In The Media - DOD Emerging As Key Proving Ground For New EnergyApproaches

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1/11/2005

EnergyWashington Week, Vol. 3 No. 2-- The Defense Department (DOD) appears likely to continue its role as a key proving ground for new energy policies and technologies, with the military budget providing a way to fund many new energy production technologies and alternative fuels.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 DOD Emerging As Key Proving Ground For New EnergyApproaches
EnergyWashington Week, Vol. 3 No. 2-- The Defense Department (DOD) appears likely to continue its role as a key proving ground for new energy policies and technologies, with the military budget providing a way to fund many new energy production technologies and alternative fuels. Many military installations consume enormous amounts of energy, providing a venue to test energy efficiency approaches, increase use of renewable energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Already, DOD investments in biodiesel, ethanol and hydrogen fuels, coupled with a push by the Air Force to use more renewable energy, might be catalysts for government and private sector activities down the road, according to sources familiar with the technologies. A consultant with the Naval Research Lab says Congress intends for DOD to be an "early adopter" of alternative fuels. The source says that when a DOD branch like the Marine Corps shows initiative and proves that a certain process is viable, "that can point the way for DOD, DOD can point the way for the government and government can point the way for the private sector." The question, the source says, is whether national leadership will be receptive when the time comes to expand use of experimental strategies. "Total costs are the bottom line," the source says, stressing that although a gallon of biodiesel is usually not cheaper than a gallon of refined fossil fuel, biodiesel's cleaner burning leads to reduced maintenance costs and protects the environment as a natural resource, which is one of DOD's objectives. One key factor driving DOD's efforts, particularly to use more renewable fuels, is the military's growing effort to limit its dependence on foreign oil. "The goal is to reduce the national [oil] thirst," the source says. "That's the bigger policy here. To the extent the environment is a natural resource, it's our job to protect it." "Right now we're importing over half our oil and it's growing daily," adds a military environmental official. "We have to be smarter than that, no question. Anything we do now, today, has to be in conservation and breaking our foreign dependence." In a few years, the source says, the United States could have new cost-cutting technologies, but until then conservation should be the main priority. While the efforts to cut energy consumption and greenhouse gases generally win praise from environmentalists and energy efficiency advocates, some DOD efforts face criticisms. For example, environmentalists are challenging claims by DOD and some states that a controversial technology for producing diesel fuel from coal does not provide the kinds of environmental benefits that proponents claim. Congressional efforts to use DOD resources to increase energy supply have also drawn criticism, in some cases from DOD. Similar plans by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of the House energy committee, and Senate environment committee chief James Inhofe (R-OK) to encourage construction of new refineries on closed bases has drawn significant opposition from community groups and Democratic lawmakers. On the energy efficiency front, a key driver is a recent DOD-wide memorandum of instruction issued late last year that updated installation goals, following passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, for energy efficiency, renewable energy use and cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The Nov. 18 memo, signed by Philip Grone, deputy defense undersecretary for installations and environment, mandates a 30 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, a 25 percent renewable energy use rate by 2025 and a 2 percent per year reduction in energy consumption for all installations, forcing site managers to examine ways to implement the policy without hampering base operations. The memo sets a 1990 baseline for measuring greenhouse gases, consistent with the Clinton-era executive order it cites as the source of the policy. The memo also sets a 2003 baseline for measuring energy consumption, consistent with the energy law. The updated goals could lead to changes in DOD heating and cooling technologies at installations, including the increased adoption of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs), a long-existing technology receiving new attention because of its efficient heating system. Section 2825 of the recently passed fiscal year 2006 defense authorization bill requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the use of GSHPs at DOD facilities to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees no later than July 1, 2006. The pumps use more efficient technology than rival space air conditioning systems by drawing on geothermal sources such as the earth itself, a body of surface water or water from a subsurface aquifer, according to information from DOE's Federal Energy Management Program. Should DOD find the technology effective, as with alternative fuels, increased overall government adoption could lead to public/private initiatives in the future. Among the services, the Air Force has been lauded for its move to install renewable energy sources at installations, now consuming approximately 40 percent of the federal government's entire renewable energy supply. Thomas White, former Air Force chief of staff, said in a statement in 2004 that "the mission of DOD is more than aircraft, guns and missiles. Part of the defense job is protecting the land, waters, timbers and wildlife." Get Moy, DOD director of utilities and energy, says the decision to use one renewable source over another is primarily an economic one. "It's an economics case as to whether to use solar, biomass or whatever else. The Air Force has been the most proactive, and renewable energy has been a major element of our plan." Air Force and DOD energy purchasing contracts have had an effect on the renewable energy market, with the Air Force spending $800 million annually on energy. "Wind is very affordable right now, but we're looking at biomass and geothermal" possibilities as well, says an Air Force resource efficiency manager. He stresses that some projects are still "very preliminary," and that the next few years will see refinements and clarifications of guidance on renewable energy policies. A source at the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) notes the memo's greenhouse gas reduction goals are "far more aggressive than what the Bush administration is pursuing in world talks," suggesting that it "could be a demonstration of the Bush Doctrine: that mandatory greenhouse gas laws are not needed, that each country can act responsibly. My first instinct is that this is demonstrating what the administration has said all along, that [it wants to avoid] the problems with mandatory agreements." The military's effort to develop and utilize alternative fuels is also having a significant impact. The research lab consultant says all three services have complied with congressional requirements to use alternative fuels, although "the Marine Corps has really taken it a step further," using 1.4 million gallons of biodiesel in fiscal year 2005. The next biggest consumer in the country, the Navy, used 249,000 gallons despite operating about three times as many service vehicles, according to the source. Biodiesel is not being used in "operational aircraft," meaning warships, tanks or fighter planes, because it is "still a relatively unknown fuel and we want to be damn sure it doesn't fail," the source says. Instead, alternative fuels and energy sources are being widely examined at bases and installations because "if something fails at an installation there's no incoming [fire] to worry about. We're using [alternatives] in every safe environmental way that we can. We're not going to rely on fossil fuels alone." The move to alternative fuels and energy sources will include the construction of a public-use hydrogen filling station on the grounds of Camp Pendleton, CA in February. Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms, also in California, are looking to install stationary fuel cells for grid support power, according to the source. The source cautions that "it's a safe bet we're not going to get rid of [fossil] diesels and turbines until the middle of the century. We just want a diesel product that works." DOD has also launched an initiative to commercialize processes that turn domestic resources into usable diesel for military vehicles and aircraft. DOD has identified 1.9 trillion barrels available from domestic resources, including coal, shale, petroleum coke and oil, compared to 685.5 billion barrels from Arab nations. A presentation at a DOE conference in August declared the United States "could be the new Middle East" if the potential and feasibility are as high as anticipated. As part of that effort, DOD is supporting efforts by several coal state governors to construct coal-to-liquid-fuel plants in their states. Military officials favor the technology, known as Fischer-Tropsch, because they believe it could help change the landscape of global energy supply and demand. However, the naval lab source says it is "still a bit expensive compared to the oil refining industry," but that it produces a 10 to 15 percent "bump in energy per gallon" above existing processes and has a definite future in DOD energy planning. "We're completely source-neutral on where the diesel comes from," the source says. "We just want a fleet than can continue to operate." Environmentalists in Western states have also questioned claims by proponents that the technology -- which was only tested commercially in South Africa during the Apartheid-era oil embargo -- is environmentally benign.
	EnergyWashington Week

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