Thursday, May 22, 2008
Washington Fuels Alternative Energy Drive
Most everyone knows about how research at DARPA led to the innovation we now know as the internet, as a response to its communication needs. And now the U.S. Military is launching a 'green makeover' and synthetic fuel push as a response to its dependence on an uncertain supply of oil.
WSJ report outlines the details about how the U.S. Military, the country's largest single consumer of oil, is turning into an alternative-fuels pioneer. The Defense Department's overall energy bill was $13.6 billion in 2006, the latest figure available. For synthetic fuel, the Air Force is working with aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing Corp. and the Pratt & Whitney engine unit of United Technologies Corp. North American synthetic-fuel processors including Rentech Inc., Baard Energy and Syntroleum Corp.
Alternative fuels are part of a broader conversion by the military to "green" initiatives. Army engineers also are pushing contractors to build armored vehicles with hybrid engines. The Air Force is experimenting with making engine parts out of lighter metals such as titanium to boost fuel efficiency. - U.S. Military Launches Alternative-Fuel Push, YOCHI J. DREAZEN, Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2008
And this is not just a random push triggered recently by skyrocketing oil prices. The Army has a very clear and planned linkage setup between itself and commercial and academic partners for facilitating technology transfers. They have a research base in Micigan called TARDEC (Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center), which along with NAC (National Automotive Center) which oversees everything from solar panel power for the individual Soldier, to hydrogen, fuel cell and battery power solutions for military and commercial vehicles.
But for all of that, it may be a bit late in the day to start a major new push to develop the commercial infrastructure necessary to mass produce alternative energy. And it didn't have to be this way. I started digging into specific support, guidance or authorization from Congress to the Military for such a proposal and it turns out that one person - Representative Bart Gordon (D - TN) - has been going around Capitol Hill with a proposal for something called ARPA-E since 2005. ARPA-E is modelled after DARPA and charged with the mission of reducing US dependence on oil through the rapid development and commercialization of transformational clean energy technologies. It was rejected as H. R. 4435 in 2006 and finally passed on April 10, 2008 as H.R. 364, which was included in H.R. 3221, the New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act. That's 3 years lost because Congress didn't pass this bill in time, and they're still not following up on it, except for Rep. Bart Gordon, who has even threatened to transfer subsidies from the oil industry to fund ARPA-E.
And, now that everybody and his uncle wants an instant solution to the oil crisis, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6049 (pdf file), the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, by a 263-160 vote. The $54 billion tax package is a wide-ranging bill that includes $17 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, carbon capture and sequestration projects, plug-in cars and technology for green buildings. In addition it provides $8.8 billion over 10 years to renew the research and development tax credit and creates a new category of tax credit bonds to finance state and local government initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It's on its way to the Senate, where Senate Republicans indicate they might filibuster the bill, and the Bush Administration has already indicated that it plans to veto the bill, because it contains measures to increase tax revenue meant to balance the Democrats' pay-go system. Inspite of all these partisan hurdles, the very fact that Congress is concerned enough about the oil situation that it has started looking seriously at alternative energy, and is providing $8.8 billion to promote research and green initiatives at the state and local level, is good news for the alternative energy sector.
Put together, the U.S. Military's embrace and funding of green products and solutions, coupled with 'bipartisan' support from Congress, is enough to make independence from fossil fuels a credible reality in the next few years. Let's hope they have the sense to push it through.
Reference:
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8872
http://science.house.gov/resources/energy_initiative.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121134017363909773.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/us/14fuel.html
WSJ report outlines the details about how the U.S. Military, the country's largest single consumer of oil, is turning into an alternative-fuels pioneer. The Defense Department's overall energy bill was $13.6 billion in 2006, the latest figure available. For synthetic fuel, the Air Force is working with aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing Corp. and the Pratt & Whitney engine unit of United Technologies Corp. North American synthetic-fuel processors including Rentech Inc., Baard Energy and Syntroleum Corp.
Alternative fuels are part of a broader conversion by the military to "green" initiatives. Army engineers also are pushing contractors to build armored vehicles with hybrid engines. The Air Force is experimenting with making engine parts out of lighter metals such as titanium to boost fuel efficiency. - U.S. Military Launches Alternative-Fuel Push, YOCHI J. DREAZEN, Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2008
And this is not just a random push triggered recently by skyrocketing oil prices. The Army has a very clear and planned linkage setup between itself and commercial and academic partners for facilitating technology transfers. They have a research base in Micigan called TARDEC (Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center), which along with NAC (National Automotive Center) which oversees everything from solar panel power for the individual Soldier, to hydrogen, fuel cell and battery power solutions for military and commercial vehicles.
But for all of that, it may be a bit late in the day to start a major new push to develop the commercial infrastructure necessary to mass produce alternative energy. And it didn't have to be this way. I started digging into specific support, guidance or authorization from Congress to the Military for such a proposal and it turns out that one person - Representative Bart Gordon (D - TN) - has been going around Capitol Hill with a proposal for something called ARPA-E since 2005. ARPA-E is modelled after DARPA and charged with the mission of reducing US dependence on oil through the rapid development and commercialization of transformational clean energy technologies. It was rejected as H. R. 4435 in 2006 and finally passed on April 10, 2008 as H.R. 364, which was included in H.R. 3221, the New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act. That's 3 years lost because Congress didn't pass this bill in time, and they're still not following up on it, except for Rep. Bart Gordon, who has even threatened to transfer subsidies from the oil industry to fund ARPA-E.
And, now that everybody and his uncle wants an instant solution to the oil crisis, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6049 (pdf file), the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, by a 263-160 vote. The $54 billion tax package is a wide-ranging bill that includes $17 billion in tax incentives for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, carbon capture and sequestration projects, plug-in cars and technology for green buildings. In addition it provides $8.8 billion over 10 years to renew the research and development tax credit and creates a new category of tax credit bonds to finance state and local government initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It's on its way to the Senate, where Senate Republicans indicate they might filibuster the bill, and the Bush Administration has already indicated that it plans to veto the bill, because it contains measures to increase tax revenue meant to balance the Democrats' pay-go system. Inspite of all these partisan hurdles, the very fact that Congress is concerned enough about the oil situation that it has started looking seriously at alternative energy, and is providing $8.8 billion to promote research and green initiatives at the state and local level, is good news for the alternative energy sector.
Put together, the U.S. Military's embrace and funding of green products and solutions, coupled with 'bipartisan' support from Congress, is enough to make independence from fossil fuels a credible reality in the next few years. Let's hope they have the sense to push it through.
Reference:
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=8872
http://science.house.gov/resources/energy_initiative.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121134017363909773.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/us/14fuel.html
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