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You are here: Home / Science & Technology / We’ll Go Green In Order to Feed the War Pig

We’ll Go Green In Order to Feed the War Pig

by John Cole|  October 5, 20108:41 am| 45 Comments

This post is in: Science & Technology, War

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Depressing, but maybe we can convince congress to take green technologies seriously if it is framed as a national security issue:

With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels.

Last week, a Marine company from California arrived in the rugged outback of Helmand Province bearing novel equipment: portable solar panels that fold up into boxes; energy-conserving lights; solar tent shields that provide shade and electricity; solar chargers for computers and communications equipment.

The 150 Marines of Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, will be the first to take renewable technology into a battle zone, where the new equipment will replace diesel and kerosene-based fuels that would ordinarily generate power to run their encampment.

Even as Congress has struggled unsuccessfully to pass an energy bill and many states have put renewable energy on hold because of the recession, the military this year has pushed rapidly forward. After a decade of waging wars in remote corners of the globe where fuel is not readily available, senior commanders have come to see overdependence on fossil fuel as a big liability, and renewable technologies — which have become more reliable and less expensive over the past few years — as providing a potential answer. These new types of renewable energy now account for only a small percentage of the power used by the armed forces, but military leaders plan to rapidly expand their use over the next decade.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the huge truck convoys that haul fuel to bases have been sitting ducks for enemy fighters — in the latest attack, oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan were set on fire in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, early Monday. In Iraq and Afghanistan, one Army study found, for every 24 fuel convoys that set out, one soldier or civilian engaged in fuel transport was killed. In the past three months, six Marines have been wounded guarding fuel runs in Afghanistan.

I suppose withdrawing until our “allies” in Pakistan are no longer aiding and abetting attacks on our convoys simply isn’t an option, so we may finally get solar power vehicles in this country.

Tanks.

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45Comments

  1. 1.

    Dennis SGMM

    October 5, 2010 at 8:45 am

    My PC’s irony chip just blew out from the overload.

  2. 2.

    Face

    October 5, 2010 at 8:47 am

    Just wait until our “allies”, the Pakistanis, block out the sun. Then we’re fucked.

  3. 3.

    someguy

    October 5, 2010 at 8:47 am

    All it takes to get people to go green is having a Marine colonel who can have you shot within the next half hour order you to go green.

    Nothing to it. All we need is an endless supply of Marine colonels.

  4. 4.

    PeakVT

    October 5, 2010 at 8:47 am

    I’ll let conservatives think it was their idea in the first place if they get behind seriously greening something. Anything, really.

  5. 5.

    r€nato

    October 5, 2010 at 8:49 am

    Rocket technology for space travel – developed with military funding so that we could have rockets to deliver nuclear bombs to Mother Russia.

    The intertubes – developed with military funding so that a computer network could survive nuclear war.

    Two items on a very long list of technological breakthroughs whose genesis was to meet military needs… if that’s what it takes, so be it… since clearly the civilian leadership is stymied from moving towards more responsible energy policies by special interests and ignorant citizens.

    And that reminds me… the military takes global climate change much more seriously as well.

  6. 6.

    WyldPirate

    October 5, 2010 at 8:58 am

    holy shit. Like a bunch of fucking solar panels to take the place of all of those sorry-assed diesel generators (I kid, I remember them being pretty damned reliable when I was in the Army) to bring creature comforts to the troops and power the PCs and projectors for those high-speed, low-drag Ops briefings is going to make a dent in fuel consumption?

    Anyone want to buy this cool fucking bridge I have for sale i Manhatten?

  7. 7.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 9:03 am

    I have ALWAYS pushed renewable energy as a national security issue. And it is. It’s the gravest national security threat we face. Even without factoring in global warming.

  8. 8.

    cleek

    October 5, 2010 at 9:04 am

    it’ll never fly with wingnuts if they call it “green”. they’ve got to call it something technical and vaguely macho like “on-site power generation” or “portable energy production” (PEP!)

    “green” is too libfaggy

  9. 9.

    lacp

    October 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

    This is great! At long last, sustainable imperialism!

  10. 10.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

    @WyldPirate:

    Anyone want to buy this cool fucking bridge I have for sale i Manhatten?

    Why the snark? What’s your problem with getting off of fossil fuels? If all you want to do is roll over and die, then please, do that…and get the hell out of the way of the adults who actually look for solutions.

    You seem to be stuck asking the ‘why” when we really really need to be asking “what next”.

  11. 11.

    soonergrunt

    October 5, 2010 at 9:08 am

    @r€nato:

    the military takes global climate change much more seriously as well.

    And they have since the 1980s.

