It is time that the Singapore military establishment begin to
pay attention to the fuel bill that it is incurring - considering
the high tempo of military activities conducted by the SAF across
the globe even when the SAF is not at war.
With the report that the US Defense Department paying a cost of
US$13 Billion for Year 2006, and the US Military fuel consumtpion
being 1.5 per cent of the entire US fuel demand - what will be the
amount spent by the Singapore Armed Forces ?
Besides the cost of fuel to the SAF, it should also be in
Singapore's strategic interest to look at the future of
'alternative synthetic fuel' processing - if Singapore intend to
maintain the position of being one of the few major refining
centres on this globe.
If some other centers should emerge to become a major player in
processing "synthetic fuel" - it can under-mine Singapore's
strategic postion as a refinery center, when
alternative synthetic fuel can be produced cheaper then
fossil fuel.
It seems that large scale commercial - industrial processing of
synthetic fuel can bring the cost of such fuel from its present
"stratospheric" pricing to about US$55 per barrel - compared to
current crude oil prices of US$130 per barrel.
The following report shows the origin and process of synthetic
fuel, its present day use, and a test by the USAF to determine the
feasibility in the use of synthetic fuel for military jet
aircrafts that breaks the sound barriers.
“U.S. Millitary launches Alternative-Fuel push :
Dependence on Oil seen as Too Risky : B-1 takes Test Flight” – 21
May 2008