U.S. Army Moves Forward on Renewable Energy Goals

The Army is on its way to saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions with two new renewable energy projects. Solar panels at the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr in Germany and a wind turbine at the Tooele Army Depot in Utah began generating energy for facility use in June and July 2010, respectively. Spending nearly $3.5 billion on energy in 2007, the Department of Defense (DOD) is the single largest energy consumer in the United States. The DOD set a goal of using 25 percent renewable energy for electricity by 2025.

By installing 70 square meters of solar panels to the Dining Facility Building, the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr Directorate of Public Works moved a step closer to achieving the DOD energy conservation goals. The $34,000 solar panel project was funded through the sales of scrap metal and other recyclable materials, and with annual energy savings of $5,100, the project will pay for itself in less than seven years. The solar panels are projected to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions which cause climate change by 11 tons per year by displacing the use of fossil fuels. Germany receives sunlight comparable to that of Alaska , demonstrating the widespread feasibility of solar energy technologies .

In Utah, the Tooele Army Depot (TEAD) recently completed the construction and installation of a wind turbine that will generate all of the site’s electricity Friday through Sunday and about one third of the electricity for the remaining days of the week. The Department of the Army Energy Conservation and Investment Program approved and funded the wind turbine in an effort to reduce the Army’s dependence on fossil fuels and improve energy security. Additionally, the wind turbine will reduce electricity costs by approximately $206,625 per year. "From the power output that we are seeing right now, I can see we are going to get a higher payback then we anticipated and I believe other turbines here will be justified," said TEAD’s Energy Manager, Jay Weyland .