Ecological tanks on gas?

In the IDF, not only the uniforms are green
By Sharon Kedmi (Ha-aretz)


The global trend toward the use of alternative fuels, primarily in the wake of rising oil and fuel prices, has not evaded the Israel Defense Forces. The army is currently converting all its bases so that they will depend on liquid petroleum gas (LPG), which will be joined in the not-too-distant future by natural gas. These are two totally different products: LPG is better known as domestic cooking gas and is produced from refined crude oil, while natural gas is created, like crude, in the bowels of the earth. The IDF recently completed the conversion of the Israel Air Force base in Uvda to LPG, at a reported cost of about NIS 1.2 million. Lieutenant Colonel Avi Harel of the logistics department explained that this sum covered the conversion of all facilities that until now have operated on crude oil, or diesel fuel which derives from it. "This is the first stage in a process, costing about NIS 40 million," says Harel, "for the conversion of all IDF bases to LPG compatibility. This process is part of the army's environmental-awareness project."
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Harel explains that the completion of the project was originally scheduled for 2012, but due to budgetary and ecological considerations, the date was brought forward such that the conversion of all IDF bases will be completed by the middle of 2007. "We received a special loan from the Finance Ministry and I believe that we will be able to repay it within two years," Harel adds. What exactly did you do at the Uvda base? Harel: "The Uvda base consumes some 750,000 liters of diesel fuel and crude oil annually, at a cost of some NIS 3 million. [The conversion] will save about NIS 2 million a year, so we will be able to recoup the investment in the conversion in just 8 months. The fuel efficiency level with diesel at Uvda was 75 percent, which means that each year 190,000 liters of diesel was burned for nothing. Fuel efficiency with LPG is 95 percent. The conversions were done by Supergas, which won an IDF tender, and the company will be supplying the base until the end of the year, at which time we will issue a new tender." What about fuel conversion where vehicles are concerned? This is also in vogue just now. "We are aware of this, but have not yet determined our position. The army is constantly considering the conversion of small systems from expensive and pollutant diesel fuel and crude oil, to cleaner and cheaper LPG. This includes the conversion of motor vehicles. What about natural gas? "The army is well aware of developments in the natural gas sector in Israel, and has begun examining the IDF's transition to using natural gas. The first step will be the establishment of a natural gas administration in the IDF. The idea is to connect all the bases with high energy consumption, such as the main training bases, to the natural gas [pipeline]. We have already begun to map all the bases in this category and examine the feasibility of connecting them to the pipeline. I believe it is important to address this issue now, in order to be ready when the national pipeline is finished. A decision in this matter will be made within a few weeks." The IDF is one of the state's largest fuel consumers, if not the largest. "The IDF's fuel budget is NIS 1.4 billion a year, out of the entire NIS 35 billion defense budget, most of which comes from financial aid from the United States. In fact, the IDF imports some 90 percent of its fuel from the U.S. Half of that quantity is jet fuel for the IAF. The refined fuel arrives from the United States on tanker ships, from which it is transferred to the fuel company with which we have a contract - at present Paz, which won a Defense Ministry tender - and the army takes what it needs as required. At any given moment some 12 million liters of fuel are available from a total of about 200 military filling stations and emergency fuel reserves. "The army markets and stores the jet fuel on its own, while the fuel for the rest of the IDF is transferred to Paz, which buys it at a price set by Israel Oil Refineries. The IDF then buys it as required. When oil prices are low, the army buys as much as possible and stores it, and when the price is high, the army uses up its inventory, such that the IDF can regulate its fuel purchases in keeping with the price. This saves the IDF significant millions of shekels, but the recent hikes in global oil prices breached the budget framework." Next year, Harel says, the IDF will start using a fuel inventory management system that will keep better track of reserves and streamline costs even more.