Energy usage of the United States military

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A view of solar panels installed in 2011 on the roof of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters, San Diego. The rooftop photovoltaic installation supports the Department of Defense's goal of increasing renewable energy sources to 25 percent of all energy consumed by the year 2025. US Navy 110803-N-UN340-067 A view of solar panels recently installed on the roof of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters, Old Town.jpg
A view of solar panels installed in 2011 on the roof of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command Headquarters, San Diego. The rooftop photovoltaic installation supports the Department of Defense's goal of increasing renewable energy sources to 25 percent of all energy consumed by the year 2025.

The United States Department of Defense is one of the largest single consumers of energy in the world, responsible for 93% of all US government fuel consumption in 2007 (Air Force: 52%; Navy: 33%; Army: 7%. Other DoD: 1%). [1] In FY 2006, the DoD used almost 30,000 gigawatt hours (GWH) of electricity, at a cost of almost $2.2 billion. The DoD's electricity use would supply enough electricity to power more than 2.3 million average American homes. In electricity consumption, if it were a country, the DoD would rank 58th in the world, using slightly less than Denmark and slightly more than Syria (CIA World Factbook, 2006). [1] The Department of Defense uses 4,600,000,000 US gallons (1.7×1010 L) of fuel annually, an average of 12,600,000 US gallons (48,000,000 L) of fuel per day. A large Army division may use about 6,000 US gallons (23,000 L) per day. According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, if it were a country, the DoD would rank 34th in the world in average daily oil use, coming in just behind Iraq and just ahead of Sweden. [1]

Contents

General

The military recognizes that renewable energy can provide improvements in force safety and budget stability as well as mitigate climate change so it has several programs working on deploying alternative energy at major facilities and in forward operating bases. Admiral Samuel J. Locklear has called climate change the biggest concern for the United States military. [2] [3]

Air Force

The Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the federal government. The Air Force uses 10% of the nation's aviation fuel. (JP-8 accounts for nearly 90% of its fuels.) This fuel usage breaks down as such: 82% jet fuel, 16% facility management and 2% ground vehicle/equipment. [4] To meet renewable energy goals, the Air Force plans to certify its entire fleet on coal-to-liquid synthetic fuel blends by 2011. By 2016, it plans to fuel half of its domestic transportation by US-produced synthetic blends, including blends of biofuels and jetfuels, known as Hydrotreated Renewable Jet (HRJ). [5] The Air Force is currently the leading purchaser of renewable energy within the Federal government and has been a long time pioneer of renewable energy development and leadership. The Air Force is recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Partner, one of the nation's top purchasers of green power. [6] The Air Force Energy Plan, published in May 2010, includes more information about the Air Force's goals, including reducing demand, increasing supply, and changing the culture to include energy awareness. [7]

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs

In 2010, DoD established the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Operational Energy Plans and Programs to coordinate energy issues. In July 2010, DoD also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy to facilitate cooperation and accelerate research, development, and deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. [5] DoD's Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) improves the energy and water efficiency of existing Military Services' facilities. The program's projects help the Military Services save on energy usage and cost. [8] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $120 million for the ECIP. [ citation needed ] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has also given money for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Army National Guard and Air National Guard facilities to invest in energy efficiency.

Recent developments

The US Army has recently prioritized renewable energy strategies in Iraq. [9] Strategies include the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery Program, which converts 1 short ton (0.91 t) of waste to 11 US gal (42 L) of JP-8 fuel, a photovoltaic flexible, portable mat, insulating foam technology, hybrid-electric Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV), and highly efficient portable cells. [9] The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act gave more than $150 million to develop these technologies. [9] Stateside, the Army created the Net Zero program with a goal to have 30 installations achieve net-zero energy by 2030, including some that will also be net-zero in waste and water. [5] [10] In 2011, they opened the Base Camp Systems Integration Laboratory, which compares an energy efficient base camp with a traditional one and trains soldiers to use energy efficient technologies. [11] The Army Energy Security Implementation Strategy, [12] published in 2009, gives details about the Army's energy goals. [13]

The Department of the Navy established Task Force Energy to focus on meeting energy goals, which include reducing non-tactical petroleum use in the commercial fleet by 50 percent by 2015, producing at least 50 percent of shore based energy from alternative sources by 2050, acquiring 50 percent of total energy from alternative sources by 2020, and having 50 percent of Navy and Marine Corps installations be net-zero by 2020. [5] [14] The Navy hopes to demonstrate a Green Strike Group (fueled by biofuels and nuclear power) by 2012 and sail the Great Green Fleet by 2016. [5] The Office of Naval Research developed and deployed the Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB), including photovoltaic energy, shelter insulation, small unit water purification, and energy efficient heating, lighting, and cooling. [15]

