Report: By 2030, Defense will double investment in alternative energy

The Defense Department plans to almost double its investment in advanced, alternative clean energy technologies from $1.2 billion in 2009 to $10 billion by 2030, the Pew Charitable Trusts Clean Energy Program said in a report released Wednesday.

Defense, as one of the largest energy consumers in the world, leads the way in the use of clean and alternative energy sources, including electric vehicles, biofuels and solar power, Phyllis Cuttino, director of the Pew Clean Energy Program, said at a press briefing on the report "From Barracks to Battlefield: Clean Energy Innovation and America's Armed Forces."

Security concerns and the price volatility for petroleum fuels have driven the change -- Cuttino said it takes 22 gallons of fuel per day to support each soldier deployed to Afghanistan.

Fuel convoys account for 80 percent of all supply convoys into landlocked Afghanistan, with numerous convoys attacked, resulting in casualties for one in 46 convoys, she said. In addition, the military services have deployed 125,000 diesel generators, which consume $3.5 billion to $5 billion a year in fuel, Pew reported.

In 2010, the Marine Corps tested solar power at bases in Afghanistan and in one case cut generator fuel use from 20 gallons a day to 2.5 gallons a day, the report said. The Marines have invested $25 million in hybrid power systems and more efficient air conditioning systems for all units deployed to Afghanistan, and in stateside tests, those systems showed an 83 percent increase in energy efficiency, Pew reported.

The Pentagon also faces spiraling price increases for fuel. The department's fuel bill more than doubled from $8.8 billion in 2005 to $17.8 billion in 2008, another good reason to user alternative energy sources, according to Pew.

Defense acquires much of its petroleum supplies from countries that someday "may not be our friends," Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment, said at the press briefing. To ensure its energy security, the Navy plans to develop what Pfannenstiel called the Great Green Fleet, which will use alternative energy sources such as biofuels to power half of all Navy operational assets by2020, Pew reported.

The Air Force already has certified that 99 percent of its aircraft can fly on a biofuel mixture, and it expects to use an alternative fuel blend for half its needs by 2016, Pew said.

All the services have pushed alternative energy sources for use at military installations, with a 14-megawatt solar array at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada being one of the largest in the country. The Army plans to install a 500-megawatt solar power plant at Fort Irwin, Calif., and the Navy recently announced a $500 million contract for solar energy at its installations in the Southwest and Hawaii, for a total of 45 megawatts of solar power.

The Navy stands out as a pioneer in the use of geothermal power, with its 270-megawatt geothermal facility at the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, Calif., accounting for almost 10 percent of total U.S. geothermal capacity, the report said.

Katherine Hammock, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, said at the briefing that 40 percent of the Army's nontactical vehicles are either hybrids or run on alternative fuels, and the service plans to have eight bases that generate as much energy on site as they consume by 2020 under its $7.1 billion renewable energy program.

Cuttino said Defense has 450 ongoing projects producing or procuring 9.6 percent of its energy from clean sources in fiscal 2010. In an introduction to the Pew report, former senator and secretary of the Navy John Warner said these project have put Defense in a "well-earned leadership position" in the use of alternative fuels.