Top 5 facts on US Military Oil Consumption

[Locutus]

Forgive me if this is a repost (the original source was 2006) but here is some staggering information for those so-inclined:


The US Military budget was raised to US$532.8 Billion for the year 2007, around 3.7% of the country's GDP. This is more than the combined defense budget of China, Russia, UK, India, Japan and the next 10 countries which top in world military spending. To keep all the tanks, ships, aircrafts and Humvee's moving in battle's around the world takes a lot of fuel. Did you know that the Abrams tank can travel less than 0.6 mile per gallon of fuel.


Here are a few facts on the US Military Oil Consumption.

5) Over half of the fuel transported to the battlefield is consumed by support vehicles, not vehicles engaged in frontline combat. The top 10 battlefield guzzlers in the U.S. Army, only 2 are combat vehicles (the Abrams tank and the Apache helicopter). The other eight carry fuel and supplies.

4) The Department of Defense (DoD) per capita energy consumption of 524 trillion Btu is 10 times more than per capita energy consumption in China, or 30 times more than that of Africa. Only three countries consume more oil per capita then the DoD.

3) In 2006 Air Force consumed around 2.6 billion gallons of jet-fuel which is the same amount of fuel U.S. airplanes consumed during WWII (between December 1941 and August 1945). The mighty B52 bomber (pictured above) consumes 3300 gallons per hour, the F16 Falcon burns 800 gallons per hour and the KC-135 Statotanker an aerial refueling tanker aircraft consumes 2650 gallons per hour.

2) The Department of Defense is the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S and the US military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world. In 2006 the US Military consumed 117 million barrels or 320,000 barrels per day.

1) With upto 15 gallons per day per deployed soldier in January 2007 the American GI is the most energy-consuming soldier ever seen on the field of war.



http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/top_5_facts_on_us_military_oil_consumption.php

original:
http://www.energybulletin.net/13199.html

 

[#juan]

Those numbers are amazing. They are also disgusting when we consider that the U.S. is also the world's worst polluter. They are using far more than their share of what fuel is on this Earth, and they are using it on a fat, overgrown, military that is already larger than all the rest of the military on the planet.

 

[triedit]

Those numbers are amazing. They are also disgusting when we consider that the U.S. is also the world's worst polluter. They are using far more than their share of what fuel is on this Earth, and they are using it on a fat, overgrown, military that is already larger than all the rest of the military on the planet.

Sometimes I just want to tickle you till you pee your pants.

The US only has about a third the military that China has. And China is on course to become the world's largest polluter in just a few years.

 

[Locutus]

Sometimes I just want to smack you.

The US only has about a third the military that China has. And China is on course to become the world's largest polluter in just a few years.

Perhaps you just overlooked this:

4) The Department of Defense (DoD) per capita energy consumption of 524 trillion Btu is 10 times more than per capita energy consumption in China, or 30 times more than that of Africa. Only three countries consume more oil per capita then the DoD.



Sure, China and India have a lot of bodies but the DoD's consumption is just gross.

 

[#juan]

Sometimes I just want to smack you.

The US only has about a third the military that China has. And China is on course to become the world's largest polluter in just a few years.

Here is a link that will tell you who has the largest military and who spends the most on military. Just having the most bodies means nothing.

http://tinyurl.com/y3rq9e

 

[karrie]

The US only has about a third the military that China has. And China is on course to become the world's largest polluter in just a few years.

The US only has about a third of the personnel according to that source. personnel isn't the true tell of an army's size to be fair. Frankly, I don't know how you adequately compare size when you're talking armies, because some are so well stocked on nuclear weapons, that frankly, they can 'outsize' everyone else without needing more than a few personnel to press some buttons.

(does this make anyone else think... it's not the size that counts, it's what you do with it?)

 

[Locutus]

The US only has about a third of the personnel according to that source. personnel isn't the true tell of an army's size to be fair. Frankly, I don't know how you adequately compare size when you're talking armies, because some are so well stocked on nuclear weapons, that frankly, they can 'outsize' everyone else without needing more than a few personnel to press some buttons.

(does this make anyone else think... it's not the size that counts, it's what you do with it?)

I've been calling that audible for many moons. Mercifully though, my girlfriend has a fine sense of humour.

Yours truly, Stubby. :lol:

 

[karrie]

I've been calling that audible for many moons. Mercifully though, my girlfriend has a fine sense of humour.

