Researchers from the US Air Force Academy have a new, outside-the-box idea for dealing with these problems — use an aerospace approach.

This is yet to be developed to full-scale and tested in that form, but early computer and model-scale tests are showing higher efficiencies than wind turbines, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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A team of US scientists are working on a new generation of airborne solar cells, and expects them to power Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the near future.

The University of Washington’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) project team, believe that their new breed of Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) will become an optimum energy harvesting source that may lead to longer flight times without the need to refuel.

According to lead researcher Dr. Minoru Taya, “These kinds of solar cells have more specific power convergence efficiency (PCE), very clean energy and easy scalability to a larger skin area of the craft, as well as low-temperature processing, which leads to lower costs overall.”

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Coupled with economics, dwindling natural resources, and the dangers of transporting fuel in war zones (half of all US casualties in Iraq are from attacks on fuel carrying convoys), the military plans to spend economic stimulus money on alternative fuels and energy conservation.

Traditionally, the Department of Defense has cared little about saving money. The recent shift towards alternative fuels as a military priority is an effort to reduce casualties rather than save natural resources or funds. “The honest-to-God truth, the most compelling reason to do it is it saves lives,” said Brigadier General Steven Anderson, director of operations and logistics for the Army.  Saving money, preserving dwindling natural resources and lessening U.S. dependence on foreign sources are lesser priorities of the alternative fuels and energy conservation initiatives.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars have set the record for the most fuel consumption of any war in US history.  Since the War on Terror began in 2001, the amount of oil consumption has increased from 50 million gallons to 500 million gallons a year at bases.  Using Economic Stimulus Package money, the Pentagon has several alternative fuels and energy saving projects planned.

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The Ion Tiger uses a hydrogen-powered fuel cell, which means it emits zero emissions, very little heat and noise (both military and environmental benefits). Using technology pioneered by the automotive industry, principal investigator Dr. Karen Swider-Lyons explains:

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According to a new study conducted by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The average installed costs for photovoltaic cells (in real 2007 dollars) went down from $10.50-per-watt in 1998, to $7.60-per-watt in 2007.

What’s most amazing about this report is that it appears to validate a whole slew of state and local solar initiatives. The researchers found that—despite the many, many reported advances to solar cell efficiency—most of the savings during this nine year period came from reductions to installation and external hardware costs.

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Often animals will show signals of disaster long before the human population is affected, leading researchers to seek widespread information of wildlife fatalities for both the safety of people and other animals.

While data of wildlife fatalities or infection exists in different agencies across the US, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Fort Johnson are working on a pilot program to centralize the data to form an Environmental Surveillance Network in the South Carolina.

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My moon, my man’s a changeable land...

Former actor and survival instructor, creative writer and a recovering Type A, Mark Gerow is the founder of Lunarythms Yoga™, a combination of polarity-therapy, Ayurveda, Yin and Hatha Yoga that tailors asanas to complement specific chakras associated with the position of the moon. He likes McDonald’s French Fries, drinks one cup of coffee a day and does not relate to black and white photographs of women in leotards.

When I describe the idea behind Lunarythms, people look at me like I’m a crystal wielding nutcase. But every time I take your class, the pace feels just right. What led you to organize your practice around the lunar cycles?

My background in the metaphysical began with Polarity Therapy training.  My partner at the time had grown up with a mother who was into astrology and I would hear them speak to each other through astrology references– usually about a person’s personality or a general analogy about a situation.  I began to notice the effects and rituals that go along with the new and full moons (setting intentions, conserving or putting forth energy), and one day it dawned on me that if most everything in this world is changing to include the moon’s cycles and our own human cycles, that our yoga practice could reflect these ever changing tides of life.

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The Air Force has abandoned its plans for building a coal-to-liquid plant to produce aircraft fuel. While the plan would have reduced foreign dependence, all those emissions would have kinda sucked.

In an effort to certify that all aircraft can use a 50-50 blend by 2011, the Air Force is currently purchasing fuel made by coal from Sasol of South Africa. Gary Strasburg, an Air Force spokesman, said that the B1, B52 and C-17 have all been certified to run on a coal-mix blend. The F-15, F-22, C-5 and KC-135 have all used the blend too.

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Using a 50-50 mixture of JP-8 jet fuel and a natural gas-based synthetic fuel, an F-15 Strike Eagle flew high above Robins Air Force Base in Georgia this week.  One of the pilots for the test, Maj. Dan Badia, is quoted as saying it was just another day at the office.

He said, “You could have had JP-8 in there and I wouldn’t have known the difference.”

The test flight involved engineers from the 830th Aircraft Sustainment Group, who maintain the 561st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and pilots from the 339th Flight Test Certification office.

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Whenever I’m involved in a discussion about government waste and/or the politics of bureaucratic budgeting, I undoubtedly recount a story that usually leaves people nodding in agreement or shaking their head in disbelief. The story goes like this: A friend of mine we’ll call “Rob,” whom I used to work with during my summer breaks, was coming back to Massachusetts for an unexpected late-September visit. Rob had relocated to Pensacola, Florida where he was learning how to fly jets at the Naval Flight Training School. As Rob lifted the golf clubs out of the nose of the fighter jet he had just flown from Florida to Massachusetts for a one-day visit, he knew his trip was different - and he was a little uneasy about it.

You see, Rob’s day-long visit to play golf in Massachusetts was made possible by an officer (or officers) who rightly feared that ending up with a surplus of fuel at the end of that fiscal year would slash the budget for fuel in the next. Rob’s little visit was back in the early 1990s, but with today’s skyrocketing fuel prices, and the added fuel demands of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the “largest single user of petroleum products in the world” is looking for ways to use less fuel - and more types of it.

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The United States Air Force is well on their way to becoming coal-powered. On Monday, the USAF carried out a transcontinental test flight using a 50-50 blend of standard jet fuel and coal-based ’synfuel’.

“The Air Force is taking a leadership role in testing and certifying the use of synthetic fuel in aircraft,” Secretary Wynne said. “We’re working very closely with our Army and Navy colleagues to ensure that this fuel is capable of operating in all of our aircraft. This is especially important because JP-8 military jet fuel is commonly used in the battlefield by the Army and Marines tactical vehicles and generators, as well as our respective aircraft.”

While synthetic fuel has the capacity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, it could also double CO2 emissions produced by military flight. At the time of this writing, synfuel is made via Fischer-Tropsch process from either coal or natural gas to produce a somewhat cleaner burning but extremely greenhouse-gas intensive product.

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