Energy and Environmental Projects Highlighted to Assistant Secretary of the Navy

By Andrew Revelos, Naval Support Activity South Potomac Public Affairs

INDIAN HEAD, Md. (NNS) -- Major projects in support of critical infrastructure and environmental protection at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Indian Head were discussed in-depth during a June 27 visit to the installation by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment.

The tour for Jackalyne Pfannenstiel began with a briefing from Naval Support Activity South Potomac (NSASP) and Naval District Washington (NDW) officials on the progress of NSF Indian Head's planned "nodal" steam generation plants, the proposed Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) aboard base property, upgrades to the installation's sewage treatment facility and the shoreline stabilization project.

A military construction project 222, currently slated for funding in FY12, will replace NSF Indian Head's aged coal-burning Goddard Steam Plant, in operation since 1957, with a more efficient "nodal" system consisting of two primary and nine secondary steam plants. The Goddard plant currently supplies the installation's steam and provides back-up power generation for commands aboard Indian Head.

The new, natural gas-powered system's design will offer an estimated 35 percent reduction in the installation's yearly energy costs. Abandoning coal-generated energy will avoid the increasing costs of keeping up with environmental regulations, which mandate expensive steam-scrubbing operations.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gas and other pollution, the project will fund construction of an eight-mile long natural gas line to the base, and see the removal of approximately 14 miles of old steam lines on the Navy installation.

"One distinction we have here at Indian Head that we'd like to lose, is [having] the last coal-fired power plant in the Navy," said Capt. Rame Hemstreet, commanding officer for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington.

"We really can't have any interruptions in service," said Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division (NSWC IHD) commander, Capt. Andy Buduo. The de-centralized nodal system will mitigate power reliability problems currently experienced by NSWC IHD as its works to accomplish its vital mission.

"Clearly, you have unique needs in terms of [power] reliability," said Pfannenstiel while addressing the group.

Officials also updated the assistant secretary on the EUL, which provides an opportunity for a more efficient use of Navy-owned property through cooperation with the private sector. The proposal could also benefit the community surrounding NSF Indian Head by adding jobs to the region.

Two lease sites have been proposed on NSF Indian Head, one for power generation and the other for commercial or light industrial use. The Navy requested proposals in April and is currently in a review period.

The upgrade to NSF Indian Head's Sewage Treatment Plant, scheduled to be completed this fall, was necessitated by stringent new state and federal environmental regulations intended to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The rules require Maryland jurisdictions and wastewater treatment facilities to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous pollutants, and strengthen measures to control pollution in storm water run-off.

Meeting the tough new requirements has been a "big hurdle," according to one NSASP official, but NSF Indian Head is on schedule to meet the December 2011 compliance deadline.

NSF Indian Head's shoreline stabilization continues its successful status as a major environmental step forward for the Chesapeake Bay area. First conceived in 2002 in response to severe shoreline erosion, the project involves the construction of breakwaters, sills and an intertidal wetland environment designed to protect seven miles of the base's shoreline along the Potomac River and Mattawoman Creek. The initiative, undertaken by Navy in partnership with several conservation agencies, features a "living shoreline" design now serves as a model for restoration projects across the Bay region.

Following her briefing, Pfannenstiel toured all the project sites, with the shoreline restoration serving as the grand finale.

"Being good stewards of the environment continues to be a priority of the Department of the Navy," said Pfannenstiel. "Indian Head's Shoreline Stabilization project is a prime example of how we are protecting and restoring the environment in conjunction with other federal departments, state agencies, and private sector organizations. The incredible success of this project can serve as a model for similar projects throughout the Navy."

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The Osprey Has Landed

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, an adult osprey guards its young in a nest built on a platform in the Press Site parking lot. In the background is the 12,300-square-foot NASA logo painted on the side of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The VAB and Press Site are located at the Turn Basin in Launch Complex 39, making it an ideal osprey nesting place. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge overlaps with Kennedy Space Center property and provides a habitat for many types of wildlife, including the osprey, and 330 species of birds. For information on the refuge, visit www.fws.gov/merrittisland/Index.

Image Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

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Solar Power System Expected to Bring Significant Savings to Naval Shipyard

From Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) completed installation of a $1.7 million photovoltaic (PV) system, June 1.

The new system is anticipated to reduce the facility's electric bill by $89,000 per year.

Nearly 1,300 solar panels were installed on the rooftop of Building 167, generating at least 250 kilowatts of power during peak daylight hours, or more than 455,000 kilowatt hours of energy annually.

"Hawaii depends on petroleum for nearly 90 percent of its energy requirements," said Shipyard Commander Capt. Brian Osgood. "This photovoltaic system uses the power of the sun as a long-term source of environmentally clean, renewable energy. It's another step toward making the shipyard and the Navy less dependent on oil."

