Operational Base Energy Smarts Finally Emerging - Bigtime

I few weeks ago I posted on "Hybrid Hopes for Greatly Reducing Operational Base Fuel Requirements"

Since then, two more things have come my way.  One was a note from DOD Energy friend and guru Scott Sklar of the DC-based Stella Group, who wrote thusly: 

I asked energy integrator MILSPRAY to bring the unit (mentioned in the post above) to Arlington two weeks ago for the military folks from the different services to 'kick the tires'.  This unit powered the corrosion facility (MCRF) in Quantico, VA from July - October (14 weeks) last year and the fuel savings versus a standard generator was 78.6% (wow), and the the same set-up at 29 Palms, CA. I am beginning to see better-engineered systems that can stand-alone or interact with on-site diesel generators seamlessly.

This is heavy duty news coming from Scott.

Also just received the DOE's Smart and Green Energy (SAGE) for Basecamps final report and it aligns quite nicely with the observations from the previous post. You can read the full document HERE, but just below you'll find the most important bits in summary form.

Department of Veterans' Affairs a Solar Leader by Example

After being introduced by a mutual friend in the energy business, I had the chance to speak with a representative of the VA last week and I came away with such a great impression of this most important of government organizations.

I needn't tell you about the core mission of the VA and the central role it plays in much of what we hold near and dear as Americans: taking care of our bravest, most self-sacrificing citizens who've put themselves at great risk keeping the rest of us safe in an increasingly dangerous world.

But what I didn't know, and couldn't imagine on my own, was the massive scope of VA operations and built infrastructure.  We're talking many thousands of buildings including more hospitals and other health facilities than any other organization in the country.  Or the world.  By a mile.

The VA is doing remarkable things with solar energy, and increasingly, designing contracts that save the department money over time.  You can read more about these efforts here HERE.

I challenge you to spend a few minutes with this interactive map and see if you can find a state or US territory that's not been touched by at least one VA clean-tech project.  I don't think you'll find one.

Way to go, VA.  Keep it up !!!

Photo: Reno VA Medical Center Outpatient Clinic

DOD Energy Follies Part 2: Middies, Zoomies, and Toilets in the Desert

Inside the Middie Dome

OK, I don't want to spend much more time on follies. Would much rather accentuate the positive. But based on feedback to the previous follies post, looks like one more is in order.

The most glaring contribution this week, pun intended, came from the Navy again, which for some reason decided to keep its stadium lights all the way on for Saturday's game vs USAFA. In the face of sequestration and the teeth of the partial government shutdown, the Air Force barely had the funds to get its folks to Annapolis.  The Navy, it seems, had money (and watts) to burn.

Army Selects Solar Contestants

Congratulations to the awardees of the Army's solar MATOC including:

• NRG Energy
• Dominion Energy
• Enel Green Power
• Solar Power Ventures
• SunPower Corp
• Acciona Energy North America Corp

These co's are now approved to compete for some very significant projects.  Other categories in the $7 billion cleantech program include wind and biomass.  

Good luck to all; now go out and get er done!

Alternative Energy and the DOD Battlefield of the Future

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs, Sharon Burke shared a few mid 2013 insights in an interview published last week.  Here's an excerpt that signals more of the same ... and a subtle shift:

Status Quo

Though alternative energy use is increasing, the military will continue to depend heavily on petroleum.  "We do expect that we will continue to be a very petroleum-dependent force. Petroleum has an energy density and a universal availability that's very, very important for a military force," Burke said. "We have equipment in our arsenals that's designed to use liquid fuels that are going to be around for many decades." 

New Deal

But because energy diversity guidelines were added into the requirements and acquisition processes, Burke said she anticipates an increase in the implementation of tactical solar panels, fuel cells, flywheels, more efficient batteries and other energy-saving measures and practices in the future.

You can follow Ms. Burke on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/sharon.e.burke

---------------------------------

URL for Fed News Radio article:

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/394/3375799/Alternative-energy-key-to-DoDs-battlefield-strategy

Photo credit: Treehugger.com

DOD Energy Security Milestone: Announcing Fort Bliss's New Microgrid

Microgrid research is being conducted at a bunch of DOD installations: Naval District Washington (NDW), the Marines' 29 Palms base in California, Joint Base Pearl-Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, to name a few.