  12. 12.

    jon

    October 5, 2010 at 9:10 am

    I love that Republicans go apeshit over the idea of a garden in the White House lawn, but I haven’t heard one peep about the solar panels that have taken over pretty much the entire Northern edge of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base here in Tucson. Republicans cry if you even hint that the gasoline supply isn’t guaranteed for eternity and that fuel-efficient cars are a good idea, but they apparently haven’t noticed that the United States Navy is going nuclear-powered even for its smaller ships. There’s Communism! if anyone suggests people put on a sweater or turn down the AC, but if the Air Force wants to put solar-powered drone spy planes up in the air instead of a costly satellite launch? No problemo.

    I hope the Republicans don’t take over and start looking closely at the military budgets, because all these programs would be cut in favor of diesel-guzzling, coal-burning, and rocket-launching American know-how. America, Fuck Yeah!

  13. 13.

    jwb

    October 5, 2010 at 9:12 am

    @soonergrunt: And they damn well better since the world will be shaped by the realities of global warming—whether the wingnuts believe it or not.

  14. 14.

    Hawes

    October 5, 2010 at 9:13 am

    It will be telling if the only way Congress adopts alt fuels is if they do so at the request of the only governmental agency that never gets told “no”. Congress has no trouble saying no to the tens of millions of Americans who see this as a vital interest in the next fifty years.

    But say no to the generals? You can’t be serious.

    If the end result is more alt fuel technology, then the military will have found a new way to serve their country.

  15. 15.

    soonergrunt

    October 5, 2010 at 9:14 am

    @Xboxershorts: I think what he’s suggesting is that a few solar panels aren’t going to shrink the deployed military’s voracious appetite for fossil fuels appreciably.
    To some extent, he’s right (if that was what he was getting at) because change takes a lot of time and will require a huge investment in new capabilities that we don’t have ready for prime time right now.

    Having said that, yes, solar panels will make a huge dent in the very applications WyldPirate mentioned, because those applications are all static consumers of electricity. Where the changes will be the most difficult will be in the armored and motor stock. The things that roll around and shoot people or roll around carrying extra bullets.

  16. 16.

    stuckinred

    October 5, 2010 at 9:18 am

    @soonergrunt: How you feeling?

  17. 17.

    WyldPirate

    October 5, 2010 at 9:21 am

    @<a href="#comment-2089367″>Xboxershorts:

    Why the snark? What’s your problem with getting off of fossil fuels?

    C’mon dude, chill the fuck out. I have no problem getting off of fossil fuels (not like its going to happen with any sort of substitute to power the number of vehicles we have on the road today). My point was that the fuel consumption of the things that are being replaced by the “greening” efforts pales in comparison to the fuel consumption of an M1-tank (gallons per mile, 8 gallons to even start it), helicopters, Hummers and the like.

    And yes, I know there are probably zero M1’s rolling around in Afghanistan, but the point is the same; generators are a drop in the bucket for fuel consumption in comparison even though the use of them as an electricity source is probably sky high in afghanistan due to the crappy infrastructure.

  18. 18.

    WyldPirate

    October 5, 2010 at 9:23 am

    @soonergrunt:
    Thanks soonergrunt, that was exactly the point I was trying to make.

  19. 19.

    artem1s

    October 5, 2010 at 9:23 am

    @jon:

    its cause they lurvs teh flyboys. Bush the Greater, King George, Grumpy old ManMcCain. for some reason they are all freaking Chuck Yeager if they can fly a jet and can do no wrong. and.also.too roaring jets needs lots and lots of fossil fuels.

  20. 20.

    Uloborus

    October 5, 2010 at 9:23 am

    Does WP just not tell you if you’re in moderation now? I put up an extensive post about this, but it’s disappeared into the Electronic Aether and if I try and repost WP goes ‘no, no, I saw it!’

  21. 21.

    Jude

    October 5, 2010 at 9:26 am

    I can’t believe you passed on “Tanks for the green technology” as a post title.

  22. 22.

    Scott P.

    October 5, 2010 at 9:33 am

    I’ve been saying the military needs to do this since I saw the stats on fuel consumption during Desert Storm. We won’t always be fighting a war sitting on the largest oil fields on the planet.

  23. 23.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 9:35 am

    @WyldPirate:

    I am chilled the fuck out. But…there are many many non-fossil diesel options out there. I’m being serious too.

    I don’t want to buy your worn out shitty bridge.

    And most of all, I want to stop living in the past, for God’s sake.

  24. 24.

    John PM

    October 5, 2010 at 9:43 am

    Ironically, if the military turns sufficiently green, that would remove the primary reason for us being in the Middle East. Of course, I suppose we could them try to bring democracy to Sub-Saharan Africa in order to protect its precious solar reserves.

