$400 A Gallon for Fuel! Now That's An Incentive for Innovation

Our colleague Richard Anderson attended the recent U.S. Soldier Technology Conference, along with the entire military industrial complex. The Marine commander responsible for rapid acquisition of critical technologies said the Marines most need a low-cost, distributive alternative energy technology to deploy in forward command locations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The conference was about networking the soldier, deploying sensors, integrating GPS, video, and other data and human factor sensor technology for 'front of the spear' soldier deployment," Richard reported. "But the commander stands up and says alternative energy is at the top of his list!" The demand is driven by cost: One gallon of fuel delivered to a base costs the government $400. Here may be an opportunity for solar and wind energy innovators (but, as far as Richard could tell, not a single alternative energy company was in the room).

The military is under other pressures to innovate for sustainability. It is expected to "green" its bases--small communities, really, which contain hundreds of thousands of families and have all the sustainability challenges of non-military communities. Here, too, the military has an opportunity to be an innovation leader, whether by acting on their own or in partnership with adjacent communities also tackling climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as other greening strategies.

Supporting innovations in alternative energy and in community sustainability: not areas in which you'd imagine the military would be showing leadership. If it does, think of it as "nation building" right here at home.