But Fort Bliss decided it was ready for one of its own, and with a little Federal funding help, decided to get on with it and build one of its own. It's a win on several fronts, including energy security in the event of local or regional black out, so in a time of distress when you most need them, the military (or at least this part of it) will be up, running, and ready to respond.

Walmart Signals the Way Forward for Facilities Energy: Lessons for DOD Installation Energy?

Walmart was mentioned prominently in the 2008 Defense Science Board (DSB) report on Energy. Considered an energy management exemplar at the time, many of the giant company's best practices have been promoted as DOD objectives since that time.

Here's how the DSB worded it 5 years ago:

The Task Force was struck by the contrast between the energy demand data collected by DOD and that collected by another very large energy consuming entity – Wal-Mart. If a single freezer cabinet door remains open too long at an individual store, an alarm is triggered at Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville, AR. Wal-Mart uses detailed demand and consumption data to inform corporate wide decisions that affect energy demand including capital investments, maintenance policies and operational procedures.

We've clearly made progress since then, but Walmart is now upping the ante with its recent announcement of very  aggressive new energy efficiency and self-sufficiency goals. As reported by Energy modernization expert Jesse Berst from a Walmart press release:

CEO Mike Duke [said] the company intends to:

• Produce or procure 7 billion KWh of renewable energy every year (up 600% from 2010 levels) 

• Reduce the energy intensity of its buildings by 20% compared to 2010 levels

• Install solar on at least 1,000 rooftops by 2020 (it has 200 in place or in development now)

• Increase LED usage indoors and outdoors

• Be supplied 100% by renewable energy by 2020

Holy smokes.  And there's no reason to believe Walmart won't hit these targets.

Now questions for you: should the DOD try to keep pace?  Can it?  You can see the full article HERE.

An Important Argument to Watch for DOD's Energy Future

In the energy sector, the price of a barrel of oil isn't the only thing that's highly volatile. The future is too.

Here's a LINK to a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal where energy gurus Daniel Yergin and Vinod Khosla debate how quickly cleantech will begin to substantially supplant fossil fuels in the US.

This is Yergin responding to a question about the future, starting with a look back to the very recent past:

... [T]he world was going to run out of oil. It was peak oil. And we were going to be importing so much natural gas that we would be paying $100 billion a year to import natural gas. That was five years ago. The picture changed. The picture will change in five years.

and,

[Regarding national security], we've talked a lot about natural gas today. But what is also striking is what's happening in U.S. oil, with what's called tight oil and the development of that. You look at Canadian oil sands. You look at what's happening offshore of Brazil. And you see this kind of re-balancing of world oil going on, where probably 10 years from now the Western Hemisphere will be getting a lot less oil from the Eastern Hemisphere to begin with.

In case you couldn't tell, DOD Energy Bloggers like Dan and myself have a passion for cleantech and a more sustainable energy future for the US and the US military. But more than that, we put the interests and security of the country and the armed forces well ahead of our goals for new energy sources and energy efficiency.

I think you can hear in Yergin's response a sense that the world has just shifted, and that the US has moved quickly from a net energy importer to a potential energy exporter and that this condition may hold for the near and mid-term future.

Clearly, DOD's got to keep itself fully up-to-speed on the current version of the energy future and I believe it is.  This re-balancing thing ... there's security in that. Andy Bochman

Reaching Economic Parity in Some Regions, Solar is on the March

Dependable tech prognosticator Ray Kurzweil has been calling it. But I realize that even hinting that solar is starting to make financial sense vs. fossils  is bound to set off a chorus along the lines of "you granola chomping, Birkenstock donning, eco-utopian, bio-dome occupying dreamer."

Such is life. Of course, economists and everyone else in the energy biz are keeping their eyes on the current costs and projected trends of every kind of generation source: fossil, renewable, nuclear. And depending on how you do the math, folks of good intent can and will disagree.

A new report says that distributed solar is getting closer in many markets, even surpassing conventional generation in some. It's getting to be less about technology and subsidies, and more about pure lifecycle ROI.

