U.S. Military's Efforts to Reduce Exposure to Energy Security Risks
Last week, there was an important article posted up on the Army’s website, “Scientists bring energy solutions to the desert.” The article discusses how the Army has set up a small (one megawatt) smart-grid at the Army’s Camp Sabalu-Harrison in Afghanistan. The smart grid uses 4 large diesel generators to provide power for 66 structures. These 4 system is an example of a ‘smart grid’ because it is able to balance supply and demand throughout the day. This grid has replaced 20 separate generators that were required to be running all day regardless of demand. Whereas the old system required a fuel truck to refill each generator throughout the day, the new system has one centralized refueling point.
This article is an example of how the different branches of the military are innovating ways to reduce their exposure to energy security risks. I spent a few days down at Maxwell Air Force Base last week for a conference on the military’s proposal’s to address energy security. At this conference (held under Chatham House rules – so I can’t quote anything for attribution), it was clear that every branch of the military was moving to reduce their exposure to energy insecurity.
Mostly, this means that the military is trying to reduce their use of oil. There are two big reasons to do this. Strategically, military leadership understands that scarce resources, like oil, are a potential spark of conflict, and the military’s dependence on oil from unstable regions is a major strategic vulnerability. At the tactical level, the long logistical tail left by convoys carrying fuel or water are the most vulnerable to attack, with some sources saying that one casualty is taken for every 24 convoys.
Reducing fuel use means means different things to each service. The Navy and the Air Force don’t have to operate forward deployed bases, so they are less concerned about the vulnerability of their supply lines. Instead, they are concerned that future shortages of oil could impact their effectiveness. The Air Force is testing biofuels in an effort to secure ‘drop-in’ replacements for jet fuel. Similarly, the Navy has the Green Hornet program for naval aviation to run on a 50/50 blend of biofuel and traditional jet fuel and just last year it launched the USS Makin Island
