Once a year, the U.S. Marine Corps invites select industry stakeholders to the Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) to demonstrate off-the-shelf technologies with potential to address current Marine Corps capability gaps. Presently, as a part of their effort to reduce battlefield energy and water requirements, the Marines are soliciting submissions on “Tactical Energy Harvesting” for the purpose of determining market capability of suitable technologies.  The ExFOB team is primarily interested in technologies that harvest energy from Marines in motion and waste heat from standard generators. Read more details here.

Research and Market analysts forecast that the global renewable energy market in the military sector will grow at a nearly 14 percent compound annual growth rate over the period 2014-2018. The increased adoption of decentralized power generation and the increase in construction of smart grid are among the key contributors of this market growth. Read more at Reuters. 

Pew’s new report, “Power Surge”, examines how the U.S. military is using private-sector capabilities and harnessing innovative financing to obtain advanced energy systems. The Pew research finds that private-public partnership is key to growth.  According to the study, the number of energy savings and efficiency projects at military installations more than doubled between 2010 and 2012 fiscal year, and the number of renewable energy projects increased from 454 to 700 during the same period. Phyllis Cuttino, director of Pew’s project on national security, energy, and climate noted “The military’s clean energy installation initiatives are gathering momentum, enhancing base energy security. These improvements are possible even as the Pentagon’s budget is shrinking because the armed services are harnessing private-sector expertise and resources. This is a win-win-win proposition: The military gets better energy infrastructure, taxpayer dollars are saved, and the clean energy industry is finding new market opportunities.” 

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Tactical Defense Media interviewed Gal Luft, Co-Director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), the publisher of the Journal of Energy Security, on a potential role of biofuels in a military’s energy mix, and a military’s potential role in biofuels development. According to Luft, “With respect to biofuels, the only role I see for the military is in the testing and certification of fuels to make sure they can be used should they prove economically viable. What I don’t want to see from the military is mass adoption of fuels that are in many cases much more expensive – [as] this would come at the expense of other needs.” Read more directly from November 2013 DoD Power, Energy & Propulsion.

This December 2013 presentation by the U.S. Army Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Sustainability, Richard Kidd, provides a comprehensive summary of the Army’s 2013 energy efficiency progress across its energy trio framework focused on bases, soldier and vehicle power. Read more at the Army’s Homepage.

As part of the U.S. Department of Defense latest plan to increase military energy efficiency after spending $157.5 million on energy in 2013 fiscal year, the U.S. Air Force in Europe and Air Force Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) implemented a Residential Energy Efficiency Program (REEP). The program employs energy monitors that record electricity usage to raise awareness among the base residents how much energy they use and at what cost. The UK Royal Air Force base in Lakenheath, England, the first one to implement the REEP, has slashed electricity use and gas consumption by 30% among the residents participating in the program. Read more at American Chemistry.

U.S. Marine base camps throughout the Middle East have embarked on solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to lower expenses. In addition to already using solar power to power off-grid ground structures and battery packs, the Marines are currently testing solar powered vests which will enable Marines to function effectively in hard-to-supply locations for longer periods, while reducing logistical and physical challenges. Joining the Navy and Air Force renewable energy efforts, the Marines are working toward achieving 50 percent higher energy efficiency on the battlefield by 2025. Read more on U.S. Marines portable solar initiatives at Clean Technica.

Director of NATO Energy Security Center of Excellence (ENSEC COE) in Lithuania, Colonel Romualdas Petkevicius, discussed the role of the ENSEC COE in energy security, especially as it relates to the energy efficiency of military forces. During a roundtable hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Energy and Environment Program and the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Col. Petkevicius highlighted that ENSEC COE’s focus is now directed toward operational energy security.  Read more at the Atlantic Council.