PHNSY & IMF Other Procurement, Navy, Program/Project Manager Tiffany Nekota said the PV system has a life of more than 25 years and will maintain a minimum of 80 percent of its peak output even at the end of the system's lifespan.

Nekota said the new system is "grid-tied," meaning power generated by the system feeds into the building's existing electrical system. A weather station, DC-to-AC power conversion, monitoring, safety, interlock and shut-off capabilities are all part of the system.

About 20,000 square feet of rooftop are covered with solar panels, but pedestrians at ground level will barely notice the change.

"One of the considerations in the design was to preserve the historical nature of the building," Nekota said.

PHNSY & IMF Energy Conservation Manager Fred Nelson said the PV project helps the shipyard support secretary of the Navy's goal to have at least half of shore-based energy come from alternate sources; and helps meet federal regulations requiring agencies to reduce per-square-foot energy consumption in buildings by 3 percent per year.

PHNSY & IMF, one of four naval shipyards, is a full-service naval shipyard and regional maintenance center for the Navy's surface ships and submarines. It is a field activity of the Naval Sea Systems Command that engineers, builds, buys and maintains naval ships, submarines and their combat systems. Strategically located in the mid-Pacific, PHNSY & IMF is about a week of steam time closer to potential major regional contingencies in East Asia than sites on the West Coast.

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Navy Energy Program Goes Blue to Green

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stephen D. Doyle II, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Members of the California Energy Commission toured shore facilities in Navy Region Southwest, June 27, in an effort to strengthen commitments and ties with the Navy regarding renewable, green energies.

The group toured facilities onboard Naval Base Coronado, and Naval Amphibious base Coronado. Energy efficient commodities such as solar powered street lamps and training classrooms that use green energy were a few of the main draws.

"Today was an opportunity to have some people from the California energy commission come and visit the Navy and discuss energy efficiency and renewable energy opportunities in the state of California and an opportunity to show up close the Navy's projects and installations," said Bernie Lindsey, Navy Region Southwest utilities & energy program manager.

Of interest to the group were the Navy's photovoltaic systems that convert heat from the sun into electricity, solar panels located on top of streetlights and long-term parking.

"We wanted to see the Navy's energy facilities and its commitment to renewable and energy efficiency and look for ways we can work together on that," said Dr. Robert Weisenmiller, California Energy Commission chair. "What was most impressive was the Navy's dedication on trying to get the energy use down and the renewable energy production up."

The Navy and the state of California have been working together for many years to help develop and implement green technologies throughout its shore facilities within the state.

"Some of the stuff we've seen so far resulted form the partnership we have," said Weisenmiller. "We do a lot of research and development and we need someplace to test those products and this is a good opportunity down here."

As the Navy continues to implement renewable energy in its existing facilities, it is also looking into the future as new projects begin construction.

"Their (California Energy Commission's) interest across the state is improving energy efficiency in existing buildings and helping insure that new buildings that get constructed are the most energy efficient possible," said Lindsey. "They are also very interested and involved in renewable energy development across the state of California. And so all of those issues and objectives that they have are very compatible with the Navy's requirements, goals and objective."

Both the state of California and the Navy have been very dedicated to integrating renewable energy systems wherever it is possible. Many existing programs and utilities were developed in California.

"Our goals and objectives are very similar, one of their (California Energy Commission's) objectives is to facilitate and promote California companies that make technologies to improve energy efficiency," said Lindsey. "One of their main goals is to help get California technologies more prominently to the market, so they see the Navy as obviously a large, potential customer that needs a lot of energy efficient technologies.".

Because of their similar interest in renewable energy technologies, the partnership between the Navy and the state of California is one that will continue to grow stronger as both parties strive to alleviate dependency on less efficient energy sources.

"I think the major thing is that we both have the same goals to get much more secure energy system by using energy wisely and also using green energy," said Weisenmiller. "They're greening the Navy, I'm trying to green the state."

The Navy is partnering with state agencies around the country to reduce its energy usage and increase its renewable and green energy production, both at sea and at shore-based facilities.

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NASA Flights Seek To Improve View Of Air Pollution From Space

Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington                         

 

Michael Finneran

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.

  

WASHINGTON -- Two NASA research airplanes will fly over the Baltimore-Washington region and northeast Maryland this summer as part of a mission to enhance the capability of satellites to measure ground-level air quality from space.

The campaign is called DISCOVER-AQ, which stands for Deriving Information on Surface conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality. It is one of the five Earth Venture class of investigations selected last year as part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program. These targeted science investigations complement NASA's larger research missions.

A fundamental challenge for spaceborne instruments monitoring air quality is to distinguish between pollution high in the atmosphere and pollution near the surface where people live. The new NASA field campaign will make measurements from aircraft in combination with ground-based observation sites to help scientists better understand how to observe ground-level pollution from space in the future.

