The world?s most powerful armies are going green and reducing dependency on fossil fuels seems to be their main objective. The United States armed forces, one of the largest single energy consumers, are looking at renewable jet fuels for aircraft that use algae or vegetable and animal oils. Almost all fighter planes of Britain?s Royal Air Force have been certified to fly entirely on bio-fuels, when they are available, and researchers are looking into solar-powered unmanned attack aircraft. Taking a cue, Indian armed forces too have embarked on a drive to save fuel.
In what is seen as a major eco-friendly step towards renewable energy generation in the country, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is experimenting with bio-diesel for military vehicles. The field trials of the bio-diesel on military vehicles, such as the bullet-proof armoured personnel carriers (APCs) are being conducted at DRDO?s Pune-based lab, Vehicle Research and Development Establishment (VDRE), which specialises in developing defence vehicles.
The development is significant as it has the potential to drastically reduce the fuel bill of defence forces. DRDO chief controller William Selvamurthy says that the defence ministry has approved the directives for user trials of the bio-diesel and all the tests would be completed in another six month?s time. The bio-diesel extracted from Jatropha seeds is produced by DRDO at its Secunderabad-based facilities, where over 400 acres of land is being used for growing Jatropha curcas, a non-edible oil-producing crop, which has great potential for bio-diesel production.
Defence analysts reckon that energy security has become a national issue and solemn attempts are being made to seek viable alternatives in the form of renewable energy to meet the futuristic needs. In fact 85% of the energy, which we use is obtained from the fossil fuels as energy source in the form of oil, coal and natural gas. This situation makes us to solely depend on fossil fuels to sustain the energy requirements. But the alarming common concern of today?s world is that the natural source of fossil fuel is finite and is depleting rapidly due to uncontrolled consumption. This indicates the non-renewable nature of fossil fuels and it is important to have a renewable source as an alternate energy source.
The Pentagon, headquarters of the US department of defence, intends to get a quarter of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. It is inducting electric cars for use on its bases, and is developing hybrid armoured vehicles for the battlefield. Within next five years, it plans to fly its planes on a 50/50 blend of ordinary fuel and bio-fuel, probably made from algae. US military personnel in Afghanistan have plans to use cottonseed oil as bio-fuel. Within the past year and a half, the soldiers in Afghanistan have been involved in two major experiments using bio-fuel: testing focused largely on two pieces of equipment ? light armoured vehicles (LAV) and generators ? using bio-fuel blends composed of 80% diesel or jet fuel and 20% vegetable oil.
Green fuel, also known as biofuel, is a type of fuel distilled from plants and animal materials, believed by some to be more environmentally friendly than the widely-used fossil fuels that power most of the world. In the desperate search for alternative energy sources, green fuel has evolved as a possible fueling option as the world drains its fossil fuel resources. In creating basic forms of biofuel, crops are broken down into two types: sugar producing and oil producing. Sugar and starch producing crops, such as sugar cane or corn, are put through a fermentation process to create ethanol. Oil producing plants, like those used in vegetable oils, can be used much like fossil sources of oil; they create diesel that can be burned by cars or further processed to become bio-diesel.
Recent technological innovations have created the fields of advanced bio-fuels, which focus on non-food sources and waster renewal as energy. By converting landfill material, as well as wood and inedible plant parts, into green fuel, we not only cut down on the use of fossil fuels but also effectively recycle enormous amounts of waste. These bio-fuels help quell the debate on whether growing crops for fuel will result in fewer available food crops.
As far as the DRDO breakthrough is concerned, scientists are testing the fuel in terms of torque, power and other parameters keeping in mind engine?s performance. ?As much as 20% of bio-diesel mixed with regular diesel has been accepted by the engines,? says Zakwan Ahmed, director, Defence Institute of Bio-Energy Research (DIBER), a DRDO laboratory. Results of the tests which are being carried out on engines of Swaraj Mazda and Tata trucks are being analysed for further improvement in the fuel and its quality.
The result is the outcome of a joint project undertaken by DIBER along with other participating DRDO labs to fulfil the energy security mainly focusing on non-edible oil-bearing feedstock. DIBER actively engaged in research for developing technologies for mass-scale cultivation of non-edible oil bearing bio-energy crops such as Jatropha, Cheura (Diploknema butterissia), Camelina (Camelina sativa), etc. along with research for enhancing seed yield and oil content by conventional breeding and genetic engineering approach.
It is not yet clear whether the green fuel currently available is the wave of the future or merely an interim step on the journey away from fossil fuel use. Armies around the world are devoting enormous resources to the research of clean, sustainable fuels to replace the pollutant and quickly disappearing oil reserves used today. Green fuel may not be a perfect solution to the problems of oil need and global protection, but it remains an important innovation that may pave the way to a better future.