Mar. 20--The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency is developing a pilot program to supply a blend of alternative fuels to Air Force and Army units operating in Alaska, officials with the agency said March 11 at a conference in Anchorage.

Mark Iden, deputy operations director of the Defense Energy Support Center, a part of the Defense Logistics Agency, said his agency is soliciting proposals from industry to supply a 50-50 blend of alternative and conventional fuels.

The agency wants the alternative fuels made through the Fischer-Tropsch process, a chemical process that converts carbon-based material like biomass, natural gas or coal to high-quality liquid products.

The conference was sponsored by the Defense Energy Support Center, a part of the Defense Logistics Agency, to inform potential suppliers and get comments on the program, Iden said.

A minimum five-year purchase contract with options for extensions is planned, which is a departure from the agency's standard policy of one-year fuel purchase contracts, he said.

The U.S. Air Force has a separate project underway to evaluate a possible coal-to-liquids plants, also using the Fischer-Tropsch process, at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks. That initiative is separate from the Defense Logistics Agency plan, which would supply the fuel to Elemendorf Air Force Base and Fort Richardson near Anchorage and Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

"Alaska is being used for the pilot program because it is an isolated region where the customer base, which includes several Air Force and Army installations, are fully committed to the program," Iden said.

The state also has abundant natural resources -- coal, biomass and natural gas -- which can be used as a feedstock for a Fischer-Tropsch plant, he said.

There is no preference as to where a plant to produce the fuels might be located, other than it must be within the U.S., Iden said. An Alaska location for the plant is preferred, however, because transportation costs would be reduced.

The agency also has no preference as to the type of feedstock that would be used, biomass, coal or gas.

Fischer-Tropsch was selected as the preferred technology because it is a well-established alternative fuels technology with a long history, Iden said.

"This is not about building a pilot plant. This is a program to purchase these fuels," he said.