  25. 25.

    nancydarling

    October 5, 2010 at 9:46 am

    Whatever you think of the military, some of the smartest guys in the room are in the Pentagon. In a pretty recent quadrennial review, they were planning for resource wars, border wars over water, etc. They are good at defining the problems even if you don’t agree with the solutions. They have been on these problems for years. For what it’s worth, I have a real soft spot for the enlisted man since every generation of my family has been a part of them—most of the top brass, not so much. The only officer in my family history was my oldest brother who went to OCS and then spent a hellish year in Korea as a forward observer for the artillery—not a very good job!

  26. 26.

    WyldPirate

    October 5, 2010 at 9:50 am

    @Xboxershorts:

    I am chilled the fuck out. But…there are many many non-fossil diesel options out there. I’m being serious too.

    twist whatever it is you’re smoking and pass it my way if you think that there are enough non-fossil fuel options out there to generate the power demands for 100 million vehicles on the road in the US driving the number of miles they are now.

    And we aren’t even counting the agricultural use of fossil fuels to produce the millions of tons of fertilizer and tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel that are required to get the vittles on the table and to market.

    Fermenting switchgrass into alcohol ain’t gonna cut it. Buying yourself a fucking all electric Prius–that’s most likely using electricity generated by fucking coal–ain’t gonna cut it.

    What’s going to happen is a severe regression in our lifestyle to something more closely resembling the late 19th century agrarian economies. And that’s if we’re lucky and most of the US coastline isn’t underwater and our interior isn’t turned to desert by climate change.

    Me, I think it’s already too late. The wheels are in motion and the damage is already done. We are looking at massive disruption worldwide. We are looking at mass starvation and mass migration and mass depopulation. This is what soonergrunt was most likely referring to wrt the military’s focus on climate change–the global consequences from a security standpoint of the down slope of “peak oil” and/or climate change.

  27. 27.

    soonergrunt

    October 5, 2010 at 9:53 am

    The Army is testing a couple of hybrid-powered vehicles right now. One of the design goals is to move twenty miles over any terrain at a speed of thirty miles per hour solely on electricity. When you think about the fact that we’re talking a very heavy armored car with a shitload of electrical usage for radios, computer, souped up air conditioning and so on, you can begin to see the engineering challenge.

    @John PM:
    the military’s use of fossil fuels isn’t what’s driving our activities in the middle east. It’s our whole fucking economy requiring diesel and gasoline driving our presence there.
    the military is just obvious because they dress differently than you do and they drive thousands of copies of the same car everywhere they go.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 5, 2010 at 9:57 am

    @soonergrunt:

    the military is just obvious because they dress differently than you do and they drive thousands of copies of the same car everywhere they go.

    Shouldn’t they be virtually invisible due to all the cammo?

  29. 29.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 9:59 am

    @WyldPirate:

    The single most useful plant on the planet.

    I just don’t hear the fat lady singing yet.

  30. 30.

    WyldPirate

    October 5, 2010 at 10:10 am

    @Xboxershorts:

    The single most useful plant on the planet.

    Hey, I’m feeling you, bro. It’s my fave as well and you’re right it is the most versatile and useful plant on the planet. Clothing, paper, food, fuel, hempcrete, thousands of useful chemicals, plastic and the magnificent medicine and buzz. And these few things don’t begin to scratch the surface.

    It’s all good. No hard feelings, k?

  31. 31.

    daveNYC

    October 5, 2010 at 10:11 am

    I don’t want to buy your worn out shitty bridge.

    Screw you man, it’s a great bridge, but I guess I can throw in the George Washington at half price if you’ll take both.

  32. 32.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 10:24 am

    @WyldPirate:

    None at all. We want the same thing, except for that bridge…

  33. 33.

    soonergrunt

    October 5, 2010 at 10:25 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Shouldn’t they be virtually invisible due to all the cammo?

    Have you seen what passes for camo these days?
    The ACU “universal” pattern is good camo if you’re having a firefight in a gravel quarry. Otherwise, not so much, since it’s universally bad camo. The Air Force’s camo is even more of a joke, but nobody’s camo is as bad as the shore-based Navy guys. Theirs (dark blues and greys) is so bad that it’s not authorized for use in either Iraq or Afghanistan. They’re using the old desert 3-part camo.

    Thank God the Army is finally using Crye Multicam in Afganistan. Hopefully they’ll pull their collective head out of their collective ass and issue it to everybody everywhere.

  34. 34.

    uila

    October 5, 2010 at 10:38 am

    This is crazy talk. Fossil fuels win wars. Next they’ll be telling us you can’t win hearts and minds with cluster bombs and robot missile attacks.

  35. 35.

    stuckinred

    October 5, 2010 at 10:39 am

    @soonergrunt: I wondered what that blue and grey was. The Navy Supply School is a couple of blocks away (for about another month) and I’ve seen some of those squids wearing that stuff.

