Arguments for sustainability can be counted on to come from the usual suspects like Al Gore and Ed Begley, but what if the call to action came from a different source, one long accustomed to sounding the muster?
Top brass in the Department of Defense have begun to take the idea of going green seriously for the uncomplicated reason that it makes strategic sense for national security. The United States military is the single largest purchaser and consumer of petroleum on the planet, burning through 340,000 barrels of oil per day according to NPR. That is 1.5 percent of the total energy consumed in the U.S. “If the Department of Defense were a country, it would rank about 38th in the world for oil consumption, right behind the Philippines, a country with a population of 90.5 million people,” says Michael Graham Richard of treehugger.com.
Not surprisingly, the Air Force is the largest petroleum consumer of the U.S. military branches. What is surprising is that the USAF have taken an early lead in the chase for the wild green yonder, winning the EPA’s “Green Power” award in 2006, snagging 4 more renewable energy awards in recent years, and quickly becoming the leading purchaser/consumer of wind power in the U.S. And this is not a token gesture but a committed, coordinated push towards energy independence by the Air Force. The Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada features the largest solar array in North America, saving the Air Force $1 million a year. Dyess (TX), Minot (ND), and Fairchild (WA) Air Force Bases all purchase 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.
In 2006, the Department of Defense spent $13.6 billion on energy. Every month U.S. Armed Forces use 1.2 million barrels of oil in Iraq alone. James Woolsey, former CIA director and energy advisor to the Pentagon, estimates that every gallon of oil costs the U.S. (i.e. you and me) $100 when supply line maintenance and security are factored in. But money isn’t the only issue. Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer notes that 70 percent of U.S. military ground traffic in Iraq’s Anbar province is tankers transporting oil to the troops. He, like many others military officers, has requested solutions that would not require these easily targeted vehicles to make such frequent trips.
Both the Air Force and the Army have been pursuing waste to energy technologies for the DOD that could help solve this problem. The Army has developed one such solution for bases in the field: the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery or TGER (yes, that’s “tiger” – trust the Army to make burning garbage sound cool). Recently tested in Baghdad, the TGER separates mixed trash into wet and dry waste. The wet waste is converted into ethanol for the generation of electricity, while the dry waste is crushed into pellets and gasified to create energy. Each TGER unit has a capacity of 60 kilowatts. This solution is particularly elegant since it reduces the amount of waste that has to be removed from a base as well as reducing the number of dangerous trips by oil transports to the base.
Not to be left out, the Navy has been looking decidedly green around the gills. They, like the Air Force, have begun testing aviation biofuel (also known as biojet). Initial performance tests are planned for a 50/50 blend of jatropha, camelina, and algae biofuels with petroleum-based jet fuel. In testing by commercial airlines biofuel blends have proved more fuel efficient than petro-fuels, and feedstocks like camelina show an 80 percent decrease in lifecycle emissions. The cloud point of biofuel (the temperature threshold at which the fuel crystallizes) has posed a problem in the past but rapid improvements in fuel additives, such as those being developed right here at Blue Marble Energy, will greatly speed the advancement and performance of sustainably produced biofuels in both jets and ground vehicles.
The U.S. Armed Forces’ interest in sustainable resources proves yet again that going green is not just about warm fuzzy feelings or high minded morality, but rather a very straightforward choice between what is and what is not viable.
So next time the Blue Angels go roaring over head here in Seattle, take a moment to reconsider the stereotype of biofuel being just for hippy buses.
Army Green
TGER, TGER, burning bright.
Arguments for sustainability can be counted on to come from the usual suspects like Al Gore and Ed Begley, but what if the call to action came from a different source, one long accustomed to sounding the muster?
Top brass in the Department of Defense have begun to take the idea of going green seriously for the uncomplicated reason that it makes strategic sense for national security. The United States military is the single largest purchaser and consumer of petroleum on the planet, burning through 340,000 barrels of oil per day according to NPR. That is 1.5 percent of the total energy consumed in the U.S. “If the Department of Defense were a country, it would rank about 38th in the world for oil consumption, right behind the Philippines, a country with a population of 90.5 million people,” says Michael Graham Richard of treehugger.com.
Not surprisingly, the Air Force is the largest petroleum consumer of the U.S. military branches. What is surprising is that the USAF have taken an early lead in the chase for the wild green yonder, winning the EPA’s “Green Power” award in 2006, snagging 4 more renewable energy awards in recent years, and quickly becoming the leading purchaser/consumer of wind power in the U.S. And this is not a token gesture but a committed, coordinated push towards energy independence by the Air Force. The Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada features the largest solar array in North America, saving the Air Force $1 million a year. Dyess (TX), Minot (ND), and Fairchild (WA) Air Force Bases all purchase 100 percent of their electricity from renewable sources.
In 2006, the Department of Defense spent $13.6 billion on energy. Every month U.S. Armed Forces use 1.2 million barrels of oil in Iraq alone. James Woolsey, former CIA director and energy advisor to the Pentagon, estimates that every gallon of oil costs the U.S. (i.e. you and me) $100 when supply line maintenance and security are factored in. But money isn’t the only issue. Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer notes that 70 percent of U.S. military ground traffic in Iraq’s Anbar province is tankers transporting oil to the troops. He, like many others military officers, has requested solutions that would not require these easily targeted vehicles to make such frequent trips.
Both the Air Force and the Army have been pursuing waste to energy technologies for the DOD that could help solve this problem. The Army has developed one such solution for bases in the field: the Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery or TGER (yes, that’s “tiger” – trust the Army to make burning garbage sound cool). Recently tested in Baghdad, the TGER separates mixed trash into wet and dry waste. The wet waste is converted into ethanol for the generation of electricity, while the dry waste is crushed into pellets and gasified to create energy. Each TGER unit has a capacity of 60 kilowatts. This solution is particularly elegant since it reduces the amount of waste that has to be removed from a base as well as reducing the number of dangerous trips by oil transports to the base.
Not to be left out, the Navy has been looking decidedly green around the gills. They, like the Air Force, have begun testing aviation biofuel (also known as biojet). Initial performance tests are planned for a 50/50 blend of jatropha, camelina, and algae biofuels with petroleum-based jet fuel. In testing by commercial airlines biofuel blends have proved more fuel efficient than petro-fuels, and feedstocks like camelina show an 80 percent decrease in lifecycle emissions. The cloud point of biofuel (the temperature threshold at which the fuel crystallizes) has posed a problem in the past but rapid improvements in fuel additives, such as those being developed right here at Blue Marble Energy, will greatly speed the advancement and performance of sustainably produced biofuels in both jets and ground vehicles.
The U.S. Armed Forces’ interest in sustainable resources proves yet again that going green is not just about warm fuzzy feelings or high minded morality, but rather a very straightforward choice between what is and what is not viable.
So next time the Blue Angels go roaring over head here in Seattle, take a moment to reconsider the stereotype of biofuel being just for hippy buses.