Corn, soybeans, biofuels coming to Fort Bragg

by Tina Ray
Paraglide

In response to a Department of Defense directive to reduce the consumption of petroleum products and to implement sustainable practices for fleet vehicle management, Fort Bragg is building a biofuel station on the installation.

The fueling station will be located at the corner of Gruber and Longstreet roads, said Charles Young, installation sustainable transportation planner.

Construction began in mid-August and is projected for completion within the next 60 to 90 days, he said.

The goal of the fueling center is to reduce the dependency on foreign oil, said Tim Shea, Directorate of Logistics, chief Transportation Division.

The green fuel facility will be about 50,000 square feet, said Steven Harris, manager with the Environmental Compliance Branch. “Consisting of three retail fueling islands and one Bulk Loading Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel rack, it will be capable of storing 20,000 gallons of E85 (85 percent ethanol), 20,000 gallons of B20 (bio-diesel) and 15,000 gallons of ULSD,” he said.

The construction cost would be about $1.8 million and is being paid by the Defense Fuels Supply Center at Fort Belvoir, Va, said David Poindexter, a logistics specialist with the Defense Energy Support Center.

Shea said that alternative fuel provides a certain amount of energy security because the fuel burns local products and reduces carbon emissions.

Local products used in alternative fuels include soybeans and corn.

Fort Bragg has about 2,500 general services administration fleet management vehicles and as the life cycle of older vehicles halts, newer biofuel consuming vehicles will be introduced, Shea said.

Fort Bragg has converted sedans, pick ups, SUVs and buses to biofuel, but fire and emergency vehicles do not currently have flexible fuel availability.

“The only thing holding us back are the manufacturers themselves,” Shea said.

By 2017, a barrel of oil is estimated will cost $200 a barrel, so biofuel may bridge the gap between petroleum-based technology and the invention of a less-foreign dependent energy source.

Construction of the fueling center on Fort Bragg would not only seem important to the installation, but to surrounding agencies as well.

No agencies around Fort Bragg have the ability to build this facility, Shea said. But, they are going to partner with us in order to be able to meet that federal mandate.

Fort Bragg, as the Army’s most populated installation, can affect change in pointing the way towards the reliance on biofuels and the construction of the fueling station, Shea said.