ARLINGTON, Va., March 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force is focused on promoting a culture of conservation, among its members and outside as well, through its large investments in energy efficiency.
The Air Force energy security strategy focuses on several key factors, said Michael Aimone, assistant deputy chief of staff for U.S. Air Force Logistics, Installations and Mission Support. There's the supply-side assurance, which is embodied in the synthetic fuels initiative, and the infrastructure focus on renewables and the demand side efficiency, where energy-savings performance contracts are being used to promote conservation in aviation and in buildings.
"The Air Force is a fundamental first adopter of new technology; historically that's where our roots have been in the last 60 years," Aimone said during an interview last week at the U.S. Air Force Energy Forum in Arlington, Va.
Currently several projects are working to bring energy efficiency to the next generation of jet engines. The goal is to get more energy per unit of use looking at combustion efficiency. The efficient jet engine initiative is called Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology. Blended Wing Bodies and new aerodynamic shapes to aircrafts are also part of the energy efficiency equation -- less drag and more lift allow the plane to use less fuel. Lighter aircrafts are also being researched and developed. There is $10 million in the 2008 budget for these projects.
Ground transportation efficiency is also being looked at in the form of hydrogen fuel, ethanol and flex fuel vehicles. The largest Air Force ground transportation initiative is in low-speed vehicles, with a goal of 30 percent inventory by 2010.
Much of the effort being put forth since last month is in part to reach the goals set forth in a January executive order that mandates, among other things, reducing energy intensity by 30 percent and reducing the transportation fleet's total consumption of petroleum products by 2 percent annually by the end of 2015.
In the installation arena, the U.S. Air Force has formed partnerships with companies in energy-savings performance contracts. The Air Force has invested $600 million over the past 10 years into those contracts. In the aviation sector, Air Force partners include GE, Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Rolls-Royce, through the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative. General Motors Corp. is also heavily involved with the Air Force in developing alternative fuels and vehicles.
More funding is expected to come from President Bush's fiscal year 2008 budget in which there is $1 million set aside in the Department of Air Force section for coal-to-liquids technology, specifically for synthetic-fuel testing and evaluation. Also, in the unfunded priorities list, there is a request for $30 million in projects related to synthetic fuels. A combination of what was allocated in President Bush's budget and the unfunded priorities money will allow the U.S. Air Force to have a certified synfuel fleet by 2010. That $31 million would be need in both 2008 and 2009.
One of the biggest challenges yet, Aimone said, is how to create a national "culture of conservation" which is a key part of energy security.
"There's a very high vulnerability of individual elements in the energy system, be it the electrical power system or the natural gas pipeline system but there's also tremendous resiliency in the system and its ability to route power around the problem," Aimone said. "The electrical power system of this nation is the most complex, largest machine in the world."
The consequences of disruption, the vulnerabilities and the threats all must be taken into account when assessing risks, resiliency and defense measures.
The U.S. Air Force is leading the way as the largest consumer of renewable energy, having replaced 11 percent of its electricity demand with renewables. It used more than 1 million megawatt hours of green power in 2005. There has been communication both within the Air Force and outside to the public regarding conservation; it has reduced its facility energy usage by 30 percent over the past 20 years.
Unique to the Air Force energy policy as opposed to other organizations involved in new energy technology is the risk new technology brings to those in the field.
"When we think about energy and the alternatives that we bring to this equation we have to think about our national goal and does this move to alternative energy sources bring improved combat capability to our soldiers and does it reduce the logistics burden out there on the mission," said Brig. Gen. Paul Selva, director of the Air Force Strategic Planning. "When we move to alternatives, it's not just about efficiency but it's about better combat capability."
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