"What we're trying to do with DISCOVER-AQ is to fill the knowledge gap that limits our ability to monitor air pollution with satellites," said James Crawford, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

Since many countries, including the United States, have large gaps in ground-based networks of air pollution monitors, experts look to satellites to provide a more complete geographic perspective on the distribution of pollutants.

A fleet of Earth-observing satellites, called the Afternoon Constellation or "A-train" will pass over the DISCOVER-AQ study area each day in the early afternoon. The satellites' data, especially from the Aqua and Aura spacecraft, will give scientists the opportunity to compare the view from space with that from the ground and aircraft.

"The A-Train satellites have been useful in giving us a broader view of air pollution than has ever been seen," said Kenneth Pickering, DISCOVER-AQ's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "DISCOVER-AQ will help interpret that data to improve air-quality analysis and regional air-quality models."

Initial test flights are planned for the week of June 27, with up to 14 science flights starting as early as July 1. The P-3B, a four-engine turboprop, will carry nine instruments. The two-engine UC-12 will carry two instruments. Sampling will focus on an area extending from Beltsville, Md., to the northeastern corner of Maryland in a pattern that follows major roadway traffic corridors. The flight path passes over six ground measurement sites operated by the Maryland Department of the Environment.

NASA investigators will be joined in the air by colleagues from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Innsbruck in Austria. The 117-foot P-3B will fly low-altitude spiral profiles over the ground stations. These profiles will extend from 15,000 feet to as low as 1,000 feet from the ground. The flights will sample air along traffic corridors at low altitude between ground stations.

The smaller King Air UC-12 will collect data from as high as 26,000 feet. The plane's instruments will look down at the surface, much like a satellite instrument, and measure particulate and gaseous pollution.

The combined scientific resources are what make DISCOVER-AQ a rare opportunity for air quality researchers. "One instrument is not more important than another," said Jennifer Hains, a research statistician with the Maryland Department of the Environment in Baltimore. "The combination of all of them makes this campaign valuable."

Ground sites maintained by the Maryland Department of the Environment form the backbone of the surface network. These sites will be supplemented by additional instrumentation provided by NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, Howard University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, and Millersville University in Pennsylvania.

The DISCOVER-AQ flights are the beginning of a four-year campaign that will bring NASA aircraft to Houston and other urban regions. NASA's Langley center manages the Earth System Science Pathfinder program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information on the DISCOVER-AQ mission and for updates on when the flights are scheduled to fly, visit http://www.nasa.gov/discover-aq.

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NASA Sets Sail on Second Leg of Arctic Ocean Research Voyage

Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington                                   

WASHINGTON -- Scientists embark this week from Alaska on the second and final campaign of a NASA field campaign to study how changing conditions in the Arctic affect the ocean's chemistry and ecosystems.

On June 25, the ICESCAPE mission, or "Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment," resumes its shipborne investigation of the impacts of climate change in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas along Alaska's western and northern coasts. Research teams depart from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

The field campaign takes 47 scientists for five weeks to the Arctic Ocean, where a variety of instruments will be used onboard the Healy and deployed into the ocean and on the sea ice. Following the mission's first campaign in summer 2010, the second year of sampling seeks to find year-to-year differences and provide data for new lines of investigation.

Combined observations from the field and from NASA satellites are critical to understanding the Arctic, where the signals of climate change are amplified. The accelerated decline of Arctic sea ice extent and thickness exemplifies this trend, and scientists want to know how this change affects other ocean processes and marine life.

"Multidisciplinary field campaigns like ICESCAPE take advantage of simultaneous satellite and field measurements," said Carlos Del Castillo, acting program manager of the Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The advantage of satellites is that we can routinely collect observations of the whole planet. That data combined with field work and computer modeling gives us a better understanding of how the Earth system works."

Phytoplankton, microscopic organisms that live in watery environments, are a key focus of the campaign. They form the base of the aquatic food web, participate in cycling Earth's carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean and are susceptible to climate change. NASA has monitored changes in phytoplankton from space worldwide with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument on the Aqua satellite and the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor, which ended observations in 2010.

"Last year, ICESCAPE nailed down quite a few things in terms of the phytoplankton work," said Kevin Arrigo of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., the mission's chief scientist. "We know pretty well now how fast they are growing and what they are responding to. The repeat measurements from this voyage will help us confirm what's going on."

The 2010 campaign gave researchers a glimpse of what might be happening in Barrow Canyon, one of most productive areas for phytoplankton growth in the Beaufort-Chukchi region. While many blooms last just a few weeks before consuming all of the local nutrients and declining, the bloom in Barrow Canyon gets its start in spring and carries on through summer.

