U.S. Navy on Track for Increased Energy Efficiency

Mabus Touts Increased Efficiency in Navy Energy

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Official Photo)

Aug. 23, 2011 – Shortly after Navy Secretary Ray Mabus took office in 2009, he issued a series of daring decrees: the Navy must make serious headway in becoming energy-efficient.

Now, two years later, the Navy is well on its way to increased efficiency and energy independence. Mabus joined a “DOD Live” bloggers roundtable yesterday {listen to DoD podcast} to discuss the Navy’s progress and explain his energy goals for the Navy.

“The most overarching, or the broadest one, was that by no later than 2020, at least half of all Navy energy -- both afloat and ashore -- would come from nonfossil fuel sources,” he said. “I did this to address a vulnerability. We simply buy too much petroleum from either potentially or actually volatile places on Earth, and we need to address that vulnerability to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil.”

Mabus said energy independence should be a high strategic priority for the military. Too many unstable governments are making money off of the American military through fuel sales, he said, and embracing alternative fuel sources also serves tactical purposes.

“We import gasoline, more than any single substance, into Afghanistan,” he explained. “For every 50 convoys of fuel, we lose a Marine, either killed or wounded. That is simply too high a price to pay.”

In addition, he said, energy initiatives now save a Marine company almost 700 pounds of batteries by using solar blankets to power some equipment. read more