What it will take for the Navy to deploy a 'green' carrier strike group.

• Author: Jean, Grace V.

* WASHINGTON NAVY YARD--Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced with much fanfare plans to deploy a "green" carrier strike group in 2016.

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At the Naval Sea Systems Command, engineers who are responsible for bringing the plan to fruition are fleshing out the details, such as what ships and energy-saving technologies will take part in an East Coast exercise scheduled for the summer of 2012.

"We're creating what we believe is a showcase for what's possible," said Rear Adm. James McManamon, deputy commander of surface warfare at the command.

The strike group demonstration will consist of an aircraft carrier along with three destroyers, including the USS Truxtun (DDG-103). The Navy next year plans to install on that ship a hybrid-electric drive prototype that is being developed at a land-based test facility in Philadelphia. The intent is to determine if electric propulsion systems are suitable for the destroyer force, said Rear Adm. Frank Pandolfe, director of the surface warfare division, in an interview at the Pentagon.

The selected destroyers will have stern flaps, said McManamon. Attached to the aft of the vessels, the flap helps ships propel through the water with less energy. The technology has been installed on a variety of ship classes, including amphibious landing dock ships. Navy officials say the flaps so far have yielded fuel cost savings of $365,000 to $450,000 per ship.

Aboard the carrier, fighter jets will be flying on camelina-based biofuels. The first green F/A-18 Super Hornet took flight in April powered by a 50-50 blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and biofuel.

There is a possibility that the destroyers' diesel engines also will on biofuels. "We may not be able to run an entire ship on biofuels, but we may be able to modify a tank so when they are steaming on two diesels, they are steaming on biofuel," said McManamon.

The Navy wants to switch out the ships' incandescent lights with LED lights that will rarely need to be replaced. "They're 30 percent more expensive to buy, but they have payback in two to three years in terms of the environment and sailor workload," said McManamon, a former...