Air Force Changing to Drive Down Fuel Use

I had the privilege of interviewing Kevin Billings a few months ago via DOD PAO's New Media operation when he commented on the Air Force's resolve on reducing its fuel use. Well here he is again, in InsideDefense.com, describing fuel-driven USAF operational changes in much more detail:

Using techniques such flying more direct routes to their destinations to taxing aircraft on fewer engines or starting engines at later times before takeoff and using simulators far more often, the service has managed to save millions of dollars in energy costs, according to Kevin Billings, acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, logistics and environment. “We had a 3-percent reduction in fuel use last year while flying expanded missions,” said Billings during a Jan. 14 interview at the Pentagon. Service officials achieved this by expanding direct routing of aircraft, reducing the weight of aircraft, using simulators and updating maintenance procedures.

Billings also says fuel savings are also possible via better coordination with civilian agencies, like State: 

The service is ... working with the State Department to expedite diplomatic clearances for its aircraft. This would allow the jets to fly much more direct and efficient routes through other nations’ airspace. 

... and the FAA:

[USAF] is asking the Federal Aviation Administration to let its planes to descend on direct glide paths during landing instead of gradually “stepping down,” said the assistant secretary. This will let the Air Force take advantage of new Global Positioning System-based navigation tools that allow more efficient flight patterns while maintaining safety, according to Billings.

This is all good stuff and we need to see more of it. The Air Force has by far the largest energy burden of the 4 services, and uses the vast majority of the fuel. Stay tuned for more ...

Photo: GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) by Wikimedia Commons

April 2009 Update from Air Force's Energy Chief

Kevin Billings shared a few minutes today, responding to three status questions I had queued up for him on: 1) the synth fuel initiative, 2) adoption of energy metrics, and 3) the Air Force's take on smart and micro grids. Here, without much embellishment, are his updates:

1) Synthetic Fuels - Certification of USAF's current inventory to run on a 50/50 natural gas-derived fuel/J-P8 blend is on or ahead of schedule. Other details include:

• More focus coming up on bio fuels
• Will down select to 1 or 2 bio fuel blends and begin new engine cert process for them

In short, USAF will be ready for its 2016 goal of using 50% alternative fuels, and is thereby making a market for these fuels. But the big question is: will industry be ready to provide new fuels in sufficient quantities?

2) Energy Metrics - Alas, Billings noted that the Energy Efficiency KPP would have been used extensively in Future/Next Gen Long Range Bomber, which Secretary Gates just recommended for deletion. But he said that USAF's acquisition arm is taking the FBCF and Energy Efficiency KPP very seriously. (I should be able to report more on that in the future.)

3) Air Force Smart / Micro Grids - According to Billings, while still in embryonic stages, new grid technologies and processes are at the forefront of USAF thinking. The primary driver is mitigation of the risk posed by the brittle national grid. The task re the smart grid is to work with utility providers to coordinate and collaborate on bringing smart sensors and other energy management capabilities on base to capture savings. The micro grid concept applies when thinking about bases as power islands, being able to run their own critical mission systems during local or regional blackouts. One of the lead agencies he referenced is the civil engineering team, AFCESA, at Tyndall AFB in Florida.

A detail I especially liked was Billings referring to the towns that host USAF bases as "community partners." He's interested in seeing if, should local blackouts occur, USAF bases could provide surplus power for critical community services. Wouldn't that be something ... something great.

Billings Joins Industry ... Remains Energized

From the "where are they now" department:

Kevin Billings, whose words and wisdom have been cited more than once on the DOD Energy Blog, has just left his Air Force energy exec post to join Lockheed Martin's Energy Services team. In his new position as "Director of Federal Energy Efficiency Programs" Billings will wear business development and operations hats related to Lockheed's Federal energy savings performance contracts.

ARPA-E, Industry and DOD Energy Leadership: Who leads, who follows?

