Dr. Lowman’s latest Nature’s Secrets column in newsobserver.com:
The U.S. military is moving aggressively to reduce its energy “bootprint.”
The Department of Defense is our country’s largest single consumer of energy, using more than 300,000 barrels of oil per day. With an armored Humvee averaging only 4 miles per gallon, and with a gallon of fuel costing $400 to reach our troops in Afghanistan, the military budget is crippled by energy inefficiencies. But new initiatives for military installations include solar power units, purifying stagnant water, solar tents and LED lights. At Fort Drum, N.Y., one of the world’s largest solar installations currently heats the base. A fleet of new clean-energy naval vessels, dubbed “Prius of the oceans,” will save millions of taxpayer dollars. The military’s goal is to achieve 25 percent renewable energy by 2025.
