government's fuel usage.
The fuel used in the testing with the B-52 is called Fischer-Tropsch fuel, named for the two German researchers who developed the process for making the fuel. Testing was done with a 50-50 blend of the synthetic fuel and regular jet fuel.
Tests showed that the synthetic fuel's performance was comparable to regular jet fuel. The synthetic fuel also produced less pollution because it contains less sulfur than regular fuels.
The fuel the B-52 is using is being produced by an Oklahoma company called Syntroleum Corp., which has a plant that produces 70 barrels a day of Fischer-Tropsch fuels.
Although the Air Force conducted the B-52 flight tests with a fuel derived from natural gas, Syntroleum officials say they think the fuel can also be produced from coal - of which the United States has tremendous amounts. |
