# Globemaster Using Synthetic Fuel



## tomahawk6 (27 Oct 2007)

Globemaster goes green on synthetic fuel
Staff report
Posted : Saturday Oct 27, 2007 6:22:53 EDT

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – For the first time, the Air Force has flown a C-17 Globemaster jet powered entirely by a mix of synthetic and traditional fuels.

The service, which aims to certify synthetic petroleum use in all aircraft by 2011, has fully certified B-52 bombers on the fuel mix and has started easing the C-17 cargo jet into using the fuel.

After an Oct. 19 test flight with only one C-17 tank containing the new-wave fuel, pilots flew the C-17 on Oct. 22 with nothing but synthetic fuel mix on board.

There was “no discernable difference” between using the traditional JP-8 fuel and the synthetic fuel mix, said mission pilot Maj. Scott Sullivan in a statement.

The synthetic fuel, called Fischer-Tropsch, is blended with JP-8, a kerosene-based fuel that uses more natural resources. The synthetic fuel is touted by the Air Force, the Defense Department’s largest fuel consumer, as an alternative to relying on foreign-produced fuels.

This four-hour C-17 flight clears the way for more evaluations at McChord Air Force Base in Washington and other tests. Air Force leaders expect the C-17 to be fully certified to use the synthetic fuel blend by early 2008.


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## Bane (27 Oct 2007)

The main soild carbon source for this process is coal. The U.S. has the worlds largest known coal reserves at approx. 260 + billion short tonnes.  Canada is around number 10 globally for coal reserves, with about 70% of it in Alberta.


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## tomahawk6 (27 Oct 2007)

Who needs coal when you have tar sands ;D


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## geo (27 Oct 2007)

Heh.... if it workeed for the Germans during WW2, guess it'll still work


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## tomahawk6 (27 Oct 2007)

Worked for the South Africans too in the bad old apartheid days.


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## Bane (28 Oct 2007)

Not the best source for liquid hydrocarbons, neither is bitumen, but it does provide some alternative I suppose.


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## Bane (31 Oct 2007)

Related article
http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/30/magazines/fortune/Oil_from_stone.fortune/index.htm


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