The US Navy’s first-biofuel powered ship has completed a successful trip along California’s coast. Next year, the Navy plans to unveil a number of small ships, destroyers, cruisers, aircraft, submarines and a carrier all running on alternative fuels. It will then deploy a green fleet of nuclear vessels, hybrid electric ships and other biofuel-powered aircraft by 2016.

The first tested ship ran on 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel in a 17-hour trip from San Diego to Port Hueneme—a great sign for more to come. The blend used consisted of a 50-50 mix of petroleum and a hydro-processed algal oil, produced from Solazyme in San Francisco. But the Navy is working with many other companies as well with a wide variety of alternative fuel options, all competing to win supplier bids with the Department of Energy’s largest oil consumer.

With over $500 million invested in the biofuel industry, the Navy hopes to cut its use of fossil fuels by half over the next decade, according to Cmdr. James Goudreau, Director of the Navy Energy Coordination Office.

Shortly after the ship docked, the Navy reported that the alternative fuel burned just like traditional fuel in the same engines, observing no difference in the ship’s operations. Operationally, the Navy’s largest demonstration of shipboard alternative fuel use was a huge success, reaffirming its overall energy strategy to increase energy security and protect the environment.