Scientists think the extended bloom can be explained by unique patterns in the path and timing of ocean currents. In spring, a stream of water carries nutrients from the Pacific Ocean up through the Bering Strait and delivers them to Barrow Canyon. The water hugs the coast and arrives quickly, providing the nutrients for the bloom to get its start. Two other streams take a more circuitous route and arrive later, sustaining the bloom through summer.

"With this year's voyage, we hope to acquire more details about the physical processes pulling nutrients from deep water to the surface," Arrigo said.

New to ICESCAPE in 2011, the ship will forge north through the Beaufort Sea to explore the relationship between shallow water on the continental shelf and deep water in the Canada Basin. Phytoplankton on the shallow shelves tend to flourish when the ice retreats and scientists want to find out what feeds the bloom.

Last year, researchers saw some indication that nutrients were moving between deep and shallow water. Wind unexpectedly blew thick, multiyear sea ice south to the edge of the shelf, at some places up to 20 feet thick. The ice proved too thick for the icebreaker to penetrate. The Healy, the newest and most technologically advanced U.S. polar icebreaker, is designed to break four-and-a-half feet of ice continuously at three knots.

This year, the field campaign begins two weeks later, which means the Healy is expected to encounter thinner, summer ice and thus have a better chance of exploring the ecosystems in water that spends most of the year under a blanket of ice.

For updates on the five-week ICESCAPE voyage, visit the mission blog at http://go.usa.gov/WwU.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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NASA'S 2011 Innovations In Global Climate Change Education Awards

Sonja Alexander                    

Headquarters, Washington

 

Amy Johnson

Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded $7.2 million in cooperative agreements to 14 minority-serving organizations across the United States to enhance learning through the use of the agency's Earth Science resources. The selected organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit groups and a community college.

The winning proposals illustrated innovative approaches using NASA content to support elementary, secondary and undergraduate teaching and learning. There is a particular emphasis on engaging students using NASA Earth observation data, Earth system models, as well as providing climate-related research experiences for teachers and undergraduate students.

These grants support NASA's goal of engaging students in the critical disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and inspiring the next generation of explorers.

The 14 proposals will fund organizations in the District of Columbia and in California, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The awards have a two and one half-year period of performance and range in value from about $230,000 to $825,000.

The cooperative agreements are part NASA's Minority University Research and Education Program. For a list of selected organizations and projects' descriptions, click on "Selected Proposals" and look for "2011 Innovations in Global Climate Change Education" at http://nspires.nasaprs.com.

For information about NASA's education programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/education.

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Engineering Tests Leading The Way For NASA's Next Neemo Mission

J.D. Harrington/Michael Braukus

Headquarters, Washington                               

 

Brandi Dean

Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON -- To determine how best to explore asteroids in the future, NASA scientists and engineers are taking their experiments underwater in the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO.

This year's NEEMO expedition, which will include the usual compliment of astronauts and engineers, is slated for October. Since this is the first mission to simulate a trip to an asteroid, there's a lot of work to do before the mission can start. To prepare, engineers have journeyed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla., to work through some of the concepts that will be tested in the fall.

"Even experts don't know what the surface of an asteroid is going to be like," said NEEMO Project Manager Bill Todd. "There may be asteroids that we don't even know about yet that we'll be visiting. So we're figuring out the best way to do that."

NEEMO 15 will investigate three aspects of a mission to an asteroid: how to anchor to the surface; how to move around; and how best to collect data. Unlike the moon or Mars, an asteroid would have little, if any, gravity to hold astronauts or vehicles, so an anchor would be necessary. NEEMO 15 will evaluate different anchoring methods and how to connect the multiple anchors to form pathways. The aquanauts and engineers will study whether it's more efficient to join the anchors in a straight line or set them up similar to the spokes of a wagon wheel.

Starting Tuesday, May 10, engineers and scientists will begin work to ensure they're prepared for rigorous testing of these concepts in October. During these preliminary tests, they will work on the ocean floor, but will not stay inside the Aquarius. This allows participants to come to the surface and retool equipment if necessary.

For more information on NEEMO, visit http://www.nasa.gov/neemo.

For more information on NASA analogs, missions that simulate conditions on other planetary bodies, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/analogs/.

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Troops Explore Emerging Energy Solutions

By Claire Heininger

Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications – Tactical

ORLANDO, Fla., May 2, 2011 – As the military works to shrink its operational energy footprint, experts in solar power, microgrids and “smart” generators recently took that technology to a crucial jury: the troops.

Soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who deal hands-on with battlefield power converged here April 12-15 for the fourth annual Power User Conference held by the Defense Department’s mobile electric power project manager’s office, participating in small-group discussions, attending demonstrations and providing feedback on current and next-generation equipment.

“This is a way to get very deep inside the combat [experience] and understand the issues and concerns that soldiers are going through, because this is of paramount importance for us,” said Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Leonardo Bereton, who oversaw power equipment as part of his duties when deployed to Iraq in 2008 and 2009. “This equipment [was] running through sandstorms and rain and cold and hot weather. … They are so valuable to our fight.”