GTM wrote about it yesterday, and here are a few excerpts I found interesting:

• ... in cost terms, the homeowner’s choice is between a solar system and other options. “Before we hit the majority of the American public, which the DOE puts out only a few more years, we still need to push the economics down a little further
• The shift to solar is not going to happen all at once ... two pockets of the country [will] open up to solar first. Solar will most quickly be noticed as competitive where electricity rates are high or where utilities have inordinate monthly charges
• Where PV becomes economically viable ... will be when the banks get comfortable with it and it becomes something that you just put on your mortgage, a normal thing that everybody in the neighborhood is doing because they can save a little every month on their utility bill

The report may be optimistic. Its writers may have been wearing sandals when they wrote it. But I think it's becoming less and less of a stretch to call solar a viable alternative in some geographies.

It won't work everywhere, and it won't work for everyone. But I think that in many applications, if it's not a winner today, then it will be tomorrow. Andy Bochman

Photo credit: Clearly Ambiguous on Flickr.com

Can Solar be Tuff Enuff for Tactical?

To demonstrate progress and compliance with Federal clean energy mandates, DOD's got solar sprouting all over its facilities. But the operational side of the house, where we need to reduce fuel use for a bunch of core mission related reasons, has yet to benefit from this technology in any significant way.

Well, Wired's Danger Room folks report DARPA aims to change that, by investing in the University of Delaware's Low-Cost Lightweight Portable Photovoltaics (PoP) initiative:

DARPA wants the PoP program to yield solar cells that are more than just light and flexible — they should also be able to withstand dirt, rough handling and punctures, and be manufactured inexpensively.

The team is lead by Dr. Robert Birkmire, who, according to Wired ...

... is quick to point out, the cells DARPA's after will require some lofty innovation. Thin-film, flexible solar cells are a major priority for the military, because they can be applied onto almost everything — from tents to uniforms — and would minimize the number of generators and portable battery packs needed by troops in battle.

The full article is here. Here's hoping these guys make some serious progress ... and soon.

Song credit: soundtrack for this post provided by the Fabulous Thunderbirds - audio on Youtube.

QDR 2010 Directly Addresses DOD's Operational and Facilities Energy Issues

I admit it: back in June of 2009 I had my doubts. But the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is finally out, and energy got its due - approximately one page out of one hundred twenty eight. Not bad, when you consider previous QDRs never considered the topic. Starting on page 84 of the report, I've captured and reprinted the 4 energy specific paragraphs here and will break it down, with the points I consider most important / helpful highlighted in yellow.

First, I like that they take a stab at defining energy security, and when they do it's kept short and sweet:

Energy security for the Department means having assured access to reliable supplies of energy and the ability to protect and deliver sufficient energy to meet operational needs.

There's a lot they leave out that others try to cram in. I say: good job. Re: the definition - just want to make sure we don't spend so much time and energy on the protect and deliver parts that we significantly impair our ability to prosecute war ... or whatever else it is our troops are told to accomplish. The QDR addresses that concern in the next sentence:

Energy efficiency can serve as a force multiplier, because it increases the range and endurance of forces in the field and can reduce the number of combat forces diverted to protect energy supply lines, which are vulnerable to both asymmetric and conventional attacks and disruptions.

... and points out additional benefits to fielding a leaner, meaner force. So how's this goodness going to come about? By baking better energy thinking in right up front the way it's already been told to do by congress, and the way two Defense Science Boards and the GAO have already recommended:

DoD must incorporate geostrategic and operational energy considerations into force planning, requirements development, and acquisition processes. To address these challenges, DoD will fully implement the statutory requirement for the energy efficiency Key Performance Parameter and fully burdened cost of fuel set forth in the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act.

Who's going to make this happen? Why the DOD Energy Boss, of course. The QDR language makes it sound like a fait accompli:

The Department will also investigate alternative concepts for improving operational energy use, including the creation of an innovation fund administered by the new Director of Operational Energy to enable components to compete for funding on projects that advance integrated energy solutions.

Sounds good, but I've got the feeling they're being a little too optimistic on this one. See here.

