Marines set to ship more solar panels to Afghanistan
Marines and Sailors of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and their Afghan national army counterparts, pose in front of a modified ZeroBase Regenerator in Sangin District, Afghanistan. (USMC photo)
The U.S. Marine Corps will start shipping in December 10 sets of 20 solar panel systems to Afghanistan to power patrol and forward operating bases as part of an alternative energy initiative to cut the Corps’ fuel use in half by 2025.
Marine Corps officials accelerated the fielding of energy saving systems to include tent liners, LED lights, a solar powered radio and a solar panel network that the Corps expects to save them more than $40 million per year.
Marines with India Company 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan, last year and used this equipment all while engaged in some of the fiercest fighting since U.S. forces entered Afghanistan.
Their rave reviews urged Corps leaders to ship more alternative energy systems to Afghanistan faster.
“Guys didn’t want to give it up,” said Maj. Sean Sadlier, a logistics analyst with the Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office. “What better review can you get than that.”
Solar shades and two sets of the solar panel systems officially called the Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network Systems (GREENS) are still in use at Patrol Base Boldak where India 3/5 Marines used them. Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan also has five sets of solar floodlights Sadlier said have proven “very reliable.”
The Marine Corps has gotten out in front of the Defense Department-wide effort to cut down fuel consumption focusing especially on small unit’s energy use. Marine Corps leaders say they don’t have a choice.
Marines consume 5 million barrels of oil at a cost of $1 billion per year. Even more alarming is the number of Marines wounded hauling that fuel on streets laced with improvised explosive devices in the war zone. One Marine is wounded for every 50 fuel and water convoy driven.
India 3/5 Marines saw their fuel and battery replacement needs fall significantly. Units could complete three week foot patrols without one battery resupply using the Solar Portable Alternative Communications Energy System (SPACES) along with other rechargers.
Carrying less batteries means also lightening a Marine’s load — one of Commandant Gen. Jim Amos’ top priorities.
The Corps’ second deployment of alternative energy systems started in August. The focus this time is on hybrid systems to include direct current air-conditioning units.
Bill Barg, vice president of Sun Danzer which built the AC units, said the toughest challenge for direct current units powered partially by solar energy is matching electrical currents to the device. He is eager to see just how much fuel is saved by the hybrid systems.
Sadlier said hybrid is a realistic compromise. Too many systems already depend on petroleum. Replacing a large chunk of them is fiscally unfeasible especially in this budget environment, he said.
“No one foresees a near term replacement for petroleum on the battlefield, so hybrid systems have the most potential to balance renewable sources and the demand,” Sadlier said.
However, getting Marines to cut down on their energy needs still holds the greatest potential for energy savings. Using this equipment gets them in the right frame of mind, Marines here at Modern Day Marine said.
“Staff NCOs are key to the culture change. They are the ones out there. They have to be the ones that buy into it and so far we’ve seen that,” Sadlier said.
September 30th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Did you just say we will still be there in 2025 ? Just great !!!
October 18th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
During the last world Energy Crisis caused by the OPEC boycott, I was one of the managers of Canada’s “Energy Conservation & Renewable Energy Programme.”
Under the leadership of President Jimmy Carter ((a USN Veteran Submariner)), America instituted a large scale Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy programme which had a large research component involving several universities and federal research institutions. Importantly, all branches of the US Armed Forces, particularly ground forces were involved. The results were impressive, and from early days the savings were quantifiable, and in some cases impressively large. Officials of our department in Canada were in constant contact with our American counterparts, including the US Armed forces. US officials and commissioned officers visited our offices. There were, from the US side, many inventions and many innovation. Most importantly, money was being saved, and the reduction of dependence on foreign petroleum were, even from the early days, quantifiable and not insignificant.
There was a change in the US Administration following elections, and the new administration wound down the renewable energy and energy conservation programmes. Regrettably, much valuable information was lost, and promising practical research and development initiatives cut off.
I am at a complete loss to understand why at present President Jimmy Carter is not being consulted by the present Administration and indeed by the top echelon of the U.S. Armed forces on the highly PRACTICAL energy programme he launched and oversaw, involving thousands of scientists and engineers. And let it not be forgotten, Armed Forces personnel. ((Can the Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon take a hint?.
At the very least, a Task Force should be created to consolidate and archive the research programmes’ documents, because, for one thing, millions of dollars were spent on the research and implementation of this initiative. This was in the pre-computer and pre-Internet days. Much will be wasted if wheels are going to be re-invented…!!
I congratulate the US Marine Corps on their initiative, and hope other branches will follow their example.
As a footnote, I am aware that many eminent US scientists, including the distinguished astro physicist Dr. Rush D. Holt who is now a Congressman from the State of New Jersey, that the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment — OTA has not been revived. It played an important role in many arenas, including, most importantly, that of energy.
This was during the Cold War and the leaders of the USSR thought the OTA was such an excellent idea that they built a duplicate in Moscow. Ironically it is still operational, while the American original has been mothballed.
C. ALEXANDER BROWN
Rockcliffe Park, Ontario, CANADA,
BADEN-WUERTTEMBERG, Germany.