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China has made it very clear that clean energy technology also results in geostrategic power, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for environment and energy resilience said.
Richard Kidd spoke today at the virtual GovExec 2022 Climate Summit.
China has invested in a whole range of clean energy technologies, he said. “The United States cannot surrender that lead to any other country and expect to remain a preeminent global power.”
The Defense Department is investing in a range of technologies that will help keep pace with or stay out in front of China, technologies that will assist troops in contested operations, and technologies that will also mitigate or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
The department only invests in clean energy technologies that will also have mission benefits, Kidd said.
Microgrids, solar power and batteries have dramatically helped reduce fuel deliveries in remote combat sites
Making aircraft more efficient through things like blended wing design to increase lift
Small nuclear power reactors might be used in the future for installation power
Research is being conducted in DOD on the use of lasers or directed-energy weapons systems
Longer term aspirations include power beaming, space-based power and robotic delivery of stored energy on the battlefield
“There’s still a gap between where we want to be and the technology that we currently have. So there’s going to have to be tremendous additional investment in technology,” Kidd said, mentioning that DOD investments for mission success would likely have benefits to the U.S. commercial sector.
For example, DOD has about 30% of the microgrid market and that can have positive spillover effects for industry and consumers, he said.
In addition to new technologies, Kidd mentioned the adverse effects of climate change on troops, equipment and installations, whether from droughts, flooding or heatwaves.
“We’re playing a range of war games now where energy and climate are factored into the war games. The climate helps set the scenario and energy is contested,” Kidd said, meaning under enemy attack.
“We recognize that we will not be able to move energy in an unconstrained manner around the battlefield the way we’ve been able to do in the past,” he added.
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