Energy Feeds

Late last month, the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) cut the ribbon on a transportable, plasma waste to energy system at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle. Terry Yonkers, the ASAF for Installations, Environment and Logistics is quoted as saying, "This is the first waste-to-energy project of this technology to go into an air base. It has been a long time in the making.".

As you know, it's rare for me to make the same post on both blogs. But rare means infrequent, not never, and so here you go:The DC-based Center for New American Security (CNAS), host of the excellent Natural Security blog that highlights the security interconnectedness of many different domains, is having a Smart Grid Security week. You'll note their particular interest in critical infrastructure in general, and DOD in particular.

Only those who have served with or in the British Army might pick up the reference, but Dina Fine Maron's piece in the NYT describes the challenges faced in deploying new energy technologies outside the traditional acquisition and R&D systems. If you don't know the drill, you can't execute the facing movements required. Although quoted therein, my judgement remains objective!

This past week I attended the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation hosted conference entitled "Operation Energy Innovation: A Stronger, Smarter Fighting Force". The intent for the program was to examine how "DOD can play a prime role in accelerating cleantech development".

On 31 March 2011 from 9:00 A.M. to 10:30 A.M at the Rayburn House Office Building, The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host a conference sponsored by the Information Technology Industry Council and Digital Energy Solutions Campaign, entitled "Operation Energy Innovation: A Stronger, Smarter Fighting Force".

http://energy.defense.gov/The times they continue to change. Three years after the release of the 2nd DSB report on energy, we've not only got an ASD for Operational Energy, but the organization has a web site and Twitter account.There's not much "there" there yet, but the existence of a site with links to the social media world means a heck of a lot as DOD moves out on energy strategy issues.

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy was recently at Harvard explaining what the military is doing to reduce energy use in theater.

In an interview with bloggers last October, Katherine Hammack, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Environment and Energy announced that the Army would be taking a holistic approach to the concept of Net Zero. It was recognition that one can’t consider energy without considering the other two key commodities that impact it: water and waste.

Just got word that the U.S. Marine Energy Assessment Team (MEAT) Report is on the street and available here. According to the source, the MEAT Team mission was one of a series of actions driven by the Commandant (CMC) and the Marine Corps to address its energy challenges.

The January 2011 edition of Soldiers Magazine was themed “Modernizing the Force”. The magazine described the Army’s concept for keeping pace with everything from munitions to uniforms in an era of shrinking budgets and an over stretched force. The technologies ranged from GPS guided artillery munitions to bringing back the Light Assault Weapon (LAW).

"The fact is that energy is what enables us to be decisive on the battlefield," said Col. Paul E. Roege, special assistant to the energy director at the Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC).

BG(R) Steve Anderson will tell you that the cleanest, cheapest, most secure electron is the one you don’t use. As the former senior logistician for GEN Petraeus in Iraq, Steve was instrumental in finding energy efficient ways to lower demand, thus reducing convoys and casualties.

Mark your calendars! As your busy social schedule begins to fill up, wanted to pass along a couple of “Keep the Date” notes for you. This year should be a pivotal one in DOD Energy. The organizations are set and the positions filled. The strategies have been written and revised or are under revision. Lets hear what they have to say!

I recently returned from a week in Berlin with the American Council on Germany Study Group. The purpose of the study group was to look at German efforts in regards to energy and climate change. The assembled group of Americans included folks who were less than convinced as to the anthropomorphic nature of climate change which the Germans take as gospel.

As the New Year loomed, thoughts turned from sugarplums to resolutions. DOD’s resolutions to tighten its energy belt was evident in the establishment of very aggressive goals for energy demand reduction, the production of renewable/alternative power in support of installations and bringing sustainability to operational energy.

Here is a great piece by Tom Friedman on Navy efforts in clean, secure energy. He points out the challenges of developing and deploying these systems because of Congressional lobbying efforts by fossil fuel companies, a challenge not felt by Marines using renewable energy to secure their own lines of communication.

Forty bundles of fuel fall from a United States Air Force Globemaster III aircraft over Afghanistan, Dec. 8, 2010. The aircraft is assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Andy Kin

In 1958 the U.S. Navy began the design and construction of a system intended to monitor satellites tracking U.S. ship movement. In 2004 the program was transferred to the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force Space Surveillance Fence (or Space Fence) is part of the Space Surveillance Network (SSN).

This week, the Air Force released a previously FOUO report by their Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) entitled Alternative Sources of Energy for U.S. Air Force Bases. The report, originally published in classified form in August 2009, presents four recommendations and one theme.

