Energy Planning Rises as Pentagon Priority: Lynn

26 Apr 2011 By MARCUS WEISGERBER DefenseNews

The U.S. Defense Department must change the way it uses energy on the battlefield as conflicts become longer and more expeditionary, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said April 26.

Speaking at a White House energy security forum alongside Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman, Lynn renewed a DoD-Energy agreement to work together to reduce the military's energy consumption at a time when it is facing a wider range of threats. "Conflict is evolving from a focus on intense, but short, periods of combat that end decisively to longer, more drawn-out engagements," Lynn said. "As conflicts become longer in duration and more expeditionary in nature, the amount of fuel it takes to keep our forces in the field represents a significant vulnerability. We must change how we manage energy on the battlefield and strive to reduce demand of all levels of our forces." To that end, the Pentagon is building energy performance parameters into the requirements process, according to Lynn. "DoD needs to address energy as a military planning challenge," he said. "Supply is limited, cost is increasing and with the changing nature of war, our current energy technology is not optimized for the battlefield of today and tomorrow." The Pentagon and the Energy Department, which inked their partnership last year, are working on projects in three areas: advancing mobility and strike capabilities, increasing energy reliability and efficiency on DoD fixed and forward operating bases, and advancing institutional cooperation between the departments, including stationing Energy advisers at the combatant commands, according to Poneman. John Deutch, a former deputy defense secretary who also appeared on the panel with Lynn and Poneman, called for a joint project office between DoD and Energy, which would have a budget to institutionalize their efforts. Specifically, the two departments have partnered to test micro grids, alternative fuels, batteries and energy storage. In the coming years, the two departments plan to target energy reliability at installations and strike capability in operations. About three-quarters of the energy DoD consumes goes toward military operations, according to Lynn. At the same time, the Pentagon wants to institutionalize energy planning as part of the requirements process, Lynn said. As DoD develops proposals and designs for next-generation equipment, it will be looking at industry to lower energy costs of weapons.