Panel: Navy will need oil for decades

[unhappycamper]

Panel: Navy will need oil for decades
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 16, 2008 21:50:13 EST

Even as designers experiment with new ways to power the warships of the future, the surface Navy will remain dependent on fossil fuels for at least the next 40 to 50 years, a panel of naval engineers said Tuesday.

Cruisers, destroyers, amphibious ships and littoral combat ships all will probably continue to need some kind of fuel oil, no matter what advanced propulsion systems are fitted or back-fitted on ships, said engineer Alan Roberts. He appeared with colleagues before a meeting of the American Society of Naval Engineers outside Washington.

His talk underscored a larger theme of the engineers’ meeting: That the Navy must make the most efficient use of the world’s dwindling supply of oil, even though the costs of crude have eased significantly compared to their record-setting peaks this summer.

The Navy and the larger oil-burning world are only enjoying a “holiday” or a “grace period,” on fuel costs, but it wouldn’t last, said another panel member, Capt. (sel) Lynn Petersen, deputy director of the Navy’s electric ships office.

Advanced research, electric propulsion systems and new engine materials are a few of the recommendations panel members offered for the surface Navy to use fuel more efficiently.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/12/navy_ASNE_oilfuture_121608w/%2e

[dipsydoodle]

1. Hence the existence of

the strategic oil reserve.