The role of the Department of Defense (DoD) in solar energy research, development and diffusion

Abstract

The DoD uses approximately 1.8 percent of the oil consumed each day in the U.S. and is the largest single institutional energy customer in the United States. Additionally, the U.S. has the highest per capita oil consumption rate in the world. Mindful of America's growing dependence on foreign oil and the geopolitical forces that threaten world supplies and national security, DoD has vowed to convert to 25 percent renewable energy use by 2025. Through strategic partnerships with NGOs, commercial industry, and academia, DoD's unique organizational capacity makes it suited to not only reach this goal, but to serve as an example for a national transformation toward a new energy future. This report examines the feasibility of niche solar energy applications and the methods that DoD might positively impact solar energy research, development and technology diffusion.