Department of the Navy seeks biofuels on a large scale

June 10, 2014 | Jim Lane

An F/A-18 Super Hornet from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23

CCC funds will be available to defray additional costs, if produced using domestic feedstocks approved by the USDA for CCC eligibility.

In Washington, the Department of the Navy announced that at least 37 million gallons of drop-in biofuels are being sought as part of its F-76 marine diesel and JP-5 shipboard jet fuel supply in the upcoming Inland/East/Gulf Coast bulk fuels solicitation released by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy on June 9.

Bids are due by July 9, and deliveries of fuel will start April 1, 2015. The Inland/East/Gulf Coast is the single largest bulk fuels acquisition program, and is valued in excess of $3.5 billion.

10-50 percent blends

The biofuels sought can be blended in a range of 10 to 50 percent with conventional petroleum products and must meet all military fuel specification properties which make handling requirements and performance indiscernible to the end user. Currently, two biofuels pathways have been tested and qualified for use in Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, ships, vehicles and equipment and efforts are underway to adopt more pathways.

Cost-competitive only, please

DLA will purchase the biofuel blends only if they are cost competitive with their conventionally-derived counterparts. $27.2 million in US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds, capped at 71 cents or less per neat biofuel gallon, are available to defray any additional costs that may exist for fuels derived from domestic feedstocks on a USDA-approved list.

Expanding military energy sources improves the reliability of our overall fuel supply, adds resilience against supply disruptions, and gives the military more fuel options to maintain its readiness and defend the national security interests of the United States.

The Navy’s Director for Operational Energy, Chris Tindal, noted: “As you will read in the synopsis, vendors can submit bids with a minimum of 10% biofuel blended fuel up to a maximum of 50% biofuel blend. The two approved pathways are FT and HEFA. Since we are looking for a minimum of 10% of the total JP-5 and F-76 pool in the domestic locations covered by this solicitation to be drop-in biofuels, this means we are seeking 37.8 million gallons or more of biofuels.

“CCC funds will be available to defray additional costs of producing biofuel and biofuel blends and are being provided as a biofuel production incentive under the CCC program to support agricultural products. To be eligible for CCC funding, the fuel must contain 10% to 50% biofuel as permitted by the JP-5 and F-76 specifications and be produced using domestic feedstocks approved by the USDA for CCC eligibility. $27.161 million in CCC funds have been allotted to this solicitation, and no amount higher than $0.7176 per neat biofuel gallon will be awarded.”

Access to the solicitation can be found here.