A Greener Army: Eco-Friendly "War Machines," Recycled Mock Iraqi Villages

The Army wants to manufacture more environmentally friendly "war machines." The Stryker armored combat vehicle, for instance, was designed with fewer hazardous materials so that parts could be sectioned off and recycled instead of sent to a landfill. An advanced oil management system even extracts a small amount of used oil from the engine crankcase during operation so that it can be blended with fuel during combustion. The system extends oil change intervals to as long as 525,000 miles or 4,000 hours, explains the Army report.

Renewable energy sources also play a role in U.S. Army plans to save energy and to protect soldiers' lives. "If we can reduce consumption on our forward operating bases by using renewable energy, let's say wind or solar instead of diesel generator outside the tent, then we can reduce the number of these supply convoys that need to come forward that are getting hit by IEDs," says Addison Davis, Pentagon Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Occupational health.

At Fort Carson, Colorado, the Army has built a 12-acre solar power site on a closed landfill to supply the base with power by winter 2009. Its ground-mounted photo-voltaic array will generate 3,200 megawatt hours of power annually. While at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, soldiers train in a mock Iraqi village made of recycled or diverted material from a nearby landfill. "We probably saved $250,000 on the project," says Range Officer Bill Edwards who came up with the idea in 2004.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[pointyheadprodigy]

Got something to say? Say it on Huffpost, as long as it fits our schtick. You've sold out on this one for sure. Comment after comment deleted. Does the the criticism strike squarely on the sore spot where the silver coins have irritated your tender skin? This article is corporate drivel that only a shill would produce!

[pointyheadprodigy]

Green War and eco-friendly death machines? This is corporate inspired insanity. Only a focus on lifeless profits could lead a living person to adopt this line of thought. A mind capable and involved in respecting other human beings could NOT generate this garbage. This is corporate drivel produced by a shill for the manipulation of the customer base. AND it is literally insane!

[sheila]

the article doesn't really emphasize this, but the entire military is working fervently to go completely off the grid. this is because they understand the inherent unreliability of a heavily centralized grid system, like that we currently have, but which we could decentralize now, with point of use renewables, like the military is doing. problem is, of course, that Big Energy and Big Enviros are in a creepy partnership to heavily re-centralize the grid, kill millions and millions of acres of our open spaces, and totaly monopolize a wind and sun energy future. it sounds insane, but it is happening RIGHT NOW.

if you care about security, the planet, and Robber Barons hijacking us while killing our public lands, you need to make it absolutely clear to your elected reps at all levels (and hopefully to your local branch of Sierra Club and NRDC, whose national organization has been promoting Big Energy, while it's membership is generally opposed) that you will NOT agree to Big Wind, Big Solar, Big Transmission, etc. and DEMAND LOCAL, POINT OF USE SOLUTIONS like feed in tariffs so we can afford solar on our roofs!

[RightWingMarine]

It was an interesting article until the last line: "Some have suggested the U.S. Army should allocate a larger portion of its $110 billion annual budget to environmental initiatives if it is really serious about winning the battle against global warming." The job of the military is not to be eco-friendly. The job of the military is to kill people and destroy things. That's why militaries were invented, to force the will of one group onto another by means of killing the opposition and destorying their ability to resist.

[Moshe]

What do you say we humans consider getting out of the war business altogether, and get into the business of education, healthy living, sustainable agriculture, and creating peaceful sustainable communities in which most people are well informed, live simple, happy, sane lives, and are therefore not easily manipulated into acts of violence by evil people seeking power and profit through war?

Just a thought . . .

[RightWingMarine]

I'm not sure disbanding the military and using the honor system to prevent others from attacking us would be in our best interest. War may be an ugly thing but to have peace you had better be prepared to fight for it.

[Moshe]

With all due respect my friend, that is what the guy you are fighting against says too.

I am not suggesting disbanding the military.

I am suggesting downsizing and focusing on defense rather than invasion and occupation, and most importantly, addressing the core causes of conflict: Ignorance and poverty.

I wish you well, and if you are not at home, a safe return home.

[ddanimal]

Nobody would attack the US if the US military was not occupying over 100 other nations around the globe. Thats what all the wacko warmongers in the US government dont seem to understand.

