Alternative Power Sources for Deployed Troops

Pentagon needs alternative power sources for deployed troops

04/26/2011 - U.S. supply convoys in Afghanistan, which are devoted in large part to transporting fuel into war zones, have suffered the loss of more than 3,000 troops or contractors over the past decade, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III told a White House forum on energy security on Tuesday.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency estimates that 70 percent of the fuel transported over hazardous supply routes to Afghanistan is used for power generation at base camp and forward operating bases; hence, Lynn said, Defense needs to find new ways to provide power at those bases.

Lynn said the Marine Corps has forged the way with the use of renewable power by one of its units, which returned in April from an eight-month deployment. The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment used solar panels as alternate energy sources so effectively, Lynn said, that two patrol bases ran completely on solar power, while another derived 90 percent of its energy requirements from solar power.

Individual Marines carried their own solar panels, allowing one patrol to use them to recharge radio batteries over a three-week period rather than rely on resupply.

The largest of the solar panel systems the Marines deployed to Afghanistan, ZeroBase Regenerator, consists of six large solar panels funneling energy into one battery that can power more than 20 lights and 15 computers at one time, according to a Marine news release. {continued}

White House forum on energy security with link to video of forum.