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Joe Leija said he connected with experts “for every type of gear” with whom he previously had worked via email from Afghanistan.

“But now, putting a name with a face and being able to ask those hard questions, I think it will help out the Marine Corps,” he said.

Among Leija’s recommendations: minor changes to the Solar Stik, a hybrid energy system consisting of a lightweight tripod with a pair of 50-watt rigid-panel solar arrays, batteries and a military generator. Overall, he said, the system could be a valuable alternative to traditional energy sources for powering items with small loads, such as computers and batteries.

“I think it has potential,” he said. “Environment is going to determine whether it’s usable.”

Harnessing the potential of alternative energies so they meet the demands of a military environment is a major focus for the mobile electric power project manager’s office, which supplies tactical electric power solutions, training and support to the services. The organization also is developing a microgrid to be deployed in Afghanistan later this year composed of four larger generator sets and supporting power distribution equipment. It would intelligently manage the power supply to meet demand, reducing fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

“There’s more interest in operational energy than at any time in the last 40 years or so,” project manager Michael Padden told the more than 270 conference attendees. “What can we do to improve efficiencies on the battlefield? What other equipment can we get out there? How can we take tankers off the battlefields and reduce casualties? The answers are in this room.”

The office’s standardized military generators also are evolving. The next generation, known as the Advanced Medium Mobile Power Sources, or AMMPS, family, is 21 percent more fuel-efficient than current systems while reducing size and weight. While AMMPS fielding is expected to begin later this year, several models were on display at the conference for warfighters to explore.

“I’m impressed with the AMMPS from what I’ve seen so far,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Vince DiLoreto, who used the current Tactical Quiet Generator models while deployed. DiLoreto said the standardization between AMMPS units of different sizes would simplify maintenance, and the extra cooling fans would reduce a condition that impairs diesel engines.

As an “old-school guy,” DiLoreto said, his only concern with the transition is that the newer generators use digital control screens in place of dials. But he acknowledged that a younger generation of warfighters might prefer that.

“It will probably be easier for them to use a computer than it would be a dial,” he said.

Other systems on display included a variety of other small and large power sources, including the Deployable Power Generation and Distribution System, a 30,000-pound trailer-mounted system supplying 840 kilowatts of power to forward operating bases and to natural disaster sites in the United States.

“We respond to floods, ice storms and hurricanes,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Norris of the 249th Engineer Battalion, which relies on the system. “We have generators stationed across the country.”

Nearby, a new 60,000-British-thermal-units-per-hour Improved Environmental Control Unit rapidly cooled the interior of a tent, demonstrating its capability to protect key tactical communications equipment from harsh desert temperatures. The Marine Corps also demonstrated a Humvee with an in-line generator coupled to the transmission that provides 30 kilowatts of exportable power when stationary and 10 kilowatts when on the move.

The demonstrations anchored the conference, which also included presentation of the “Power Professional Awards” to recognize outstanding achievements across the Defense Department. The winners were Marine Corps Sgt. Victoria Wellman, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy Duvall, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Silvia Stephens, Air Force Staff Sgt. Marcial Grinolds, Army Staff Sgt. Michael Kelly and Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brandon McCoy.

Grinolds won for saving the Defense Department $75,000 in vendor courses by developing a training curriculum for power generation specialists. He said standardized training ensures troops will have “the same level of expertise” to provide continuous support for equipment on the front lines.

“You never know about the power guy,” Grinolds said, “until the power goes out.”

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Lynn: Defense-Energy Team Leads National Effort

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 26, 2011 – A partnership the Defense and Energy departments formed last year to conserve energy in the military is the perfect union to lead the nation in conservation, Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn III said at the White House Energy Security Forum today.

“The key to this partnership is focusing [the Energy Department’s] unique knowledge on meeting defense requirements,” Lynn said. “By taking technologies from labs to the battlefield, the Department of Energy can enroll its scientific ingenuity in the service of our nation’s most important national mission: national security.”

Additionally, Lynn said, the departments’ collaboration can improve the operational effectiveness of the armed forces and serve as a catalyst for the civilian world. “By serving as a sophisticated first user and early customer for innovative energy technology,” he said, “the military can jump-start their broader commercial adoption, just as we have done with jet engines, high-performance computing and the Internet.”

Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel B. Poneman agreed.

“Through our national laboratory system, the [Energy] department brings tremendous scientific expertise to bear across a whole portfolio of national energy and scientific priorities,” he said. “Coupled with the scale of the Defense Department’s operations and its potential to act as a test bed for innovative technologies, this partnership is a crucial vehicle to strengthen our national security and to build a clean energy economy for America.”

