U.S. Military “going green”

Green Initiatives Support Energy-Savings Concept

A 1-megawatt solar array being built at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., like these solar arrays displayed at the Sacramento State Fairgrounds in Sacramento, Calif., will conserve energy and save taxpayer dollars. U.S. Army photo

April 13, 2011 – Last week’s groundbreaking for a new solar micro grid at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., is the latest example of a military “going green” -– saving environmental resources and taxpayer dollars, too.

The 1-megawatt facility, to become operational later this year, will provide one-third of the power for the nation’s largest Army Reserve training post, and ultimately it will save $1 million in energy costs annually, Addison D. “Tad” Davis IV, command executive officer for U.S. Army Reserve Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., told American Forces Press Service.

Taking advantage of the post’s 292 annual days of sunshine, the facility’s two grids, each stretching about 40 feet by 1,200 feet over an existing parking lot, will shade vehicles below while generating renewable solar energy.

“This is pretty exciting stuff, when you think about the fact that we are able to do this and generate that much energy for this installation,” Davis said.

And if the Army decides to expand the initiative into its second and third phases, it could enable Fort Hunter Liggett to become one of the Defense Department’s first “net-zero energy installations,” meaning it produces as much energy as it uses, he said.
Davis said he’s seen the military make huge strides in energy conservation. A decade ago, as Fort Bragg’s garrison commander, he introduced the Army’s first installation-wide sustainability program.

Costs largely drove that decision. “As the installation commander for the largest populated military installation in the world here at Fort Bragg, I had the checkbook, and I had to pay the energy bill and the water bill every month,” he said. {continued}