Defense Department Spending Millions on Energy Projects and R&D

GE gets $2 million in stimulus money from the Department of Defense to demonstrate a smart microgrid at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base in California. Across the Pacific, the Navy announces it has awarded a $403,633 photovoltaic design contract to a Honolulu firm to mount solar panels on buildings at Pearl Harbor and at a missile range on Kauai.

In both cases, the funding is part of the $7.4 billion the Department of Defense (DOD) received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While much of the DOD money will go to construction and modernization of military facilities, there’s a significant energy component to the Defense Department’s ARRA spending plan, including:

·         $300 million to develop energy-efficient technologies

·         $120 million for improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings

The $300 million will fund 51 R&D projects intended to investigate technologies that can satisfy capability gaps, present opportunities for military applications, or spur initiatives within industry. The projects cover five topic areas:

Fuel Optimization for Mobility Platforms

·         Testing various materials, like ceramics, in engine and equipment design to lower thermal loads and decrease the need for cooling of component parts that require additional energy to perform the cooling tasks

·         Demonstrations on the fuel efficiency of low observable subsonic propulsion systems in aircraft and small-scale propulsion systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

·         Engine improvements to improve fuel efficiency

·         Airframe modifications to demonstrate drag reduction and better aerodynamics

Facility Energy Initiatives

·         Developing or reviewing off-the-shelf enterprise energy auditing programs and software that can couple energy security with energy efficiency

·         Reducing power consumption in tactical heating and air conditioning systems and environmental control units

·         Whole-building energy modeling and monitoring systems

Operational Efficiencies/Commercial Practices

·         Developing or reviewing off-the-shelf enterprise energy auditing and water management programs and software that can couple energy security with energy efficiency

·         Whole-building energy modeling, monitoring systems capable of identifying, classifying, and quantifying energy and water consumption deviations from design intent or optimal; recommend, prioritize, and implement corrective actions

Domestic Energy Supply/Distribution

·         Waste-to-energy and waste-to-fuel technology research and demonstrations

·         Landfill gas use

·         Biomass and algae fuel oil production

·         Multijunction solar photovoltaics for cells and sensors

·         Wave and thermal energy from oceans

·         Wind power and analyzing radar cross sections and noise control on wind turbines

Tactical power Systems /Generators

·         Develop and demonstrate methanol-based portable fuel cells with improved energy densities

·         Long-duration multi-junction photovoltaics for UAVs

·         Fuel cells

·         Scalable micro-grid

For projects completed by competitive bid, the procurement phase will involve advertising for a statement of work, identification of the best offer and award of the work. Contracts are expected to be awarded between May 2009 and February 2010.

You can find Defense Department funding opportunities on the fedbizopps.gov Web site by clicking the Search Recovery Opportunities button and then doing an advanced search by department (for example, Department of Army, Department of Air Force, etc.).

Here’s additional background on DOD opportunities and the specific awards mentioned above:

·         Department of Defense Recovery site

·         DOD Near-Term Energy-Efficient Technologies Program Plan (pdf)

·         GE to Transform U.S. Military Base into Smart Grid Showcase

·         Navy sets photovoltaic work at Pearl, PMRF