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Pentagon Sets Green Goals for Military by 2025

Posted on: Friday, 8 August 2008, 13:14 CDT

Pentagon officials have set a goal that 25 percent of the U.S. military’s energy should come from renewable sources by 2025.

The Pentagon says its green energy efforts will help America fight global warming. The Defense Department alone accounts for 1.5 percent of U.S. energy consumption.

Their goal is to help Main Street America reach similar targets, said Alan Shaffer, a retired Air Force officer who leads the Pentagon's research and engineering arm.

"It's only the Department of Defense that is big enough and has the federal mandate for the necessary scope of development" of new energy technologies and products,” said Shaffer.

“Every soldier is a steward of the environment,” Shaffer added.

Cutting back on energy consumption was never a primary concern for the military until the price of oil began to skyrocket two years ago. Now, Shaffer says, change is inevitable.

Within six years, a portable solar and wind power station at the Army's Fort Irwin in California could bring a quick return of electricity to hurricane-damaged coastal cities, said retired Army Col. John Spiller.

These energy technologies may one day spread to households, as a byproduct of a more efficient military, said Col. Dave Belote, commander of Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The biggest solar power array in the United States has been operating at Nellis since last November in a public-private partnership.

"Every time the price of oil goes up $10 a barrel, it costs the Department of Defense $1.3 billion a year," Shaffer said.

Crude oil hit a record $147 a barrel last month. It is expected to average about $127 in 2008, up from $72 in 2007, and $66 in 2006, according to U.S. government figures.

Shaffer hopes to cut energy consumption by 10-20 percent in coming years. It spends about $14 billion a year on energy, up from $11 billion in 2005, about half on jet fuel.

Another key issue was highlighted in 2006 when Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer said bringing solar and wind power to the battlefront would cut down on casualties.

"Cost matters. Lives matter more," said Shaffer. "Every time we have to send a convoy out to refuel tanks or deploy forward locations, it puts people's lives at risk."

Source: redOrbit staff and wire reports

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