But Where are the Solar-Powered ICBMs? (DOD energy use)

[jpak]

http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=3167&from_page=../index.cf

“ is starting to create a serious problem … We've always known it's been a problem, but I think the situation has accelerated much faster than anyone of us would have realized … And, of course, this dependency affects our entire enterprise ... I'm talking about all products that we use, from plastics to other things, that rely on petroleum in some way, shape or form."
– Michael Francis, director of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems program at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Sept. 7, 2005.

“Most of our ships are oil driven. So what implication does that have if you are in charge of the next generation of ships and the generation of ships beyond that? What should we be doing when we take into consideration the price of oil?”
– Vice Adm. Paul Sullivan, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Sept. 18, 2005.


The need to reduce fossil fuel consumption, once an exclusive concern of the liberal left, has become a theme with broad appeal in American public life in recent years. More than anything else, the rising cost of oil has driven this change, though more fundamental concerns are also implicated: the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 raised questions about U.S. ties to Middle Eastern oil producers, while the need to protect the environment is emerging as an imperative that Americans across party lines are willing to pay a price to obey. In all, the problem of America’s fossil fuel consumption is receiving more attention than at any point since the 1973 Middle Eastern oil crisis.

Since oil dependence is recognized today as a threat not only to the environment but to national security, one might expect the Department of Defense (DoD), the nation’s largest consumer of fuel and its most important sponsor of scientific research, to be leading the way in developing technology to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

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