The US Navy has launched its first flotilla of biofuel-powered warships this week in the next stage of fleet-wide efforts to cut the organisation's reliance on oil.
The so-called "Great Green Fleet" - which set sail on Wednesday - includes a carrier group of ships running on 90 per cent petroleum and 10 per cent biofuels.
The use of alternative fuels is not just about reducing the organisation's carbon footprint, according to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. He said the use of biofuels will allow ships to reduce their dependence on oil, which will mean the Navy's activities are not curtailed by fluctuating fossil fuel prices or the political stances of oil-rich nations.
"In 2010, we were losing too many Marines in convoys carrying fossil fuels to outposts in Afghanistan, and the prohibitive cost of oil was requiring us to stop training at home in order to keep steaming abroad, a dangerous and unsustainable scenario," he said in a statement.
When the initiative was first announced in 2009, the price of oil was more than $100 per barrel. The Navy had originally planned for the ratio of oil to biofuels to be 50/50, partly to alleviate the high cost of using conventional oil. Since then the cost of fuel has tumbled to below $30 per barrel.
Alongside the biofuel-powered ships, the green fleet also includes hybrid electric ships and aircraft powered partly by biofuels. By 2020 the US Navy aims to power half its entire fleet from alternative energy sources, including nuclear energy, biofuels and renewables.
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