Wind of change sweeps over renewable energy sector

(UN Environment, 31 Oct 2018) In the long-term interests of its soldiers, a US military base is turning itself into a knowledge hub on renewable energy.

Fort Benning military base in Georgia, United States, is blazing a trail with an innovative windmill. The US military has long been interested in renewables for bottom line and energy security reasons, and the Navy’s top brass frets that climate change-induced sea-level rise could impact naval installations. The Army has been quick to realize the operational advantages of renewables, as well as the importance of sound environmental practices for the health of its soldiers and the community at large.

Solar has been the military’s preferred source of renewable energy and Fort Benning already had a 30 MW array installed by 2016. But wind energy is where the jobs are these days, and Fort Benning now has turbines fully housed in low-rise structures: the innovation is that they are designed to run on the updraft from an air-conditioning system, not on ambient winds.

The Army is doing its bit to help turn soldiers who have finished active duty into sought-after technicians. The project at Fort Benning is part of a wider scheme to set active military personnel up with specific, in-demand career skills before they leave the Army, rather than discharging them without any solid prospects.

The US military’s biggest base on American soil has been drawing nearly half of its power from renewable energy since last year. Fort Hood, in Texas, has shifted from fossil fuels to wind- and solar-generated energy to shield the base from its dependence on outside sources. Its 63,000 solar panels, located on the base’s grounds, and 21 off-base wind turbines provide a total of some 65 megawatts of power.

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UN Environment, 31 Oct 2018: Wind of change sweeps over renewable energy sector