The Marine Corps established the Expeditionary Energy Office to increase combat effectiveness by reducing the need for liquid fossil fuel by 50 percent by 2025, using liquid fuel for mobility only. [16]

The Defense Department plans to invest $9 billion to improve energy use in military operations through 2017. [17]

Through the SolarStrong program, a total of 300MW of PV installations were done on 120,000 roofs of base housing throughout the U.S. [18] The 14MW Nellis Solar Power Plant went online in 2007. Fort Bliss has a 1.4MW PV array as well as 13MW of base housing PV and a second 15MW solar farm should be online in 2015. [19] Fort Irwin had initially proposed a 500MW PV farm but 15MW solar farm was later awarded for construction with a separate 2MW PV system at the base hospital. A 14MW PV plant was built at China Lake in 2011. [20]

Fort Drum converted a coal power plant to a 28MW biomass plant. [21] In 2014, the U.S. military invested $210 million in 3 biofuel refineries which will produce fuels which meet military specifications. [22]

See also

Related Research Articles

Renewable energy Energy that is collected from renewable resources

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. Renewable energy often provides energy for electricity generation to a grid, air and water heating/cooling, and stand-alone power systems. About 20% of humans' global energy consumption is renewables, including almost 30% of electricity. About 8% of energy consumption is traditional biomass, but this is declining. Over 4% of energy consumption is heat energy from modern renewables, such as solar water heating, and over 6% electricity.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory United States national laboratory

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center.

Capacity factor Electrical production measure

The net capacity factor is the unitless ratio of actual electrical energy output over a given period of time divided by the theoretical continuous maximum electrical energy output over that period. The theoretical maximum energy output of a given installation is defined as that due to its continuous operation at full nameplate capacity over the relevant period. The capacity factor can be calculated for any electricity producing installation, such as a fuel consuming power plant or one using renewable energy, such as wind or the sun. The average capacity factor can also be defined for any class of such installations, and can be used to compare different types of electricity production.

Energy policy of the United States Where and how the United States gets electrical and other power

The energy policy of the United States is determined by federal, state, and local entities in the United States, which address issues of energy production, distribution, and consumption, such as building codes and gas mileage standards. Energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, subsidies and incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques. Several mandates have been proposed over the years, such as "gasoline will never exceed $1.00/gallon" (Nixon), and "the United States will never again import as much oil as it did in 1977" (Carter), but no comprehensive long-term energy policy has been proposed, although there has been concern over this failure. Energy policy acts have been passed in 1992, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 which include many provisions for conservation, such as the Energy Star program, and energy development, with grants and tax incentives for both renewable energy and non-renewable energy.

Solar power by country

Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:

Solar power plants in the Mojave Desert Supplies power to the electricity grid using excellent solar radiation

There are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Insolation in the Mojave Desert is among the best available in the United States, and some significant population centers are located in the area. These plants can generally be built in a few years because solar plants are built almost entirely with modular, readily available materials. Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which were built in the 1980s, the first commercial solar plant. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts (MW) which made them the largest solar power installation in the world, until Ivanpah Solar Power Facility was finished in 2014.

Renewable energy in Australia Overview of renewable energy in Australia

Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar PV, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.

Renewable energy commercialization Deployment of technologies harnessing easily replenished natural resources

Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. As of 2012, renewable energy accounts for about half of new nameplate electrical capacity installed and costs are continuing to fall.

For solar power, South Asia has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and a high density of potential customers.

Renewable energy in the United States Renewable energy statistics and policy in the United States

According to preliminary data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for about 12.6% of total primary energy consumption and about 19.8% of the domestically produced electricity in the United States in 2020.

Solar power in the United Kingdom Overview of solar power in the United Kingdom

Solar power represented a very small part of electricity production in the United Kingdom until the 2010s when it increased rapidly, thanks to feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidies and the falling cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Solar power in the United States Overview of solar power in the United States of America

Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics and increasingly from community solar arrays. From January through December 2021, utility-scale solar power generated 114.7 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 2.79% of all generated electrical energy in the United States. During the same time period total solar generation, including estimated small-scale photovoltaic generation, was 163.7 TWh.

Renewable energy industry Electric energy utility industry

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Renewable energy in Canada Use of renewable resources in Canada

As of 2019, renewable energy technologies provide about 17.3% of Canada's total primary energy supply. For electricity renewables provide 67%, with 15% from nuclear and 18% from hydrocarbons.