Working in the DOD energy arena for the past four years, one often feels as if they are shouting in a closed room. The Defense Energy Community tends to be a insular club with new members allowed in grudgingly and after a long vetting period. Now, however, other voices are picking up the cry.

Great Article in the National Strategy Forum Review by a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Oliver Fritz. Besides membership in the CFR and a master's in Security Studies from MIT, Mr. Fritz also works in the Office of the Director for Operational Energy Plans and Policies.

From the AUSA Meeting and Convention, Washington D.C. This is the follow up to our previous post on the Army’s Energy Security Panel that featured, the HON Katherine Hammack Assistant Secretary of the Army Installations, Energy and Environment, LTG Rick Lynch, Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management/Commanding General, Installation Management Command (IMCOM), LTG Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr.

From the AUSA Meeting and Convention, Washington D.C. This is the follow up to our previous post on the Army’s Energy Security Panel that featured, the HON Katherine Hammack Assistant Secretary of the Army Installations, Energy and Environment, LTG Rick Lynch (pictured), Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management/Commanding General, Installation Management Command (IMCOM), LTG Robert L. Van Antwerp, Jr.

DOD and the Department of the Army named Richard Kidd as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Partnership. This post, vacant for nearly two years, is responsible for Army Energy Security and, among other things, Utilities Privatization.

As part of the recent DoD Energy Leadership outreach, Ms. Sharon Burke, Director, Operational Energy Plans and Policy and Ms Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Environment and Energy made themselves available through the Department of Defense Bloggers Roundtable.

Responsibility Assumed: Just got off the phone with Ms Katherine Hammack, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Environment and Energy. Ms. Hammack conducted a phone interview with several bloggers as part of the DOD Live Bloggers forum.

In September 1939, the U.S. Army Air Corps had a heavy bomber force of just 23 B-17. Then Chief of the Air Corps, LTG Hap Arnold had requested an estimate from his staff of production capabilities, training capacities and other logistical requirements necessary to expand the force to meet the looming specter of war in Europe.

From June 1948 to May 1949, the Soviet Union closed ground access to the city of Berlin in an effort to gain control of the divided city. During that period the Allied forces flew over 200,000 sorties, hauling about 13,000 tons a day into the beleaguered city. It cost the Allies 101 lives and $2 billion in today’s dollars, but it succeeded. Is it time to get ready for the Bagram Airlift?

I would like to begin by thanking Andy Bochman for his hard work in putting together and publishing the DOD Energy Blog (DEC) for the past two years. I remember when I was first referred to the DEB by friends in the DOD Energy Community (DEC).

Mid September Update: sorry folks, but while the link to this piece the CNAS site still works, the video it introduces has gone dead. Perhaps the video is live elsewhere, but we've all likely got bigger, more urgent fish to fry.--------------------------------------------

Dear reader, brace yourself another outburst from roving, roaming and occasionally raving DOD Energy reporter and guest blogger, Dan Nolan. He somehow manages to be in the right places at the right times to pick up on the prevailing winds in DOD and national energy policy formation.

Even though the DSB ETF 2008 report (my energy bible) calls fuel availability issues DOD's #1 energy security issue, I've never been able to muster much enthusiasm for alternative fuels. Doesn't seem to matter whether they're synthetic fuels derived from coal or nat gas, or bio fuels born of algae, switch grass, sugar cane or bacon.

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:

Recent DOD Energy Blog posts have shown that the Army is working to bring energy considerations to the forefront of its thinking in operations and installations.

As there as so many going on all the time, first-time conferences sometimes have a hard time showing up on folks' radars. No so with the Internal Defense and Fuel Security (IDEFS) conference coming up on 8-10 November. With its tagline: "transforming energy vulnerability into military advantage" it heralds an entirely new way of thinking about military energy matters.

Some things move slowly for a reason. Some things just take time. For example, I've heard the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) described as "slow as a turtle statue." Well, it's ok by me if they take their time. But other things are better when they are faster. Think: runners, computers, jets, toaster waffles ... and filling crucial leadership vacuums.

If this was the DOD IT Blog, the title might be referring to next gen holographic optical storage capable of storing 100 Terabytes of data in a device as big as a red blood cell. But it's not.

In this, the third and final post in a short series of Q's & A's with RMI founder Amory B. Lovins, we ask him to take what he's been recently saying and thinking about "new nuclear" energy technology and articulate it strictly from a DOD perspective.

