Cutting the Army's Umbilical Cord: A Study of Emerging Fuel Technologies and Their Impact on National Security

摘要

The U.S. dependence on foreign oil is a national security concern. The Department of Defense is the largest federal government consumer of oil, and the Army will play a significant role in reducing consumption. To do this, the Army must reduce fuel consumption at its U.S. installations and also at its overseas installations. Improving energy efficiency and decreasing fuel consumption at sustainment platforms, the largest battlefield consumers of fuel, became an Army priority during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. A new focus on emerging fuel technologies has the potential to decrease the logistical requirements in theater, reduce the budget outlays for fuel, and reduce risk to soldiers. This monograph evaluates three emerging fuel technologies: microgrids, solar and wind power generators, and hybrid-electric tactical wheeled vehicles. The method used to evaluate these technologies is to replace an inefficient existing technology with the new one and calculate fuel savings, cost savings, risk reduction, and casualty reduction. The data collected from this evaluation result in some eye opening conclusions. If the number of 5,000-gallon tankers required in Iraq to deliver fuel was reduced by 3,000 for one year, this would reduce the number of soldiers needed to drive and protect these tankers by more than 6,000. This means that four soldiers might have avoided death in Iraq in 2007. The Army should use an enterprise approach to developing and implementing emerging fuel technologies to decrease fuel costs and risk to soldiers.