I like everything in this next two paragraphs, but I'm going to let them ride without comment and just a few highlights:

The Department is increasing its use of renewable energy supplies and reducing energy demand to improve operational effectiveness, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in support of U.S. climate change initiatives, and protect the Department from energy price fluctuations. The Military Departments have invested in noncarbon power sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy at domestic installations and in vehicles powered by alternative fuels, including hybrid power, electricity, hydrogen, and compressed national gas. Solving military challenges—through such innovations as more efficient generators, better batteries, lighter materials, and tactically deployed energy sources—has the potential to yield spin-off technologies that benefit the civilian community as well. DoD will partner with academia, other U.S. agencies, and international partners to research, develop, test, and evaluate new sustainable energy technologies.

Indeed, the following examples demonstrate the broad range of Service energy innovations. By 2016, the Air Force will be postured to cost-competitively acquire 50 percent of its domestic aviation fuel via an alternative fuel blend that is greener than conventional petroleum fuel. Further, Air Force testing and standard-setting in this arena paves the way for the much larger commercial aviation sector to follow. The Army is in the midst of a significant transformation of its fleet of 70,000 non-tactical vehicles (NTVs), including the current deployment of more than 500 hybrids and the acquisition of 4,000 low-speed electric vehicles at domestic installations to help cut fossil fuel usage. The Army is also exploring ways to exploit the opportunities for renewable power generation to support operational needs: for instance, the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System (REPPS). The Navy commissioned the USS Makin Island, its first electric-drive surface combatant, and tested an F/A-18 engine on camelina-based biofuel in 2009—two key steps toward the vision of deploying a “green” carrier strike group using biofuel and nuclear power by 2016. The Marine Corps has created an Expeditionary Energy Office to address operational energy risk, and its Energy Assessment Team has identified ways to achieve efficiencies in today’s highly energy-intensive operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in order to reduce logistics and related force protection requirements.

Finally, the last paragraph brings it all home with the intent to address the brittle grid problem.

To address energy security while simultaneously enhancing mission assurance at domestic facilities, the Department is focusing on making them more resilient. U.S. forces at home and abroad rely on support from installations in the United States. DoD will conduct a coordinated energy assessment, prioritize critical assets, and promote investments in energy efficiency to ensure that critical installations are adequately prepared for prolonged outages caused by natural disasters, accidents, or attacks. At the same time, the Department will also take steps to balance energy production and transmission with the requirement to preserve the test and training ranges and the operating areas that are needed to maintain readiness.

They covered all the bases (no pun intended) as far as I'm concerned. There's another two-hundred or more pages of detail I would have like to have seen included on energy, but if they had, given all the other challenges facing the department at this time, it wouldn't be a QDR.

I'll pursue the usual path from this point on: reminding the Department that this is what it's told itself it needs to do on energy matters, and nudging it to move faster when it looks like other challenges, or more likely, mind-numbing bureaucratic inertia, tribal squabbling and/or status quo thinking get in the way of desperately needed progress.

Photo Credit: abnskyshark / Andrew Michael Smith @ Flickr

Marines Battlefield Solar Ready for Action?

What a difference 18 months makes. Back in the middle of 2007, the Joint Staff said "no way" to the concept of deploying solar or wind resources in theater. However, according to accounts like this, we're awfully close to seeing suitcase solar in Afghanistan as a first strike (albeit a modest one) against convoys. This system was fast tracked through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and field tested at the Navy Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Bethesda, MD.

Dubbed GREENS, for Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy System, the system consists of stackable 1600-watt solar arrays combined with rechargeable batteries to yield 300 watts of continuous power.

One thing I'd like to know is has it reached Afghanistan yet, and if so, how are the Marines liking it? And if it's not there yet, when will it first arrive and in what kind of numbers?

Photo Credit: Defense.gov

DOD Solar Facilities Build Out Beginning in Sunny Places

Its solar wall notwithstanding, Alaska's Elmendorf AFB going to have to wait for large scale solar thermal or photovoltaics. Going well beyond current LEED sustainability standards, the Navy is pushing the envelope on net zero buildings and communities in Hawaii. Follow this DOE link to read about a significant DOD housing implementation called Forest City in Honolulu.