This post asks Amory Lovins to respond more specifically to new technologies related to 3rd and particularly 4th generation reactors.Question 2: Some make the case that recently popular, small, modular design reactors solve many of the challenges of the large, capital intensive, centralized predecessors. These are still just concepts at this time. Do you feel they're worth pursuing ... why or why not?

In the energy biz, there's no one quite like Amory B. Lovins. I'll spare you further remarks on him, but suffice it to say, if his name is new to you, then you are but a mere toddler on the path of energy wisdom. We ran a post recently on the potential promise of new nuclear power generation approaches for powering DOD. Here is part of 1 of Amory Lovin's comprehensive three-part response to that post. Wait a second ...

There's book knowledge and there's what you know by doing. And everyone knows the difference. While the Marines could surround themselves with academic experts and consultants from industry to improve their energy knowledge (and I'm not saying they're not!), their focus is on learning by doing. In the field. Where it counts.

We touched on small nukes for DOD applications in late 2009 (see: here and here). Well, if anything, the pace has quickened.

June/July 2010 Update: Burke is confirmed! See here.----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rocky Mountain Institute founder Amory Lovins has been in this long game longer than anyone, and much of the credit for DOD's current momentum on energy can be traced directly to his decades-long leadership and perseverance. So it's great news that NDU's Joint Force Quarterly journal has just published his current assessment and recommendations for the Department's energy strategy. (Note: because it's so timely and topical, you'll find it front and center (actually, top and right) on the DOD Energy Blog for the rest of this year.)

Hat tip to Ollie - he's been cranking 'em out lately, including an excellent pointer to this article about logistics travails in Afghanistan making Iraq look like a day at the beach. In the meantime, whether they be flown by man, woman, or machine, big things that fly drink a heck of a lot of fuel.

Here, once again, is former Army 0-6 and DOD energy expert Dan Nolan, uncut and uncensored. This time, he digs into what looks like a very worthy project:

This blog hasn't looked at the wider world lately; events have been largely status quo. But hat tip to Ollie for this item worth watching:

Here's Sabot 6's Dan Nolan again, this time with some laudatory commentary on the recent USMC Expeditionary Energy Symposium:

Lest you think that the DOD is the only military org moving out on energy matters, here's the DOD Energy Blog's first guest post from "across the pond". There's a heck of a lot to sink your teeth into in this mega-post, and you'll note that climate change issues seem to be a bigger driver for the Brits than they are here in the US.

2009 was the year things really started to percolate, and though it's still January, DOD energy activities are off to a fast start. We'll be getting another energy audit update from Afghanistan soon, this time time focusing on Air Force ops and facilities.

Hard to believe the marcusevans conference folks had the foresight to be at this topic for so long, but it's true. Some great folks speaking at this one, and some pretty sweet workshops too. Here's your 4 Ws and an H:

Just like you think they would, the Marines are first out the door on energy in 2010, hitting the ground running in a couple of weeks with an energy conference in New Orleans. See specs below.What: "Lightening the Load: Reducing the Footprint in the Expeditionary Environment"Where: Marriott New OrleansWhen: January 25 - 27, 2010How: Click here for more info and to register

Guess what officers are researching these days as part of their graduate work? That's right, operational energy. Here are the two of the more recent ones I've seen:

March 2010 Update: Progress! We've gone from nomination to testimony and questioning before the Senate Armed Services Committee ... documented here.---------------------

I attended the Air Force's premier institution of higher learning in 1980's and remember the modernist buildings and breathtaking landscape (breathtaking in part, due to the scarcity of O2 at 7,500 feet above sea level). In between countless push ups and keeping my chin in, I remember wondering in the long winter hours how much they spend to they heat the place given all that glass.

This is the DOD energy conference that keeps on giving. They said they would do this and now here they going doing just what they said ... I like that!More information is now available on the new website, as well as video highlights of each day of the Naval Energy Forum. In addition to all speaker/panelist presentation materials, there are now links to download:

As pledged, here's more detail from Dan Nolan following up on his initial Marines Energy Assessment Team (MEAT) post. This is the real deal: a first-hand account from the true front lines of in-theater operational energy. Here you go:Getting There

The Jarheads are clearly on a roll re: examining and improving their operational energy posture. See recent DEB posts to this effect here and here.Now there's more, and you heard it here first (or maybe second). You know the 4W+H format by now:

Heads-up! The Military Operations Research Society (MORS) is running an outstanding energy-issues focused workshop the purpose of which is:To consider how best to identify and capture the risk from US operational energy demand in the legacy and future force, and allow the analysis community to help determine the best approaches to inform force planning, requirements development and potentially acquisition trade-space decision-making to implement new strategic guidance and identify current analysis gaps.

