US Division of Protection Plots Renewable Power Takeover

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The US Division of Protection has been an early adopter of solar energy at its personal amenities, particularly out West the place plentiful house is offered. Now the company goals to deploy its shopping for energy in direction of components East. Earlier this month the DOD attached with the Normal Providers Administration in a scheme to attract extra renewable power sources from a large swath of the US, masking 65 million folks in 14 Atlantic and Midwest states together with the District of Columbia, all with the goal of transitioning its amenities to 100% carbon free electrical energy.

DOD Hearts Renewable Power

CleanTechnica has spilled loads of ink over the Pentagon’s eagerness to push the renewable power envelope because the early years of the Obama administration. A few of the exercise has centered on army amenities which have room for on-site photo voltaic arrays. Different photo voltaic applied sciences, together with foundational photovoltaic analysis, rooftop photo voltaic installations, moveable photo voltaic units, and solar-enabled microgrids are additionally within the combine (see extra of our army protection right here).

The US army has additionally had a hand in fostering the rising wave power area, together with the institution of a wave power take a look at mattress at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Oahu.

Wind energy has been a bit extra of a blended bag for the US army, partly as a result of issues arising from air site visitors and weaponry operations, together with nuclear missile silos. These considerations can lead to changes to plans for establishing offshore wind farms in addition to onshore initiatives.

Nonetheless, again in 2013 the US Military Corps of Engineers included 17 wind energy contracts in a $7 billion soup-to-nuts renewable power procurement spherical.

The brand new procurement plan takes it as much as an entire new stage by masking all the PJM grid area, which covers all or components of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The brand new GSA plan signifies that extra wind energy is on the way in which, contemplating the large offshore wind buildup going down alongside the Atlantic coast.

Along with sourcing electrical energy for protection businesses, the plan additionally covers different federal businesses within the PJM area.

GSA & DOD To Renewable Power Haters: La-la-la-la-la We Can’t Hear you

We’re specializing in renewable power right here, although to be clear the GSA procurement partnership doesn’t restrict the DOD to wind and photo voltaic. In a press launch saying the plan, GSA and DOD use the phrases “carbon pollution-free electrical energy,” “clear electrical energy,” “clear power,” clear, dependable, and inexpensive electrical energy,” and “locally-made clear electrical energy,” and “CFE,” which means carbon free power.

No matter you name it, the plan tracks with President Biden’s 2021 directive for all federal businesses to acquire 100% “carbon pollution-free electrical energy” by 2030, with an extra stipulation that at the least half of the demand is to be stuffed from native sources out there 24/7.

That leaves loads of house for renewable power, with or with out power storage. Within the renewables class that primarily means wind and photo voltaic, since geothermal sources are quite slim within the focused area. For now, West Virginia is the one geothermal outlier.

The prospects for constructing entire new hydropower amenities within the PJM area are additionally quite dim, however repowering or including on to current operations is one pathway to growing the nation’s retailer of carbon-free electrical energy. That features including pumped storage capability, which is being talked up as a approach to repurpose deserted coal fields.

Nuclear power, in fact, additionally falls underneath the “carbon pollution-free” stipulation, although it’s unclear if the army’s finances would assist costly new nuclear amenities. Renewable pure fuel may even have a shot if the “carbon pollution-free” stipulation doesn’t pull the rug out from underneath it.

In that regard, notice the cautious wording of “carbon pollution-free.” That would depart room for coal and pure fuel with carbon seize, however not a lot. Carbon seize and sequestration initiatives have didn’t take root right here within the US, partly as a result of they’re costly and partly as a result of they require new pipelines from the supply to the storage facility, and no one desires a brand new pipeline of their yard.

Additional clouding the image are oil stakeholders ( you, ExxonMobil), which might deploy sequestered carbon to reinforce the output from oil wells.

Capturing and recycling carbon from industrial operations into cement and different merchandise is one other approach to sequester carbon with out the oil extraction angle, so keep tuned for extra on that.

Right here’s What The DOD Actually Thinks About Renewable Power

Together with its new grid-wide plan for pumping up its clear energy profile, the DOD additionally has a message concerning the local weather disaster for the social gathering of “Assist our Troops,” which continues to ignore the looming disaster even because the Protection Division advocates for pressing motion on local weather change.

“Two years in the past, when President Biden signed Government Order 14057, we knew DOD could be a giant a part of demonstrating U.S. management by greening federal authorities operations,” defined Brendan Owens, Assistant Secretary of Protection for Power, Installations, and Surroundings. “At this time’s announcement will assist facilitate grid transformation to handle the local weather disaster and to offer clear, dependable, and inexpensive electrical energy that ensures mission resilience for DoD operations.”

Owens dipped into extra element concerning the Protection Division’s local weather adaptation plans final April, in his 2023 Earth Day presentation on the Pentagon.

“…we’re dedicated as a division to defending our planet, and making certain well being and security for our folks,” Owens stated.

“Key developments in power resilience, environmental stewardship, air pollution prevention analysis and cleanup, and local weather resilience will assist us confront a number of the biggest challenges the division is dealing with,” he defined. “Army amenities should adapt to an more and more difficult menace setting. Enhancing power resilience and reliability is essential to that adaptation.”

As for renewable power, Owens used the event to attract consideration to the house photo voltaic area, which might be the last word Protection Division renewable power mission.

Area photo voltaic appeared a bit of pie within the sky after we first heard about it, however again in 2009 the US Naval Analysis Laboratory surveyed the expertise and concluded that the {hardware} is offered to seize renewable power from orbiting photo voltaic arrays in house, and beam it right down to receivers on Earth.

A lot has occurred since then, together with a doable contribution from the US Area Power within the type of a sophisticated orbiting transmitter, so keep tuned for extra on that.

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Photograph (cropped): “Brig. Gen. William H. Kale III, Air Power Civil Engineer Middle commander, speaks on the Edwards Photo voltaic Enhanced Use Lease Undertaking ribbon reducing ceremony at Edwards Air Power Base, Calif., Feb. 2, 2023. This mission is the biggest private-public collaboration in Division of Protection historical past” (U.S. Air Power photograph by Adam Bowles).