NDIA's Environment,Energy Security and Sustainability (E2S2)Symposium and Exhibition-Attacking Fuel Demand

摘要

The US military is taking steps to reduce its daily consumption of 330,000 barrels of oil. In one initiative, renewable and self-sustaining energy solutions enable ground troops to produce their own energy and reduce their reliance on convoys. Andy Poydras reports on the efforts of one service, the USMC, to double down on its commitment to renewable energy on the battlefield. Budgetary pressures and lessons learned from Afghanistan are leading the Pentagon to embrace renewable energy, in the form of hybrid generators, small collapsible solar panels that recharge handheld electronics and other systems. Wide-ranging green initiatives launched by the services are expected to help the US DoD gain efficiencies and reduce its most recently published (2009) U$13.4 billion annual energy bill through the budget outyears. At the same time, the Pentagon is responding to the steady stream of headlines about US casualties in Afghanistan caused by improvised explosive attacks on fuel and water convoys over the past several years.