AIR FORCE TO FLIGHT TEST JET FUEL MADE FROM NATURAL GAS.Byline: JIM Jim Miss Watson’s runaway slave; Huck’s traveling companion. [Am. Lit.: Huckleberry Finn] See : Escape SKEEN Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. -- Trying to lessen the U.S. military's dependence on foreign oil, the Air Force will begin flight testing a synthetic fuel Synthetic fuel or synfuel is any liquid fuel obtained from coal, natural gas, or biomass. It can sometimes refer to fuels derived from other solids such as oil shale, tar sand, waste plastics, or from the fermentation of biomatter. made from natural gas. The effort uses a synthesizing process developed by two German researchers in the 1920s and used by petroleum-short Germany to help keep its Nazi war machine running during World War II. But for years, it was deemed too expensive to compete with conventional fuels -- until the recent run-up in oil prices. ``This is an extremely important moment for the Department of Defense,'' said Michael Aimone, the Air Force's assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, installations and mission support. ``Our goal is to by 2016 have 50 percent of our aviation fuel coming from alternative fuel sources.'' A B-52 bomber is scheduled to fly Tuesday at Edwards carrying the so-called Fischer-Tropsch fuel for powering two of its eight jet engines, with regular fuel for the other six. The Edwards flight test work is part of a Pentagon effort, started in 2001, 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 last year to Gulf Coast oil refineries This is a list of oil refineries. The Oil and Gas Journal also publishes a worldwide list of refineries annually in a country-by-country tabulation that includes for each refinery: location, crude oil daily processing capacity, and the size of each process unit in the refinery. . ``We're working to certify the fuel for military aviation use,'' Aimone said. ``We must do that in a visible and transparent way so our partners in the commercial aviation industry will be able to see our testing. By working together, we can expand the market for synthetic jet A synthetic jet flow, or synjet, is a type of jet flow. A jet flow is a fluid flow in which a stream of one fluid mixes with a surrounding medium. An example is a water jet that forms when you put your thumb over the end of a hose. fuel and make it more economical to produce by increasing volume.'' The Air Force alone consumes 3.2 billion gallons of fuel annually, accounting for about 80 percent of the federal government's fuel usage. james.skeen@dailynews (661) 267-5743 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV edition only) This B-52 bomber will be used to test a synthetic jet fuel at Edwards Air Force Base. United States Air Force United States Air Force (USAF) Major component of the U.S. military organization, with primary responsibility for air warfare, air defense, and military space research. It also provides air services in coordination with the other military branches. U.S. |
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