Alternative Fuels: Military Questions RAND Report

DoD Bloggers Roundtable: Alternative Fuels for Military Applications

Mr. Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy

January 25, 2011 - We recently held a DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable with Mr. Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy for Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Hicks discussed the recent RAND Report on alternative fuels for military applications submitted to Congress yesterday.

Listen to the interview


Joining us on the call were Tom Goering, of Navy Cyberspace; Amy Held, of NPR; Robert Crowe, of Renewable Energy World; Andy Medici, of Federal Times; Sandra Erwin, of National Defense Magazine; Jared Serbu, of Federal News Radio; Paul McLeary, of Aviation Week; Carlo Munoz, of Defense Daily; Eve Troeh, of Market Place; John Reed, of Military.com; Craig Hooper, of the U.S. Naval Institute blog; and Graham Warwick, of Aviation Week. {visit site page for backlinks}

{Click on graphic to download RAND report - 130page pdf}

Or visit RAND site page Alternative Fuels for Military Applications

Energy: Should the Military Be Going Green? RAND Isn't So Sure

January 25, 2011 - The RAND study was sharply criticized, however, by the very people it was written for: the U.S. military. Thomas Hicks, the deputy assistant secretary of energy for the Navy, told Tom Zeller Jr. of the New York Times:

Unfortunately, we were not engaged by the authors of this report. We don't believe they adequately engaged the market. This is not up to RAND's standards.

Hicks and other unhappy with the report noted that the military's research and deployment work on alternative fuels was meant to have a social benefit that went well beyond the armed forces, one that would help the U.S. move beyond oil for both climate and geopolitical reasons. {continued}