With a rapidly growing budget for renewable energy (estimated to hit $10 billion annually by 2030), the United States military has one of the primary market presences in that field.  As such, it has a rare ability to influence the course of development and create successful models for partnerships with private renewable energy companies.  In her latest entry on the subject, Forbes’ Amy Westervelt details how the Pentagon has worked with the Department of Energy as well as corporate partners to institute trial programs and comments that ”as the various branches of the military pinpoint which technologies and solutions work for them, their approach has not been to seek more appropriations, but to meet with private developers and investors who can help fund projects and eliminate the need for more government funding.” Furthermore, as she crucially notes, “The Department of Defense is prohibited from paying a premium for goods or services, which is an obvious hurdle when it comes to many renewable energy technologies, but it’s also driving innovation in the military’s strategy and could eventually help to drive down costs in the renewable energy sector.”  She also identifies the Army’s Energy Initiatives Office as a key example of new DoD institutions that will be instrumental in creating and strengthening these partnerships going forward.

Comments (0) · Leave a Comment

There are currently no comments.