Testing 1, 2, 3: DOD Facilities Energy Test Bed Project Winners for 2012 Announced

575 tried, 27 succeeded. That's less than a 5% acceptance rate ... tougher than getting into Harvard or MIT I think. But well worth the effort, if some of these energy, energy efficiency and energy security strategies pan out.

OSD has just announced its list of approved test bed pilot projects, each one targeting an aspect of facilities energy use improvement. Categories include objectives with terse titles like:

• Installation of a Nanotechnology Membrane HVAC System
• Model-Driven Energy Intelligence
• Sodium-Metal-Halide Battery Energy Storage for DoD Installations

And then there are projects whose backers couldn't, or wouldn't, limit their verbosity:

• Grid-Interactive Renewable Energy Generation System with DC-Link Battery Storage Integration Capable of Hybrid Microgrid Operation to Increase Energy Security on DoD Installations

Try turning that into an acronym! And finally, technologies that sound like they could double as weapons when not helping improve energy efficiency:

• Kinetic Super-Resolution Long-Wave Infrared Thermography Diagnostic for Building Envelopes

Sounds a little like ARPA-E territory, doesn't it? Though these technologies are closer to being field-able than the world-changing, very high risk / very high reward projects ARPA-E goes after.

See below for links to more DOD energy test bed information and activities:

• The full list and a few more details are HERE
• Installations Energy Test Bed description, HERE, including contact info
• DOD/EPA/DOE Energy Test Bed symposium coming up next week (11/29-12/1) in DC. Link HERE