August 21, 2009

Group wants military energy offensive
Retired generals, admirals back new technologies for security's sake

By Mike Lee
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

A blue-ribbon panel of retired military leaders is pressing theDepartment of Defense to bolster its national-defense strategy byboosting energy conservation and embracing power sources other thanfossil fuels.

Heavy reliance on oil and an outdated electric grid pose threats tooverseas and domestic activities, according to "Powering America'sDefense." The recent report was written by the Military Advisory Boardof CNA, a nonprofit research group in Alexandria, Va., that runs theCenter for Naval Analyses.

The board comprises retired generals and admirals who also produceda 2007 report about national-security threats posed by climate change.

One of those officials, a former commander of the Navy's 3rd Fleetin San Diego, visited local biofuel pioneers yesterday as part of thepanel's outreach campaign.

Retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn swapped funding ideas andnetworking information with scientists at The Scripps ResearchInstitute in La Jolla, site of the meeting, and those from UCSD'sScripps Institution of Oceanography.

Most of the conversation focused on the researchers experimenting with algae to produce fuel.

"This is exactly the kind of thing we need to do in the UnitedStates," said McGinn, who wants the Defense Department to help lead a"transformation" of the nation's energy's sector.

He said San Diego County is the perfect spot to start by connectingthe region's scientists with leaders of military bases such as CampPendleton and North Island Naval Air Station.

"There is a natural chemistry here that can really be leveraged," McGinn said.

Stephen Mayfield, a professor of cell biology at The Scripps Research Institute, welcomed McGinn's help.

"You need guys like the admiral, who translate" scientific datainto recommendations for policymakers, Mayfield said. "When you getthose connections made, that is when things start to move forward."

He said the military could play a major role in bringing alternative-energy ideas from the lab into mainstream society.

"A little tug from them is an enormous pull just because of their size," Mayfield said.

The United States consumes roughly 25 percent of the world's oilproduction but controls only about 3 percent of it, according to"Powering America's Defense," which was released in May.

That report follows on a 2008 study by the Defense Science Board, acommittee of scientists appointed by the secretary of defense. Theboard said the Pentagon lacks a comprehensive strategy for curbing itsgrowing use of energy and for developing "green" sources of power.

The Defense Department is the largest single consumer of energy in the United States.

In 2006, it spent $13.6 billion to buy 110 million barrels ofpetroleum fuel - about 300,000 barrels of oil each day - and 3.8billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. That represents about 0.8percent of total U.S. energy consumption and 78 percent of the federalgovernment's energy use, the board said in its 2008 study.

McGinn and the panel's other members are repeating a common warningabout how the nation's dependence on foreign oil weakens the economyand puts troops at risk from fiscal and political instability aroundthe world.

But they went further, saying that America's electricity-delivery system could go out at any moment.

"Many of our large military installations rely on power from afragile electrical grid that is vulnerable to malicious attacks orinterruptions caused by natural disasters," their report said.

In addition to finding new fuel sources, the panel said themilitary needs to improve its fuel efficiency and increase its fleet ofelectric vehicles.

Yesterday, the Defense Department and local Navy officials didn't comment on those recommendations.

But retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of naval airforces at North Island, said a recent meeting with the Marine Corpscommandant gave him hope that current military leaders are starting toaddress the problems.

"People are taking this seriously on the policy side, the technicalside and the operations side," Nathman said. "I believe in a couple ofyears, you will see a change in the behavior of the Department ofDefense."

---

Mike Lee: (619) 542-4570;