Itinerant blogger and Sabot 6 founder Dan Nolan is back Afghanistan where he was on assignment for the Marines as an expert combat energy advisor. Here's his first write-up from this experience (caution -- I hope you don't find his style too dry):

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:

As is increasingly the case, thanks to Ollie keeping his finger on the quickening pulse of energy innovation in DOD. Sometimes having separate services field overlapping or redundant capabilities is an organizational efficiency buzz kill. Other times, sibling rivalry drives them further/faster than they might otherwise go.

Thanks to Peter Reed and Stephan Tremble for this. You'll recall how I drone on about the fuel demand implications of a global sky filled with DOD UAVs 24/7/365. Boring, right? Well, bet you hadn't thought of this energy-related risk (below) ... I certainly didn't !!!

Long-time readers will note I've spent a fair amount of time on this blog saying the DOD doesn't properly value fuel in its systems requirements definition, force planning, acquisition processes, war gaming, etc. So it was more than a little ironic that I found myself yesterday writing to the influential DC newspaper "The Hill" arguing that they're telling lawmakers that the prices they quoted for fuel delivered to troops in Afghanistan is far too high.

Fresh from a great lecture last night on exponential rates of improvement in information systems by futurist Ray Kurzweil, and only 2 days remove from a post on the revolution in the performance and use of UAVs, I get a note in my inbox this morning. It's a press release announcing a new small UAV endurance record leveraging a breakthrough in fuel cell technology. Navy's ONR is a partner. Draw your own conclusions about where this is leading.Without further adieu, here you go:

Got to speak with a very interesting new company called Klymit recently, and at first I wasn't sure their technology, which has potential to help keep soldiers warmer and lighter, was applicable to DOD from an energy point of view. When you visit Klymit's site you'll be impressed.

Another great dispatch just in from roving DEB reporter Dan Nolan of Sabot 6:

I previously announced this conference here but wanted to provide attendees and potential attendees a link to the recently published speakers list and detailed agenda. Commencing October 14th, it includes the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Gary Roughhead (bio here) as well as many other senior leaders.

I'll attempt follow-on posts with more more details on individual implementations, but for now here's news of a batch of integrators starting a bunch of microgrid projects. And Jeff St. John at Greentechmedia noting the applicability to DOD facilities:

It may be more information on energy security than you can handle. And it may be coming up too soon to make arrangements. And there may not be enough room to get in even if you wanted to. But still I thought you should know ...The National Defense University (NDU)  is hosting a two day event titled "Energy Security: A Global Challenge," touching on almost every aspect of energy security. It's next week, 29-30 Sep 2009 at NDU, within Fort McNair on the south side of DC. As a reader of this blog, you'd be crazy not to give it a shot.

Jack and I have landed in DC for GridWeek 2009.  We'll be pushing and pulling on vendors who say they've got the Smart Grid, and particularly Smart Grid security, all figured. out. Stay tuned for updates and commentary of all kinds.Photo: American Architecture

Haven't heard as much from Raytheon as we have from some of the other large integrators, but that may change soon. Recently you got a dose on this blog of Peak Oil skepticism from Michael Lynch, now here's Raytheon's rank Prautsch with a bit of a rebuttal.

Had a chance to speak with Bill Anderson, the Navy's Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project Manager who's leading a worldwide team of over fifty engineers, laying the AMI foundation towards the Navy's future Smart Grid infrastructure. For background on AMI, click here. Anderson described his project as having several phases:

In this final installment of the DOD Energy Blog/Amory Lovins mid 2009 interview, we come full circle to one of the two primary findings of the 2008 Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force report on Energy: that bases put way too much faith in the reliability of the national electrical grid. Especially in times of war or terrorism that targets critical US infrastructure, bases need a Plan B that'll keep them up and running for weeks or months or longer, not the day or two that seems to be the norm at present.

Combined with the acquisition of my day-time company and the tumult that's ensued, there have been so many relevant energy reports released lately that I've found myself struggling to digest and post them on this blog in a timely manner. Struggled unsuccessfully, you may have noticed.

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.

Part 2 of this series dealt with the Energy Efficiency Key Performance Parameter (KPP); in part 3 responds to a question I ask him on the Fully Burdened Cost of Fuel (FBCF).