  36. 36.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    October 5, 2010 at 10:46 am

    Hey it’s just like Upton Sinclair predicted: when green energy comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross armor piercing munitions.

  37. 37.

    soonergrunt

    October 5, 2010 at 10:48 am

    @stuckinred:
    I see that at Tinker AFB. There’s a huge Navy presence here because this is where the planes that talk to submarines are based. I saw that camo pattern and I was like “what the fuck ever.” Dumbest damn thing I’ve seen in a while.

    Anyway, I’m holding together. Doc thinks I had a blood clot in my lung last weekend and that was why I felt so horrible. A stay in the hospital may be in my future if it happens again.

  38. 38.

    evinfuilt

    October 5, 2010 at 10:53 am

    So we’ll get our military to use alternative energy in pursuit of fossil fuels for us to use @home?

    Oddly makes sense to me. After all we let the Navy get away with being the most green organization in the world with all their well run Nuclear Power plants, but don’t allow that type of efficiency and environmentalism on the land.

    USA USA USA!!!!

  39. 39.

    Steaming Pile

    October 5, 2010 at 10:57 am

    @Xboxershorts: Energy conservation, renewables, etc., are indeed national security issues. They were always so. The truly ironic thing about it is that it took a Democratic administration to emphasize this point.

  40. 40.

    Xboxershorts

    October 5, 2010 at 11:28 am

    @Steaming Pile:

    My time in the Navy on tanker escort duty in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war made this painfully clear to me. Especially after friends of mine died on board the USS Stark when Saddam attacked her.

    I still stood alone among my circle of friends and associates saying invading Iraq was a bad, bad idea.

    The greatest inhibitor of our getting off of oil is the pinning of the American fiat currency as the official currency of international trade.

    Saddam proved this, right before he was invaded, by threatening to trade oil in Euros.

    Our government fucking sucks.

  41. 41.

    PhoenixRising

    October 5, 2010 at 11:55 am

    Solar for electric equipment is a good start. There are already alternatives to fossil fuels for moving soldiers and their equipment.

    If the Pentagon requisitioned 5 mobile algae generation stations from the startup outside of El Paso that makes the things–solar power converted by photosynthesis into diesel fuel in 2 easy steps, it’s real–and moved those things onto Ft Bliss next week, we’d have tanks and trucks carrying their own fuel supply within a year.

    God willing, the generals will look at the costs of protecting supply lines and consider carrying a diesel fuel plant. We have the technology now. Plus green jobs of the future: Any grunt in supply and logistics could learn how to run the thing in a week, and start a business when s/he leaves the service building and maintaining diesel fuel generators.

  42. 42.

    Brachiator

    October 5, 2010 at 12:18 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    To some extent, he’s right (if that was what he was getting at) because change takes a lot of time and will require a huge investment in new capabilities that we don’t have ready for prime time right now.

    To me the entire story about the military using “green technology” is a huge distraction from the more important story. I know that you have written good stuff on military issues before. What’s your take on the implications of the Pakistanis, our supposed allies, being complicit in an attack on US fuel supply convoys?

    Armed militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 parked tanker trucks carrying fuel for NATO and American troops in Afghanistan on Monday, the police said. It was the third such strike in Pakistan since Friday.
    __
    The attack, not far from the capital, Islamabad, took place on a supply line that has been stalled because of a temporary border closing imposed by the Pakistani authorities to protest a NATO helicopter attack that killed three Pakistani soldiers last week.
    __
    The border closing has exacerbated tensions between the United States and Pakistan but has been welcomed by Islamist groups opposed to Pakistan’s support of the American-led war in Afghanistan.

    I get the impression that there are a limited number of routes into Afghanistan that permit the speedy movement of troops and material. That US troops could be set up for an ambush is a frightening thought.

  43. 43.

    HyperIon

    October 5, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    @cleek wrote: “green” is too libfaggy

    exactly.
    this is just more pussification of the military.
    the marines, no less.

  44. 44.

    Draylon Hogg

    October 5, 2010 at 5:47 pm

    @5

    Aren’t rockets great?

    Developed by Nazis. Like Wernher von Braun. Who used Allied prisoners of war as slave labour in his factories. Who, after being welcomed into America after the war and sharing his knowledge got a job at Disneyland helping with the exhibits and rides in Tomorrowland in the 50’s.

    To see such joy wrought from the civillian application of military innovation is truly a wondrous thing.

  45. 45.

    Draylon Hogg

    October 5, 2010 at 5:57 pm

    If the Pakistanis are your Allies why are you killing them with drone strikes? And please, no shit about collateral damage in the pursuit of militants. You wouldn’t approve if Mexico killed a few Texans whilst trying to eliminate drug lords near the border.

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