U.S. Military Hopes to Be Energized by Alternative FuelsJanuary 30, 2009
The U.S. Army has announced plans to lease thousands of electric vehicles for passenger transport, security patrol, maintenance and delivery services on Army bases. While helping the environment is a great ancillary benefit, the real attraction is the massive cost savings from going green and reducing the downside if supplies were restricted. Admiral Gary Roughead, the chief of Naval operations, said at a January symposium that he studied the operating costs of what the Navy is buying today, and what the operating cost will be 25 years forward, and it "scares the heck out of me." He said he was stumped by the idea of how his successors will deal with the energy costs. The U.S. military is the world’s single largest consumer of oil. It spent $13.6 billion for energy in 2006, or about 340,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Alan Shaffer, the director of plans and programs for the Office of Defense Research and Engineering. Read more about controlling unsustainable fuel costs and supply risks from the Wharton Aerospace and Defense Report. Download our latest whitepaper, U.S. Military Hopes to Be Energized by Alternative Fuels. |
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