Climate Action
Going Green: An Operational Imperative
July 14, 2016
Due to population growth and climate change, the availability and cost-benefit ratio of resources like fossil fuels have become a huge problem. As a result, The Pentagon views going green as the best long-term strategy. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, The U.S. Department of Defense is the second-largest buyer of renewable electricity. The White House, Congress, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have all encouraged the military to clean up its old energy sourcing and to shift to renewable sources. As a result, the Army has instrumented the Army Energy Security Implementation Strategy, which commits to deploy 1 gigawatts of renewable energy on their installations by 2025. Like the Army, the Air Force has also pledged to produce 1 gigawatts of renewable energy. Furthermore, the Army has also committed to design all new buildings to achieve zero-net-energy by 2030, beginning in 2020.
Going green does not only help the government save millions, the Pentagon finds that renewable energy sources also works better compared to other forms of energy. Renewable energy over time has become exponentially cheaper and more effective. The use of renewable energy can also help save lives. For instance, using solar panels, battery storage and microgrids instead of using fossil fuels and generators can deliver the power safely to enclosed campuses. Generators and fossil fuels are unstable and they have the potential to run low and endanger the well-being of existing operations if they cannot be resupplied.
The U.S. military is not the only place that uses renewable energy. Many large corporations and organizations have started to go green one by one. Below is a chart that shows the top twenty institutions that use renewable energy.
Going green is not only a political directive, it is also an operational imperative. In the military, warfighter efficiency will be improved, operational energy will be diminished, and energy security will be enhanced. In business, companies will cut their costs and save millions through going green. Going green is not something difficult that only government organizations or large corporations can achieve. Installing renewable energy in your home is probably easier than you think and it is something that everyone should absolutely support. Look around your environment and see what you can do personally to help make the world a better place.