Yesterday was about Lovins' advocacy for resilience and endurance as new Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) and their relationship to the Energy Efficiency KPP. Today I'm asking what's up with the latter ... is anybody really using it (see JLTV post) and if he had his druthers, on what types of programs would he recommend using it next. Here's the Q&A:

Someone near the top has clearly decided to take the department's communications on energy efficiency and renewables up a notch. Actually, up several notches. I may be out of a job soon if they keep cranking out features such as this one on Defenselink. Please check it out.

Hat tip to Navy Captain Clayton Mitchell for recommending GovEnergy folks read this Andrew Krepinevich article in Foreign Affairs journal. Titled "The Pentagon's Wasting Assets," it describes a military leviathan in decline on a number of fronts, particularly citing marked erosion of the US's once invincible edge in technology. It's a very sobering read.

There's a lot of wisdom in former Air Force energy exec Kevin Billing's post game analysis of his time in office. The whole article is here, but the part that's most applicable to the work of this blog and its readership is called "Respect the Systems":

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

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:

31 Jul 09 Update: Here's a link you can follow for more info on this conference as well as to register in advance.--------------------------------------------A one-day energy summit has been announced, open to all who care to attend. It's titled: "Lightening the Load--Reducing the Footprint in the Expeditionary Environment - A National Security Imperative for Success." Here's more info from the announcement:

This account of a recent appearance by Green Hawk and former CIA Director Jim Woolsey sounds good. His messages about lessening dependence on oil and coal appeal to everyone, except for maybe those whose livelihoods depend on those products.

Linked here you'll find a slide deck outlining the current state of Air Force energy plans and policy in the context of the Leadership's overarching goals and priorities. In particular, I like this slide for its audacious attempt to boil down the massive complexities involved into lines of action mere mortals can understand: 1) Reduce Demand, 2) Increase Supply, and 3) Change the Culture (Culture Change).

This article in earth2tech describes the award of a microgrid demonstration project to GE citing the following faulty rationale:

A search yesterday on FBCF (the Fully Burdened Cost of Fuel) yielded this recent Powerpoint from the Army's Office of Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army-Cost and Economic (ODASA-CE) from the DOD Cost Analysis Symposium (DODCAS) held earlier this year.

Just one hour South by car from the DOD Energy Blogger's Boston HQ, Providence is a great pick for the12th annual GovEnergy conference this year, 9 - 12 Aug. In addition to a long list of energy tech and services exhibitors, the tracks look great, including this one on Energy Security.

NDU's Energy Security and Policy Chair Richard Andres has just penned a nice post at Global Security on DOD's role in changing the energy consciousness of two cultures:

Former playwright turned revolutionary turned Czech President (now retired) Vaclav Havel has a history of calling out the emperor when his news clothes are lacking. Europe is facing a Devil's Bargain, with Russian entreaties to continue as its trusted supplier of natural gas on one side, balanced against the alternative of seeking new energy sources and risking Russia's wrath.

The DOD Energy Blog has pondered the energy demand implications of UAVs before ... like here for example. It's still too early to tell which way this is going, but if you read the news you know that UAVs are on an upward trajectory and manned aircraft are heading for a landing.

Following 2007's CNA report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, a new CNAS focus area on "Natural Security," makes it clear that acknowledging the connections between natural resources (including but not limited to fossil fuels) is no longer a fringe activity.

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:

As much as I love to celebrate progress (or what seem like indicators of progress), every once in a while I get a slap in the face that reminds me we're largely treading water. A recent and very well timed timed slap, delivered by a gentleman who's been working DOD energy from the inside and outside for a long time, is one I hope you take some time to consider.

Thank you Scott Sklar of the Stella Group for pointing me to Steve Siegel's work. Granted, little's going to happen until the Director of Operational Energy get's named and installed, and all eyes are on the first real test case for FBCF and the energy efficiency KPP: the JLTV. 

From the "where are they now" department:Kevin Billings, whose words and wisdom have been cited more than once on the DOD Energy Blog, has just left his Air Force energy exec post to join Lockheed Martin's Energy Services team. In his new position as "Director of Federal Energy Efficiency Programs" Billings will wear business development and operations hats related to Lockheed's Federal energy savings performance contracts.

It's difficult for some to remember President Jimmy Carter as a hard-charging Chief Executive, but that's exactly what he was when it came to US Energy Security. So much so that he was lauded by Retired Air Force General Chuck Wald at CNA's "Powering America's Defense" report release presser last week.

From former Admiral, Space Shuttle Commander and NREL Director Richard Truly this time: