Nuclear Power Is Old: The American Military Begins Shifting to Biofuels

On [May] 7, a “Natural Energy Promotion Conference” was launched by Junichiro Koizumi and Hosokawa Mamoru, two former prime ministers of Japan. At this conference, a primary point that attracted attention was the usage of biofuels as an alternative to nuclear power. What triggered this were a few simple words from the symposium’s moderator, Yoshioka Tatsuya, the co-founder of Peace Boat, who said, “The American military is building a ship that runs on biofuel.”

Things such as sugar cane, plants like algae, and wood waste are biological raw materials that are used to make biofuels. In order to absorb CO2 during the production process, it does not increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere even when combusted.

Sera Mitsuhiro, a military journalist, says: “The American military plans to fund the switching of half of all their ships and aircraft from fossil fuels to alternative energy by 2022. The ‘Sea Hawk’ helicopters utilized by the American navy are already running on a blend of biofuels and jet fuel. It is likely only a matter of time until the F18 supersonic fighter jet runs on biofuels. Japan’s ministry of defense, conscious of compatibility with the American military, has started moving their Japan Self Defense Force machines toward biofuels as well.”

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While “environmental consideration” is one reason, the main reason behind the American military’s sudden shifting toward biofuels is to reduce dependence on foreign fossil fuels for security reasons. However, as was the case with the Internet, it is also likely that it is a public display of explosive military technology that is also being put to use privately.

“Biofuels have a bottleneck in that their production cost is high while the output is small, but because their military use and private usage are both increasing, the price is dropping. Their combustion efficiency and cleaner fuel consumption over fossil fuels means biofuels have the potential to be a good alternative energy source,” says Sera Mitsuhiro.

The Abe administration is trying to steer toward reopening nuclear power plants, but they should consider more seriously the practical applications of the biofuel that the U.S. military is shifting toward more and more. It could be a growth strategy.