The Solar Soldier Is No Fad

[kristopher]

The Solar Soldier Is No Fad
Posted: 8/8/11 05:01 PM ET


We in the United States are very familiar with energy wars. Our long-time national energy strategy, as former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart points out, is to send our children off to kill and be killed in foreign lands to protect our access to oil.

We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of that tragic policy. Welcome to the age of the Solar Soldier, where a photovoltaic cell is as important as an M-16 rifle.

For those of you who haven't followed this notable development, here's an account.

It has been widely reported that the U.S. armed forces are going green. The Department of Defense (DoD) has resolved to cut its energy intensity 30% by 2015, obtain a quarter of its energy from renewable resources by 2020, cut petroleum use 20% by 2015, significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and power jets and ships with biofuels. Each of the four branches of the armed services has set its own green goals, including a push to eliminate waste and achieve net-zero energy and water consumption at Army and Navy installations.

Congress is beginning to pay attention...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-s-becker/the-solar-soldier-is-no-f_b_921569.html

[LiberalFighter]

1. How much energy consumption is used in the military compared to

if they were employed in civilian non-military occupations?

How much energy is used compared between state-side vs combative operations?

[NutmegYankee]

2. I recall a statistic that the entire military uses 4% of the daily US consumption of oil.

The everyday business and personal use of fossil fuels greatly outweighs the military use. That said, the cost is enormous at $4 a gallon, so the greening of our forces is much welcomed.

[Old and In the Way]

3. Here's a good source on US military consumption of oil

http://www.dailyenergyreport.com/2011/01/how-much-energy-does-the-u-s-military-consume/

According to this source, the US military accounts for < 2% of total US daily consumption.

[kristopher]

5. Thanks. As your link notes "DoD is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States"

In fiscal year 2009, the DoD consumed 932 trillion Btu of site delivered energy at a cost of 13.3 billion dollars. Energy consumed per active duty military and civilian personal is 35 percent higher than the U.S. energy consumption per capita, which is amongst the highest in the world. While consuming that amount of energy, DoD emitted 73 million metric tons of CO2, corresponding to over 4 percent of the total emissions in USA.

The DoD accounts for less than 2 percent of the US energy consumption and more than 93 percent of the U.S. government energy consumption. Although this may seem small, the fact is that DoD is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States. Nigeria, with a population of more than 140 million, consumes as much energy as the U.S. military.

http://www.dailyenergyreport.com/2011/01/how-much-energy-does-the-u-s-military-consume

[DirkGently]

4. Well, given the military is the only thing America demands we spend money on, all the time, maybe

this is the only way we ever get investment in green tech.