As for the Air Force, not one to rest on its 14 MW Nevada/Nellis AFB laurels, up next is 6 more MWs in Arizona at Davis-Monthan AFB.

Meanwhile, as you should know by now, the Army is making progress on its whopper (500 MW - 1 GW) of a solar deployment in the Mojave desert at Fort Irwin in CA.

Photo Credit: DOE EERE

DOD Beginning to See the Light

Beginning, that is, if you don't count the 14 MW installation at Nellis AFB in Nevada which has now been in place a couple of years. I'm sure there are more, but here are two press releases forwarded to me last week, announcing another ambitious solar deployment by the Air Force and a 1 GW (potential) whopper by the Army. Like the Nellis project before them, the financing is every bit as innovative as the technology. First, here's the Air Force one:

TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Housing developer Actus Lend Lease, SolarCity®, Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and financing parties National Bank of Arizona and U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation (USBCDC) are working to create one of the nation’s largest distributed, community-wide solar power systems at Soaring Heights Communities at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Upon completion, the community is expected to be the largest solar-powered community in the continental U.S. The solar systems are expected to produce more than 10 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually—sufficient to provide an estimated 75 percent of the residents’ energy use next year—and could eventually offset 100 percent of Soaring Heights Communities’ electricity use.

Full Air Force Press Release here. And now for the Army:

LOS ANGELES, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. military is tackling a new mission in the field of alternative energy, moving to power up a 500-megawatt solar facility at Fort Irwin's sprawling desert complex in California.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tapped ACCIONA Solar Power, a unit of Spain's Acciona SA (ANA.MC), and Clark Energy Group to develop the project, which launched its first phase on Thursday. The project, located at the Army's largest training range in California's Mojave Desert, could grow as large as 1 gigawatt in the future.

Full Army Press Release here. Not one to rest on its geothermal laurels (see: China Lake), I'm sure the Navy has a solar response up its sleeves. Stay tuned.

Photo Credit: Mike Baird at Flickr

Convoy-Free Electricity Ready for Prime Time?

I'm not saying this company's solutions are ready to put old-fashioned field generators out of business. But I am suggesting that, for some applications, its mobile "Titan" and "Mojo," in individual and tandem configurations, begin to offer commanders a path away from the current, convoy-dependent status quo. Actually, with these solutions, unless the equipment is airlifted, one convoy is required to deliver the systems to station. But the beauty is, once it's on the job, it requires zero diesel or J-P8 to operate.

Had the chance to speak with an executive at mobile energy provider, White Door, and learned about the company's offerings and what these guys are up to. Founded 7 years ago to make self powered sensor platforms, mobile energy generation on a larger scale is now their goal ... and their offerings show they're beginning to reach it. Not only do these integrated wind, solar, battery and fuel cell systems provide reliable, nearly silent, low-heat signature power, they have a new unit that generates as much as 30 KW.

One potential weakness that would immediately give DOD planners pause would be the systems' dependency on intermittent energy sources. Well, it appears that White Door has tackled that problem. The executive said they purposely "over-engineer" each systems' energy storage, providing 5+ days of back-up capacity should the wind cease to blow and the sun cease to shine for that long. There's also an option for a fuel cell back-up should the 5-day capacity still cause concern.

The Marines are field testing these units right now. More info is available here.

DARPA Wants Portable Solar Power to be Light

Here's another instance where renewables are being considered for use, not because they are green, but because they allow the shortest logistics tail:

DARPA is holding out for cutting edge solar technology in a military landscape that is increasingly reliant on portable electronic devices. Fueling [portable] devices is a logistical challenge of epic proportions, especially when it comes down to powering up individual troops and robotic devices. Oil, coal, and other fossil fuels won’t cut it, nuclear is not an option when it comes to small mobile units, and conventional batteries are proving far too heavy and short-lived.

Full article here.