Renewable energy debate

Policy makers often debate the constraints and opportunities of renewable energy.

Energy in Ohio Overview of the production, consumption, import and export of energy and electricity in Ohio

The energy sector of Ohio consists of thousands of companies and cities representing the oil, natural gas, coal, solar, wind energy, fuel cell, biofuel, geothermal, hydroelectric, and other related industries. Oil and natural gas accounts for $3.1 billion annually in sales while ethanol generates $750 million. Toledo is a national hub in solar cell manufacturing, and the state has significant production of fuel cells. In 2008, the state led the country in alternative energy manufacturing according to Site Selection Magazine, while the natural gas industry has experienced growth due to the expansion of shale gas.

Solar power in Florida Overview of solar power in the U.S. state of Florida

Solar power in Florida has been increasing, as the cost of solar power systems using photovoltaics (PV) has decreased in recent years. Florida has low electricity costs compared with other states, which makes individual solar investment less attractive. Florida ranks ninth nationally in solar resource strength according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and tenth in solar generation by the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Solar power in Georgia on rooftops can provide 31% of all electricity used in Georgia.

Energy in Hawaii

Energy in Hawaii is a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable resources. It is complicated by the state's isolated location and lack of fossil fuel resources. The state relies heavily on imports of petroleum and coal for power. Renewable energy production is increasing. Hawaii has the highest share of petroleum use in the United States, with about 62% of electricity coming from oil in 2017. As of 2016, 26.6% of electricity was from renewable sources, including solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. By 2021 Hawaiian Electric announced that it had reached 34.5% renewable.

Carbon-neutral fuel Type of fuel which have no net greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint

Carbon-neutral fuel is fuel which produces no net-greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint. In practice, this usually means fuels that are made using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock. Proposed carbon-neutral fuels can broadly be grouped into synthetic fuels, which are made by chemically hydrogenating carbon dioxide, and biofuels, which are produced using natural CO2-consuming processes like photosynthesis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lengyel, Colonel, USAF, Gregory J. (August 2007). "Department of Defense Energy Strategy: Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks" (PDF). 21st Century Defense Initiative Foreign Policy Studies. Washington, D.C: The Brookings Institution. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Chief of US Pacific forces calls climate biggest worry March 9, 2013 The Boston Globe
  3. ↑ Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear says the biggest security threat in the Pacific region is climate change. March 12, 2013 The Wall Street Journal
  4. ↑ Powering America's Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security Archived 2010-01-08 at the Wayback Machine , CNA Analysis & Solutions, May 2009
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "DoD's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiatives". Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  6. ↑ "Air Force leads the way as Green Power Partner". U.S. Air Force. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  7. ↑ "Air Force Energy Plan" (PDF). U.S. Air Force. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  8. ↑ Whitehouse.gov
  9. 1 2 3 Vogel, Steve. Pentagon Prioritizes Pursuit Of Alternative Fuel Sources, The Washington Post, 4/13/09
  10. ↑ "Army Vision for Net Zero" (PDF). U.S. Army. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  11. ↑ "Base Camp Integration Lab opens at Fort Devens". U.S. Army. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  12. ↑ http://www.asaie.army.mil/Public/Partnerships/doc/AESIS_13JAN09_Approved%204-03-09.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  13. ↑ "Army Energy Security Implementation Strategy" (PDF). U.S. Army. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  14. ↑ "U.S. Navy Energy, Environment, and Climate Change". U.S. Navy. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  15. ↑ "ONR Experimental Forward Operating Base". Office of Naval Research. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  16. ↑ "USMC Expeditionary Energy Office" (PDF). U.S. Marine Corps.
  17. ↑ "Department of Defense Certifies Key Energy Investments Support Increased Combat Capability." DoD, 15 August 2012.
  18. ↑ SolarCity announces another major military housing contract, DigitalGreenMedia, Amanda H. Miller, July 26, 2013
  19. ↑ Closson, Stacy (2013-10-01). "The military and energy: Moving the United States beyond oil". Energy Policy. 61: 306–316. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.102. ISSN   0301-4215.
  20. ↑ These 5 Department of Defense Solar Energy Projects Will Forever Change What Fuels America's Military, Tim Bolger, Cleantechnica, October 1st, 2013
  21. ↑ Fort Drum Ditches Coal For 100% Renewable Biomass, CleanTechnica, Tina Casey, February 20th, 2014
  22. ↑ US Navy, DOE, USDA award $210M for 3 biorefineries and mil-spec fuels, Biofuels Digest, Jim Lane, September 19, 2014

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