ENERGY SECURITY: U.S. Army Working on Renewable Energy

Billion Watt Quest

Ground breaking ceremony for renewable energy farm at Tooele Army Depot, Utah.
(Defense Dept. photo by D. Myles Cullen)

When officials broke ground on a $9.6 million solar power, renewable energy project at Utah’s Tooele Army Depot on Aug. 17, one of the VIPs on hand was the top U.S. Military commander – Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the ceremony at the 15-acre site west of Salt Lake City, Dempsey said it was “a glimpse of the future” because “public and private partnerships, industry, academia and government must work together.” Dempsey added that “tThe days when we, the U.S. military, could figure it out ourselves are long gone.” The Tooele project will house 430 solar collection dishes — like the one pictured above — eventually producing 30 percent of the ammunition depot’s electricity, according to the Army.

The energy-saving project is part of a wider Defense Department push to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reliance on an aging and sometimes undependable electric grid. The White House set a goal in April for the Army, Navy and Air Force to develop systems that will create three gigawatts – three billion watts – of renewable energy at their installations by 2025.

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Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, at ground-breaking ceremony.
(Defense Dept. photo by D. Myles Cullen)

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