Yours truly, Stubby. :lol:

LOL... well, like I said.. you can be short manned, but so long as you're willing to blowup a nuke or two when it's needed.....

 

[triedit]

Of COURSE the US is the worlds leading spender for military. What others of comparable size are actively engaged? War isnt free. Im not suggesting it's right, blah blah blah, but the bottom financial line is they spend more because they a) are actively engaged and b)train with an airforce which requires a lot of fuel..

PS--China has nuclear weapons.

 

[karrie]

Of COURSE the US is the worlds leading spender for military. What others of comparable size are actively engaged? War isnt free. Im not suggesting it's right, blah blah blah, but the bottom financial line is they spend more because they a) are actively engaged and b)train with an airforce which requires a lot of fuel..

PS--China has nuclear weapons.

yeah, but nukes aren't the whole picture of what an army entails, especially when the main thrust of the thread is that of oil consumption. tanks, planes, naval fleets. How do the US and China compare on those grounds? Because personnel is a lot easier and cheaper to run... it's the machinery that's the big deal, and truly creates an army. And don't get me wrong... I'm not saying China's smaller.. I really have no clue. But it just seems that personnel doesn't make the army entirely.

 

[triedit]

Ok Karrie, Im confused. If it isnt the personnel or the weapons, then you're saying the budget "makes" the military?

 

[karrie]

Ok Karrie, Im confused. If it isnt the personnel or the weapons, then you're saying the budget "makes" the military?

I said machinery actually.

 

[triedit]

China has increased thier military spending 165% in the last 10 years while the us has increased at 160%. But again keep in mind that the US is deployed all over the world and engaged in at least two missions.

China spends the second highest amount in the world on it's military. It makes up roughly 5% of military spending worldwide. But that's based on REPORTED spending. The general concensus is that the actual spending may be 300 times that and is just not reported.

Overall, China's "official" budget does not entail the following: the purchase of foreign weapons systems; funding for paramilitaries (such as the People's Armed Police); government subsidies of the military-industrial complex; some aspects of research and development; revenue earned outside of the budget.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/budget.htm

Table 2. Relative expenditures (as percentage of GDP). CountryOfficial budgetSIPRIRANDDoDPeople's Republic of China (PRC)1.4%1.8%1.9-2.4%4.2%United States3.7%3.9%/3.7%United Kingdom2.7%2.2%//Japan1.0%1.0%//Russia2.8%4.3%/12%Republic of China (ROC)2.6%///

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China

SIPRI, Rand and DoD are estimates based on independent studies. This is supposed to be a table but it didnt transfer well. See the link

 

[Tonington]

China has their own internal problems to deal with, much more important than cavorting all across the globe fighting wars.

 

[triedit]

China has their own internal problems to deal with, much more important than cavorting all across the globe fighting wars.

That's not the point. What's being argued is who has the biggest military, and what the definition of "biggest" is. That they choose not to spend militarily on depoloyment around the globe is of no consequence except that they save money by doing so.

 

[#juan]

That's not the point. What's being argued is who has the biggest military, and what the definition of "biggest" is. That they choose not to spend militarily on depoloyment around the globe is of no consequence except that they save money by doing so.

The "biggest" military in the world is the one that can deliver more modern military hardware and soldiers, anywhere in the world than any other country. Sadly, it also makes a difference if you have a fleet of sixty or so nuclear missile submarines, and intercontinental ballistics missiles in silos waiting for a touch of the button, as well as jet bombers that can strike anywhere I would say the U.S. qualifies as the "biggest".

 

[I think not]

And the point is what? :roll: Let's hear it.

 

[Tonington]

That's not the point. What's being argued is who has the biggest military, and what the definition of "biggest" is. That they choose not to spend militarily on depoloyment around the globe is of no consequence except that they save money by doing so.

My point was that China's increases in military spending are more focused on internal issues, as opposed to fighting wars, which in this case makes a huge difference on both spending and energy use, which is the point here.

 

[eh1eh]

And the point is what? :roll: Let's hear it.

The point is the US military uses alot of fuel. Other than that your guess is as good as mine.

 

[EagleSmack]

No kidding.

We have a huge military and we are going to use tons of fuel. Nobody seems to complain when our ships and planes are carrying our supplies and other nations supplies to stricken nations. Who do you think does that... American Airlines? FedEX? UPS?

No... it is the US Military sea and airlift component.