Geiss Marks a Turning Point in Army Energy Thinking

I really like the way Army Energy Program Director Kevin Geiss puts the focus squarely on Energy Security as a basis for new infrastructure moves such as a new 500 MW solar roll out at Fort Irwin, California:

One way to look at this is to just take a step back and not use the word renewable or alternative or anything and say okay, if we were going to try to get power and energy for our installations and we wanted to make sure that we have consistent access, that it’s affordable, that we would be at a low risk for disruption, that we would have decreased impact on the environment, I would say that our renewable and alternative energies would pop to the top of the list.

At some point, if not now, renewable energy simply becomes energy, and if you have your selection criteria set to the key drivers of our time, then solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear and the fossil big 3 all get a hearing based on pro's and con's. Full Wired article from last week's DOD Bloggers' Round table is here.

EULogy for Installation Energy Problems - The Benefits of the Enhanced Use Lease (EUL)

As you'll see, Sabot 6 CEO and DOD Energy Blog guest blogger Dan Nolan has been busy lately. First, the intro, from the Army's Enhanced Use Leasing Page:

With the expanded authority of Title 10 USC § 2667, each of the Services within the Departments of Defense have the authority and incentive to obtain a broad range of financial and in-kind considerations for leasing opportunities. The changes to Section 2667 expand the purposes for which lease proceeds may be used, and augment the types of in-kind consideration which may be accepted for leases. These changes maximize the utility and value of installation real property and provide additional tools for managing the installation's assets to achieve business efficiencies. 

Now here's Dan with notes from front lines of DOD renewable energy development:

I just returned from the oral defense of a proposal to build a minimum of 500 megawatts of solar power generation at Fort Irwin, California. The sites that Fort Irwin identified have the potential for over a gigawatt of power generation, essentially a new  nuclear plant. It will cost the Army nothing. In fact, the installation has the opportunity to receive secure power produced on post (only a fraction of the produced power), at fair market value PLUS in kind services from the commercial entity or the equivalent in cash for the lease. The in kind services (road building, etc.) would be of direct benefit to the installation. The business entity that wins this contract will be able to sell the excess power into the California, Nevada and New Mexico markets that are desperate for new power generation. If we were to utilize the millions of acre of "buffer zones", the land surrounding military installations separating them from the civilian communities, to produce power from wind, solar, geothermal, biomass (you name it!), we could begin to substantially reduce our requirements for coal fired power plants. It is just good business ... and business is very interested.

The Defense Science Board identified the vulnerability of installations due to being tied to a fragile power grid. Dollars for installations continue to shrink. Clean, renewable energy becomes cost competitive as demand for the technology increases. The process is time consuming and sometimes onerous, but has so many upsides that it needs to be a national movement. Every installation commander should be pursuing these opportunities. It won't all happen on their watch, but their children will thank them. 

Energy Technology Fail: Space Based Solar

Every once in a while it's good to go Star Trekking and imagine the world a few years, if not centuries, down the road. (Think: QDR.) The question about the future isn't whether it's coming, but when. However, not all futures are created equal, and some future science will likely remain fiction.

As nifty as this idea sounds, all the indicators that could give confidence only give pause:

• Company (Solaren Corp.) funded mainly by founder
  
• Company based in founder's house
• Non-functioning one page web site
  

A 2007 DOD National Security Space Office report paints a rosy picture of Space Based Solar Power (SBSP) and calls it "interesting." I agree it's interesting ... very interesting, in fact. The report even references the fully burdened cost of fuel (FBCF) as part of its economics argument (kudos). And talk about a technology for reducing fuel convoy traffic to Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) ...

But my guess is that, collisions with space junk notwithstanding, SBSP from Solaren isn't coming to a theater near you anytime soon. And in the meantime, we've got a lot of other, more proximate, DOD energy fish to fry.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Can You Imagine a 500 MW Solar Array, DOD? The Army Can, in Califormia

Heard about this grand solar thermal effort from a friend in the business today who was in the Mojave at Fort Irwin recently. What he relayed was a California desert version of New England's own beleaguered Cape Wind project ... a project with vision and scale in spades, but with regulators pledging a 6 - 7+ year approval process. 

Jeez. Maybe Arnold can help them cut through the red tape and get this sucker built for the Army in our lifetime.

Photo: Nevada Solar One