Forum speakers noted the importance President Barack Obama has placed on energy conservation, but added that the issue goes back at least as far as the administration of President Richard M. Nixon, who acknowledged that American reliance on foreign oil raises national security risks. NATO’s ongoing military operations in Libya and the spike of oil prices due to political unrest in the Middle East is just the latest example of the problem, Poneman said.

Under the departments’ agreement, a committee of Defense and Energy leaders will steer investments into conservation-related technologies for U.S.-based installations and battlefield operations, Lynn said. Dorothy Robyn, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, and Sharon E. Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs, are leading those efforts and took part in the forum.

The Defense Department is a world leader in energy consumption, Lynn said, noting that it accounts for 80 percent of U.S. federal energy use and consumes more energy than is used by two-thirds of all the nations on Earth. With annual energy bills reaching into the tens of billions of dollars, conservation could produce significant savings, he said.

“Everything we do, every mission we perform requires significant amounts of energy,” Lynn said.

Energy dependence has grown in the military, burdening budgets, logistics and individual service members. More than 70 percent of convoys in Afghanistan are used to transport fuel or water and are easy targets for insurgents’ roadside bombs, Lynn said. More than 3,000 U.S. troops and contractors have been killed or wounded protecting them, he said.

Ground forces’ increased use of electronics has doubled their use of batteries in recent years, Lynn said, so that today’s soldiers typically carry 18 pounds of batteries on a 72-hour foot patrol in Afghanistan.

But although the Defense Department consumes much energy, it also is a leader in conservation, Lynn said, as noted last year by the Pew Charitable Trusts think tank.

The department is building energy performance parameters into weapons systems requirements, including the cost of fuel for operations, Lynn said. Within the services, he added, the Navy is leading the way with more efficient propulsion technologies, including hybrid drives, and alternative energies that use biofuels.

The Marine Corps last fall deployed to Afghanistan’s Helmand province with flexible solar panels developed at the Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., which allowed the Marines to run two patrol bases completely on solar power and cut diesel fuel consumption at a third base by more than 90 percent, Lynn said.

“New energy technology makes our warfighters more agile, allowing them to focus on the mission rather than their logistics chain,” he said.

At Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, Calif., Marines are demonstrating new microgrid technology, a system of self-generated electricity and intelligent controls that can be operated independently of the commercial power grid that military bases rely on, Lynn said.

Under its partnership with the Energy Department, DOD can continue with such innovations and do more, Lynn and Poneman said. Under the agreement, DOE will fund innovative projects, and provide advisors to combatant commands to share information and training, Poneman said.

Already, DOE auditors have found $15 million in savings through energy conservation at some of DOD’s 307,000 buildings, he added.

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Energy Actions Speak Louder Than Words, or Blame

By Gregory Parker

If there is one thing that is certain it is that we have come to not only expect but we require the existence of a “Boogey-Man.” On April 20, 2011 President Obama speaking to community college students and others in Virginia delivered on expectations and informed us that the villain behind our current energy woes was the boogey-man known as the dreaded “SPECULATOR.” He (they collectively) were responsible for driving gasoline prices higher. So what is a speculator you ask? A speculator is one that takes large and unusual business risk to gain financially from anticipating future price movements.

As a professor of government and understanding public policy and the economy as I do, I know that federal reserve policy, foreign affairs and speculation do play a part but can we definitively link the current spike in the price of a gallon of gas only to speculators or is this yet another example of baiting and switching the American public. Speculators operate their business based on anticipating what will influence the price, they have no real control over world events. Speculators didn’t fire up their weather machines to create storms nor are they responsible for the tensions in the Middle East and most importantly speculators don’t possess the bully pulpit.

President Obama has only himself to blame for creating an atmosphere of anti energy (oil, gas and coal specifically), which in turn leads speculators to see future risks. We all remember the famous declaration by candidate Obama when he declared that he was going to “Fundamentally change America” and the statements made during the campaign that in order for his green agenda to be realized “the price of energy would necessarily have to skyrocket.” Some of his rhetoric could be attributed to bloviated campaign exuberance but as we have witnessed this is less about rhetoric and more about action. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was quoted as saying “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” This statement was made in September of 2008 and if you were an oil speculator what would you be thinking?

In order to make a real case when it comes to responsibility we need more than just words, we need examples of action as well. According to the Institute for Energy Research some, but not all, of the clearest examples of action to stop energy production are as follows: The administration withdrew 77 oil and gas leases in Utah, this could represent a loss to American taxpayers of millions in lost production royalties and more importantly new jobs. The administration delayed oil shale research that would help advance American technology and create high-tech jobs. The administration supported cap-and-trade legislation that could cost American families more than $3,100 a year in higher energy cost. The administration ordered the cancellation of the Navajo Nation power plant that prevented the Navajo nation from creating new jobs and reducing its 42% percent unemployment rate. The administration revoked an already issued permit to a West Virginia coalmine operation that cost 250 American jobs. These are just a few of the examples.

