CONSERVATION WORK EARNS EAFB PRAISE.

Byline: JIM SKEEN Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE -- Edwards is a leader in energy conservation and is at the forefront of an alternative fuel effort for aircraft, a Pentagon official said Wednesday.

Edwards received high marks for its energy conservation efforts during a visit by William Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics. Anderson came to the base as part of a tour of bases with success stories in conservation.

``Edwards has had tremendous success in facilities energy conservation,'' Anderson said. ``Edwards is good at working both sides of the equation, the demand side and the supply side.''

Among the examples Anderson cited was the design of the base's Consolidated Support Facility, an $8.7 million project completed in 2004 that was designed to save as much as $500,000 annually in energy and maintenance costs. The building's design features use natural sunlight to save on lighting and has a system that relies on ice manufactured during the evening, when energy demands are less, for cooling during the day.

Edwards also is focused on using renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy. The base uses 138,000 million kilowatt hours of renewable energy sources each year, accounting The base also is flight testing a new fuel on a B-52 bomber. Three flight tests have been done using a Fischer-Tropsch fuel, named for the two German researchers who developed the fuel-making process, on two of the bomber's eight engines.

Those tests proved successful, and the program will step up to using the fuel on all eight of the airplane's engines. Testing of the fuel will likely carry on for a few more years and could involve a variety of other aircraft.

The Air Force will be a ``market maker'' with synthetic fuel. By proving it can be used successfully on military aircraft, interest could build in the commercial sector, Anderson said.

``We're swinging for the fences in terms of synthetic fuel,'' Anderson said. ``Our desire is to be the sand in the oyster to build the market.''

The Air Force is looking to use 100 million gallons of the fuel by 2008.

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.

Although the Air Force conducted the flight test with a fuel derived from natural gas, officials say they think the fuel can also be produced from coal, of which the United States has tremendous amounts.

james.skeen(at)dailynews

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