Future Now
The IFTF Blog
Pentagon investing in energy research
The Washington Post reports on new Pentagon-sponsored research on energy efficiency, and the hard realities that now make it a priority:
[A]bout half of the U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan are related to attacks with improvised explosive devices on convoys, many of which are carrying fuel. As of March 20, 3,426 service members had been killed by hostile fire in Iraq, 1,823 of them victims of IEDs.
"Every time you bring a gallon of fuel forward, you have to send a convoy," said Alan R. Shaffer, director of defense research and engineering at the Pentagon. "That puts people's lives at risk."
Spurred by this grim reality, the Pentagon, which traditionally has
not made saving energy much of a priority, has launched initiatives to find alternative fuel sources. The goals include saving money,
preserving dwindling natural resources and lessening U.S. dependence on foreign sources.
"The honest-to-God truth, the most compelling reason to do it is it saves lives," said Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson, director of operations and logistics for the Army. "It takes drivers off the road."
Some of it is pretty high-tech stuff, like using solar and geothermal energy on military bases, building biofuel converters or developing algae that can produce jet fuel; but other things like insulating tents are more common-sense.