HOW THE U.S. MILITARY IS GOING GREEN

By Miriam Raftery

March 7, 2012 (San Diego)—The U.S. military is tackling a major battle: striving to rely on renewable energy to meet half of all energy that it uses by 2020. 

“That’s a tall order,” Captain Marko Medved, Operations Officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest.  Marko spoke last weekend at Forging a Sustainable Future, a two-day symposium sponsored by UnitedGREEN.  Captain Medved’s job? Makinge the military bases of the Southwest energy efficient.   That’s over one million acres—and he reports, “We’ve made significant gains.”

How is the military fulfilling its latest mission?  Through conservation, renewable production, recycling,  power production, creating a culture of sustainability, and capital improvements.  In addition, the U.S. Navy is preparing to sail a fleet powered by algae-based biofuels around the world in the near future.

In the past 10 years, the Navy has reduced its energy use by 20 percent. Other branches of the service are also making strides.

Water use has dropped by a billion gallons, or “about half of our draw in the last 40 years,”  Medved. 

The Navy is also producing power through solar photovoltaics, wind and geothermal. Projects including a 117 megawatt (MW)  geothermal facility at China Lake among others, with still more in the pipeline, such as seven wind turbines on San Nicolas Island off the California coast. 

“We’re almost off-grid at Miramar. We need only 3 MW more," Capt. Medved reported.

The Navy, which owns the land under Miramar Landfill, is also  requiring recycling at construction sites, adding smart meters to its operations, and investing in capitol improvements to save money and power by maximizing energy efficiency.

“We have 150 buildings in the process for LEED Gold or Platinum certification,” he revealed.

Besides making its land-based facilities more energy efficient, the Navy is also readying its ships to convert to renewable fuels.  Tests  on algae-based fuels  including a 50/50 mix of algae and diesel fuels last year had positive outcomes.  The Navy has set its sights on demonstrating a Green Strike Force later this year and deploying a “Great Green Fleet” strike force powered by alternative fuels by 2016.