The Department of Defense has signed a contract with Syntroleum Corp. to buy 500 gallons of biofuel made from animal fats. The feedstock for Syntroleum’s fuel would come from Tyson Foods.

This company press release says it’s a first-of-its-kind test program that is aimed to see if the military could use fuel from domestic, renewable sources:

Under terms of the contract, Syntroleum will provide 500 gallons of ultra-clean renewable synthetic jet fuel produced entirely from fats supplied by Tyson Foods, Inc., using the company’s recently announced Biofining(TM) technology. The fuel will be used for research development and performance testing in military turbine applications as part of the DOD’s Assured Fuels Program, aimed at evaluating the possibility of utilizing renewable alternative jet fuel made from bio feedstocks. The U.S. Air Force has expressed its desire to source 50 percent of its fuel needs from domestic alternative sources by 2016, and plans to certify its entire fleet of aircraft for alternative fuel use by 2010.

“This contract with the U.S. Department of Defense is another significant milestone for Syntroleum,” said Jack Holmes, CEO of Syntroleum. “When the contract is completed, we would be the first company to provide both renewable synthetic aviation fuel and FT aviation fuel to the Department of Defense for its certification and weapon system testing program. This acceptance of our alternative synthetic fuels once again validates the quality and integrity of our product, and the successful completion of this program will provide Syntroleum with an opportunity for other long-term supply contracts with the Department of Defense.”

Just a personal note from a veteran who spent a few days in the heat and sand and grit of the desert, I would have been much happier camped out next to a corn and soybean field as opposed to some berm just off the oil fields. This makes a lot of sense to me.