U.S. Military Accelerates Deployment of Clean Energy Technologies: Report

Deployment of clean energy technologies is accelerating across military installations operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a report released January 16 by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew's new report, "Power Surge," examines how the military is using private-sector capabilities and harnessing innovative financing to obtain advanced energy systems. According to the study, the number of energy saving and efficiency plans at military installations in excess of doubled from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2012, from 630 to 1,339. The number of renewable energy plans increased from 454 to 700 during the same period.

The U.S. military incurs a $4 billion energy bill annually operating its bases. To lower energy costs and enhance security, the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps have initiated policies and measures to ensure near- and long-term progress in clean energy installation, including the widespread use of third-party financing in which private developers assume responsibility for backing and maintaining projects.

According to Navigant Research, Pew's clean energy research partner for this report, in total, 384 megawatts of installed renewable energy capacity existed on the Pentagon's installations in mid-2013. By the end of 2018, it is estimated that renewable energy capacity on bases could increase in excess of fivefold, to 2.1 gigawatts (GW), enabling the military to meet its goal for deployment of three GW of renewable energy by 2025. During this time, solar photovoltaic and biomass are forecast to account for the majority of new, renewable energy installed capacity. See the Pew press release.

There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to add a comment!
Click here to add a comment about this story.