Speaking of American jobs; President Obama visited Brazil and issued a promise to be a great trading partner and vowed to assist their county in creating jobs all the while killing an estimated 13,000 jobs in the gulf region and 19,000 nationally by imposing a moratorium on drilling in US water. Yes lets be clear the moratorium on shallow and deep water drilling was lifted by a federal court, yet the administration’s slow permitting has effectively continued the moratorium on offshore deep water drilling, placing the entire Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf and parts of Alaska essentially off limits to energy production. All the while a CNN polls shows the US public supports offshore drilling by 69% and the support for global warming is in free fall.

So now we can revisit the “Speculators” and their role in the spike of oil, the path America finds herself on in relation to its energy future. Is it the guys whose job it is to guess where the price of oil will be in the future or is it the guy who set our country’s energy policy or dare I say anti oil, gas and coal policy? The guy who can suspend oil exploration with the flick of a pen? The guy who sends his minions out to tell Americans we need to see prices at the pump that resemble those in Europe? The guy who has stated that in order for his green agenda to be realized energy prices would have to skyrocket? I guess in the end I don’t have to ask, it’s abundantly clear.

In the end this issue isn’t all that different from any other facing this nation, there are two competing sides and in politics as it is in life there always has to be a winner and a loser, a right side and a wrong side and the challenge is as it has always been, informing yourself and choosing correctly. The Congressional Research Service as stated that the USA has by far more energy resources in reserve than any other country in the world. In fact we are the only country in the world that seriously restricts access to such resources. It is my humble opinion that the real goal should be to balance and blend the responsible utilization of this nation’s energy resources while maintaining a strong vibrant economy. This means doing things that create jobs and opportunities for Americans first. The fact is any comprehensive energy plan must utilize all of the tools in Americas energy toolbox, wind, solar, nuclear, domestic oil, natural gas, and yes, even clean COAL.

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Gregory Parker, Ph.D.(ABD), MPA is County Commissioner in Texas, an adjunct professor at Concordia University and the author of the book “Global Warming…Really?” which was chosen “book of the week” by the Conservative Monitor. He is a member of the International Association for Energy Economics, the United States Association for Energy Economics, the American Society for Public Administration, Section on Environmental and Natural Resource Administration and the Texas Oil & Gas Association.

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Energy Strategy Promotes Culture of Conservation

By Commander, Navy Region Southeast Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Commander, Navy Region Southeast, announced the release of the region's 2011-2013 Energy Strategy in a podcast video, April 21.

The Energy Strategy is part of an ongoing effort to change behaviors from a culture of consumption to a culture of conservation. Aggressive conservation efforts aboard Region Southeast installations will enable the region to meet the secretary of the Navy's goal of three percent energy usage reduction per year, and a 30 percent reduction by 2015, relative to 2003.

The video message is available at www.cnic.navy.mil/cnrse and www.facebook.com/navyregionse.

Also available online are the Energy Strategy brochure and a quick reference card that Sailors, civilian employees, retirees, and family members can download. The brochure outlines the region's energy goals and the quick reference card provides specific recommendations on how everyone can help reduce energy consumption.

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GSA Investing in Salt Lake City’s New Energy Future

New FBI Field Office to Be High-Performing Green Building; Expected to Create 500 Jobs

SALT LAKE CITY, UT—Tomorrow, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will break ground on the new Federal Bureau of Investigation field office building located at 5425 West Amelia Earhart Drive, Salt Lake City. Through projects just like this, GSA continues to invest in clean energy and create new jobs.

“GSA is leading the way on the use of innovative technology in buildings to cut energy usage, save money, and boost a new American energy industry," said Susan Damour, GSA's Rocky Mountain Regional Administrator. "Commercial real estate accounts for nearly 20 percent of U.S. energy use, making the sector one of the biggest opportunities for GSA to curb greenhouse gas emissions and build a 21st century, clean-energy economy.”

This project expects to use building materials that contain at least 30 percent recycled content. The building materials will also be comprised of matter that has been extracted and manufactured within 500 miles of the project site. Furthermore, it is expected to save or create more than 500 construction jobs, a great majority of which will be filled by the local community.

M.L. Harris & Company of Oklahoma City and KDC Development, a Dallas-based commercial real estate and investment firm, are joint venture development partners of this design-build project; they will share responsibilities for construction and management throughout the process. The architect is Rees Associates of Oklahoma City and the general contractor is VCC Construction of Atlanta. M.L. Harris and KDC Development are the owners and developers of the facility, and GSA—on behalf of the FBI—will lease space under a 20-year firm term.

