Defence, internal departments pursue renewable energy on federal lands

The Ministry of defence is the deployment of renewable energy systems, such as this 14-megawatt solar power system at Nellis Air Force base in Nevada, ramps, providing about one-quarter of the base's power requirements.
Credit card: Nellis AFB

On 6 August, announced the Interior Department are Defense Minister Leon Panetta and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar of understanding (MOU) signed a memorandum, the corresponding series promotes renewable energy projects on public land, which purposes are reserved for the defense and on other onshore and offshore areas in the vicinity of military installations. The MOU provides the renewable energy partnership plan, which aimed at ensuring that use solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy resources found on or in the vicinity of military installations in the country.

Department of Defense (DoD) installations include approximately 28 million acres in the United States, including 16 million hectares, that previously managed by the Interior Bureau of land management (BLM), were withdrawn for military purposes. About 13 million hectares free time withdrawn lie to the West and resources are high in the wind, solar and geothermal energy. Offshore wind power is also a plentiful renewable energy resource available on many DoD installations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts along the Gulf of Mexico and in Hawaii. Offshore Atlantic winds alone, an estimated 1,000 gigawatts could produce energy.

Can renewable energy important functions for weeks or months, if fails the commercial network maintain a military base. To keep the military operation in the absence of a grid, each of the military services has committed to provide one gigawatt renewable energy at or near its installations to the year 2025. In pursuit of these objectives is the agreement a framework for an offshore wind farm partnership and Forum; offers onshore renewable energy projects for DoD installations to identify a blueprint for the Interior and the Ministry of defence of the United States; created a working group on geothermal; and passes to develop the Ministry of defence and the BLM on a pilot procedure to authorize solar energy projects on several military installations in Arizona and California. See the press release of the Department of Interior and MOU.

View the original article here

Ministry of defence studies solar energy potential desert bases

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) could 7,000 megawatts (MW) of solar energy on four military bases located in the Californian desert, according to a study of DOD generate. The one-year study, published on 13 January, saw seven military bases in California and Nevada. Found that although most of the area unsuitable for solar big enough are development due to the military use and other factors, the appropriate locations, to generate understanding more than 30 times of electricity consumption by the California. That would equal approximately 25% of renewable energy, requires California utilities to use by 2015.

The study comes concluded that 25,000 hectares are suitable for solar suitable development and a further 100,000 hectares for solar. According to the study, which followed base (24.327 ha), Edwards air force at the most economical areas on the Fort Irwin (18.728 ha), China Lake (6.777) and Twentynine palms (553 acres) found. Finally, the study finds that private developers can tap the potential of solar to these plants with class investments of DOD, and that the development of income or other benefits like discount could bring the Federal Government up to $100 million a year.

DOD seeks to develop solar, wind, to reduce geothermal power and other distributed energy sources on its basis, their electric bill $4 billion per year and its dependence on the commercial power grid. This in place energy production, together with energy storage and so-called smart Microgrid technology allows to maintain a military base, its critical operations "off-grid" for weeks or months, if the grid have been interrupted. See press release DOD.

View the original article here