Renewable energy tech sought for forward operating bases

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Last week the U.S. government demonstrated its latest intent to clean up the military’s fossil fuel reliance and move towards more renewable energy sources after the Navy announced that its last remaining Spruance-class warship, the USS Paul F. Foster, ran for 17 hours on a 50:50 mix of standard diesel and algae biofuel.

President Obama has been forcing through a number of clean energy initiatives since his inauguration three years ago, attempting to redress the balance of the Department of Defense’s energy consumption. The DoD is the single largest user of energy in the United States, spending $4 billion a year to power its 300,000 buildings and 2.2 billion square feet of space. With 2003 as a baseline, the USMC has been tasked with reducing its energy intensity 30% by 2015.

Today in a press release the DoD explained that it is seeking to boost its use of alternative fuels.

“Military operations are a fairly energy-intense undertaking, and energy security is particularly important to our ability to project military power and to protect the nation,” said Edward Thomas Morehouse Jr., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. “The availability of those transportation fuels is particularly critical,” Morehouse said. “Of all of the consumables, of all the commodities that we use in the Department of Defense, … energy and fuel have a particular [functionality].”

On Tuesday Cogenra Solar, a provider of distributed solar cogeneration systems and renewable energy service solutions, was selected by the DoDs Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) for its Installation Energy Test Bed initiative for FY2012. Producing hot water and electricity, the installations will be evaluated throughout the year to demonstrate high energy production and cost effectiveness of the technology for military applications.

"We are honored to be among the very few companies selected by the DoD to be part of their renewable energy efforts," said Dr. Gilad Almogy, CEO of Cogenra Solar. "This program is a great vehicle to demonstrate solar cogeneration's many benefits to the DoD, such as lower energy costs, reduced dependence of fossil fuels, and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. We welcome this opportunity to grow Cogenra's footprint in the military market."

The Senate passed a $662 authorization bill for 2012, which includes a $17.5 billion chunk for defense programs overseen by the Department of Energy.

Forward Operating Bases: Aggressive search for (ideally green) technology applications underway

In 2009 the Commandant of the Marine Corps declared energy a top priority and created the USMC Expeditionary Energy Office (E2O) to address the challenges and develop solutions towards a greener future. E2Os mission is to “analyse, develop, and direct the Marine Corps’ energy strategy in order to optimize expeditionary capabilities across all Warfighting functions.”

One of the key programmes put into effect by the E2O is the Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) scheme, aimed at identifying and testing innovative technologies for use at American bases, including those for renewable and clean energy applications.

At Camp Wilson in September, twelve companies were invited to exhibit their FOB technologies which fell into three categories: concentrated solar power, auxiliary power units and high capacity alternators. Cogenra was one of those companies invited to demonstrate its energy efficient technology. Next year ExFOB is expected to hold another technology focus day at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Finding new technologies to make FOBs more efficient has become a critical objective for the military recently after experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has highlighted the need for robust operational management and controls. This doesn’t necessarily mean developing new technologies however, but rather finding existing technologies in adjacent markets and adapting their application.

The Marine Corps Times reported earlier this week that the USMC has launched a programme to produce a lightweight, wearable power source to run a range of small electronic systems like radios and other communications technology carried by Marines. Maj. Sean Sadlier at the E2O said: “We would like this capability to really focus on small tactical operations, and we want to push the envelope. We really hope that industry has pushed things in areas that we aren’t aware.”

Identifying and/or developing technologies for forward operating bases will be an important goal for the military over the next decade as battlefields become more remote and warfare irregular. The capability to run these technologies and the common architecture at FOBs with renewable energy sources will be equally relevant to governments when drawing up specifications in the future as the desire, nay necessity, to reduce dependence on fossil fuel intensifies.

Contributor:   Andrew Elwell

Andrew graduated from The University of Nottingham with an MA in History in 2003. After graduating Andrew started his career with a niche armour systems manufacturer, which provided ballisitic and blast armour products for the international defence market. His first major undertaking was to project manage a UOR up-armour programme for an in-theatre MoD vehicle. After completion of the contract, Andrew headed up the research and development department at the company. This involved designing, developing, testing and presenting new armour solutions to defeat customer specific threats to all major European and International ballistic and blast standards.

Following this Andrew moved behind the desk and became Senior Editor at a news and data provider, offering proprietary analysis, intelligence, market research and data on the global security and defence industry. The role offered the chance to write widely on the industry, exploring new technologies and getting to grips with corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and debt and equity fundraisings.