“This is a significant occasion for the citizens of Utah, Montana, and Idaho, as well as the employees of the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office," said James McTighe, special agent in charge. "The completion of this state-of-the-art, stand-alone facility will enhance the FBI’s ability to protect Americans from national security and criminal threats by increasing our efficiency and capacity to collaborate with our federal, state, and local partners. We are thankful to the GSA, M.L. Harris, and KDC Development for their work on this project and we look forward to its completion.”

The new building design is expected to achieve LEED® Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-party verification that a building was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving overall performance. The building will be four stories tall, containing approximately 160,000 square feet. It will require more than 4,000,000 pounds of steel and 7,000 yards of concrete. The facility will showcase an ornamental staircase capped by a pyramid-shaped skylight, providing natural light deep into the interior of the building.

“Our goal is to create an environment that workers will appreciate and enjoy and look forward to being there. As a result, we hope to improve worker satisfaction and productivity. The facility will become a valuable asset for the FBI and greatly assist the FBI in meeting its mission,” said Mark Harris, principal and owner of M.L. Harris. This is M.L. Harris' sixth project for the FBI.

The FBI and GSA developed a 10-year acquisition program aimed at replacing or modernizing 39 FBI field offices and four major resident agency facilities across the country. The bulk of these projects are being accomplished through build-to-suit lease construction, including this project. The building will be located at 5425 West Amelia Earhart Drive and has a budget of $75 million dollars in construction and construction management fees. The project is expected to be complete late summer of 2012.

As the federal government's workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s expertise in government workplace solutions include:

Effective management of government assets, including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 215,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;

Leveraging the government’s buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services, making up approximately 14 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars;

Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and

Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of government-wide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.

GSA Contact:

Sally Mayberry

303-236-2583/303-941-7637

sally.mayberry@gsa.gov

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NASA And Partners Fund New Climate Impact Studies On Species And Ecosystems

Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington     

WASHINGTON -- NASA is partnering with other federal agencies to fund new research and applications efforts that will bring the global view of climate from space down to Earth to benefit wildlife and key ecosystems.

NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Smithsonian Institution will provide $18 million for 15 new research projects during the next four years. Organizations across the United States in academia, government and the private sector will study the response of different species and ecosystems to climate changes and develop tools to better manage wildlife and natural resources. The projects were selected from 151 proposals.

NASA's Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate has funded several ecosystem and biodiversity research projects during recent years. This is the first time the agency has targeted research investigating the intersection of climate and biological studies.

The wildlife species that will be studied include polar bears in Greenland, bowhead whales in the Arctic Ocean, and migratory birds and waterfowl in the United States. Other studies will focus on species of commercial interest such as clams, oysters and other bivalves in U.S. coastal waters, and Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico.

To learn more about climatic effects on plants, researchers will focus on the loss of cordgrass marshes in coastal wetlands of the southeastern states. They also will examine the stresses to native tree species, many of commercial value, across the western states and Canada.

"We know very little about how the majority of species and ecosystems will respond to environmental changes related to changing climates," said Woody Turner, manager of NASA's Ecological Forecasting program in Washington. "These projects bring together NASA's global satellite data of the physical environment with ground-based data on specific species and ecosystems and computer modeling to detect and understand biological responses to climate. As a result, we will improve our management and mitigation of the impact of changing climate."

The studies will use long-term observations of Earth from space, including data on sea surface temperature, vegetation cover, rainfall, snow cover, sea ice and the variability in the microscopic marine green plants that form the base of ocean food chains.

One study seeks to determine how waterfowl and forest bird populations respond to extreme events such as long-term droughts, heat waves and cold snaps. Wildlife biologists like Patricia Heglund of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in La Crosse, Wis., the leader of the study, have several hypotheses, including lower reproduction rates and adult mortality. Satellite data will be used to map the habitats and identify extreme events in the continental United States.

Another study will seek to explain why the distribution of native tree species across the western states and Canada is changing and why some species are dying as the climate becomes progressively warmer and drier. Scientists have used computer models to explain how environmental stresses have affected tree species in the Pacific Northwest. The new study, led by Richard Waring of Oregon State University in Corvallis, will extend that research to the entire Rocky Mountain west and 25 native tree species, including aspen and lodgepole pine.

A project led by Mitchell Roffer of Roffer's Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service in West Melbourne, Fla., aims to improve existing models to predict spawning habitat of Atlantic bluefin and other migratory tunas in the Gulf of Mexico. The model will assess possible effects of future climate change scenarios on fish populations.

According to Turner, the most ambitious project in terms of scale will use a global inventory of data from about 1,000 species, merged with satellite and ground-based observations of the environment and climate. These data will be used to assess climate's impact on biodiversity during the past 40 years in two 20-year increments. The study, led by Walter Jetz of Yale University, will focus on land-based mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.

For a complete list of the new projects, visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_partners.html.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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