New Energy Tech Addresses Several Old Problems for Military
7/19/2024
By Laura Heckmann
Solar panels connected to a microgrid at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama
Defense Dept.
HONOLULU — The U.S. military’s longstanding goal to make weapon systems more energy efficient is growing increasingly complicated as modern weapons are consuming even more power.
Some of the answers to this problem might come in renewables, military energy experts said recently. Renewable energy generation and storage was one of 14 critical technology areas identified by Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu in 2022.
The classification includes solar, wind, bio-based and geothermal technologies, advanced energy storage, electronic engines and power grid integration.
Improving energy resilience and efficiency is not just a concern for the climate. First and foremost, it is mitigation against the dangerous and limiting factors of energy requirements. One of the most deadly operations in Iraq and Afghanistan was convoying fuel across the battlefield, with one casualty for every 24 fuel resupply convoys in Afghanistan, according to a 2009 report from the Army Environmental Policy Institute.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2024/7/19/new-energy-tech-addresses-several-old-problems-for-military