Any military is inherently ungreen. its mission is to kill and destroy. no amount of greenwashing, PR and "sustainability reports" will make the military green.

[Cactusman]

Eco-friendly warfare? How about ending warfare and creating social justice planet-wide for a few trillion dollars to help save the biosphere, and changing human percpetions on the "necessity" of warfare and combat to start?

Please. I don't want to exactly diss military efforts to save fuel and go greener, but really, isn't applying the time, energy, and human creativity we spend on warfare better spent on social and ecological improvements a better rate of return in the long run? Or the short run?

[Doofus]

You will definitely want to check out the Green Bullet Program
as 'Presented by Mr. Arthur Pizza'. No, it's not Monty Python...

http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/smallarms/Pizza.pdf

The Pentagon is deadly serious about non-toxic ammunition!

[KillTheMessenger]

Oh, they are doing more than just that. There is also the problem that most explosives and gun powders leave toxic residues. If you have to handle these things almost daily there is a real risk of poisoning to the soldier, even in times of peace.

[Doofus]

Do tell! Even worse when you're being shot at!

[Amennyc]

anyone try ending war? giving peace a chance.... how green is that. so green its white.

[Hoosierone]

Those who would use war to achieve political ends know that victory will go to those who control the cheapest and most abundant energy source. That's why Bush invaded Iraq. If the planet is to be saved something else besides war must be found.

[SolarPowerGuy]

Oh, the irony!

"Congress wants the world's most powerful army to take the environment into account when its 522,000 active soldiers go to work every day."

Well, Congress, you could START by NOT authorizing invasions to control foreign petroleum!

"Another is that the military is realizing that green strategies help save money in the long run."

Umm, yeah. That argument should encompass NON-military activities. It's absurd to draw a circle around the Army, and then seek to Green the Army.

$3 TRILLION will get spent on the Iraq War and its aftermath, when all is said and done. Quick: how much solar energy would that buy?

My photovoltaic system cost $30,000. (That price includes the rebate from the State of California.) I supply 93% of my house's electrical needs with that system -- and I could still conserve a bit.

$3 trillion would buy 100 MILLION COPIES of my system. There aren't 100 million residential rooftops in the whole United States!

Of course, if you spend $3 trillion, economies of scale would drive down prices. And, wind, geothermal, and other renewables are better choices than solar in most cases. I'm just using solar as an extreme example.

Instead of the Iraq fiasco, we COULD have bought ourselves total energy independence, based on almost a 100% renewable energy infrastructure.

Even before 1990, I advocated starting to lay out the money for independence and renewables. Do I have any takers yet?

[harriettubman]

They need to start ridding themselves of their antiquated equipment before spending millions on something new. Plus, they need to boost their enlistment ranks.

[JuniorNorman]

We cant count on obama! He is keeping Gates on! He must be protested!
It was to increase the price of oil. In 6 months the oil sanctions on Iraq were up. Sadaam would have doubled oil production in a year! 5 times more oil in 5 years! While he was commitiing the worlds biggest and most war crimes, Bush gave a trillion to the M.I.C.
None of this was stupid unplanned or ignorant. Bush isnt stupid he has the smartest criminal minds advising him.Like diss-banding Iraq's army Bremer did it so it take years of occupation to rebuild it. And lots of private security firms. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES IN WAR AND POLITICS!

[intopolitics]

It would be so cool if they converted their ground vehicles to electric or some such.
It would avoid the need to dangeriously drive tankers of fuel around Iraq and Afganistan.
And, of course, it would avoid the need to invade countries for their oil.

[Doofus]

Here's a piece on the Army's 'hybrid tank'.

http://www.product-reviews.net/2007/08/17/bae-systems-gives-us-the-first-army-hybrid-tank-american-green-power/

There's also a scheme for *next generation* humvee replacement, which maybe
could be a hybrid. It's not as if cost is a concern, after all. (Well, actually, it could be.)

http://baesystemspresskit.com/ausa2007/Joint_Light_Tactical_Vehicle.cfm

[wagadog]

wait wait.

this is the "lost" chapter of Catch-22, right?

[poco767c]

What's the carbon footprint of flying a B-52 loaded with daisy cutters?

[pointyheadprodigy]

Or a field of ten thousand rotting corpses?