As a follow up to the last post on the Army/Air Force Energy Forum, after Secretary Chu spoke we heard from other DOD luminaries, high ranking government officials and industry leaders. Again, the themes of “ DOD is vulnerable due to energy insecurity; DOD has a history of technology leadership; DOD helps get technology economically launched; DOD can get it done”. At one point former Senator John Warner, thumped the podium and declared, “DOD Must Lead!”.

For me the highlight of the conference was the very refreshing talk by Dr. Arun Majumdar, Director, Advance Research Projects Agency –Energy (ARPA-E). Their mission statement is much too long to quote here, but , it uses words like “freshness”, “out of the box” and “nibble and sparse” without a hint of self-consciousness. Dr. Majumdar’s presentation focused on some very cool and critically essential projects, all of which had great acronyms like BEEST, IMPACCT, GRIDS, etc. ARPA-E is assuming the mantle of pushing the technology boundaries in a very focused manner on energy. His matter of fact approach to describing things like microorganisms that convert CO2 into liquid fuels had the effect of generating excitement for bugs that crap oil! The good Doctor conceded that not all or, for that matter, many of these projects would bear fruit, but that was their mission: to go where industry might not go. Of course, where is industry going?

I won’t go into all the breakout session I attended, but will give you some general impressions. Other than the DOE discussions, the only piece of new information I gathered was that the Program Manager, Ground Soldier sent some solar panels and fuel cells along with the Iron Rangers of the 1-16th Infantry Battalion to Afghanistan. Apparently this happened back in January while I wasn’t paying attention. Why the PM, Ground Soldier planned, financed and executed this rather than PM, Mobile Electric Power was not adequately explained. Other than that, it was mostly a recitation of why energy security is important to DOD, promises that “the plan is coming” and great recruiting by the Marine Corps (excellent video, Brutus). Not much new ground was plowed.

Industry was there in force and led several moderated panels. The list is informative:

• Mr. Scott Sklar, President Stella Group, LTD
• Mr. Paul Bollinger, General Manager Government Solutions, Boeing Energy (former DASA, Energy and Privatization)
• Mr. Alex Beehler, President of Alex A. Beehler & Co., LL (former Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations & Environment)
• Mr. Mike Aimone, Battelle Memorial Institute, (former Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support, HQ USAF)
• Mr. Kevin Billings, Lockheed Martin, (former Acting Assistant Secretary of the United States Air Force for Installations, Environment & Logistics)
• Mr. Marc Gottschalk, Proterra

It was nice to see so many friends and members of the former DOD energy regime. Many of the listed folks all a hand in writing energy plans, policies and programs for years in DOD. They were the giants upon whose shoulders the new regime should have stood to advance “The Plan”. The clock is ticking towards achieving the goals and mandates for energy. The DOD Operational Energy Plan was published on 14 June 2011 with the promise that the Implementation Plan would follow in ninety days. 15 September 2011 is a much awaited day. Industry is standing by for action. Installation energy is still an open question. Who is responsible, what are the authorities and how will accountability be kept? If this is going to be done with public/private partnership, the public side must answer those questions. Dan Nolan

Billings Reflects on his Time as Energy Exec

There's a lot of wisdom in former Air Force energy exec Kevin Billing's post game analysis of his time in office. The whole article is here, but the part that's most applicable to the work of this blog and its readership is called "Respect the Systems":

You are in an organization of hundreds of thousands of people, in uniform, civilians and contractors. They manage thousands of programs worth hundreds of billions of dollars. There must be systems and processes to manage it all. Will you find that constraining? Yes. Can they be improved? Yes, your ideas on how to improve them are important. How you get from here to there will be dependent on how well you work within the system. You will be able to change certain things simply because of your throw-weight. But if you want the change to be lasting, it must be written down, vetted and cemented in policy. This is the really hard work of government. Walking things through what seems to be endless coordination is often what separates lasting policy from the flavor of the month. Cultivate those who understand and can effectively work the system.

That last sentence ... that's addressed to you, and others who care (and know) enough to keep pushing energy policy improvements until senior leadership cries "Uncle".