Energy lessons aboard the Porter

The Virginian-Pilot
? August 19, 2012

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By Jeffrey M. Voth

Energy security has become a strategic as well as an operational imperative for U.S. national security.

Last week, the Norfolk-based guided missile destroyer Porter collided with a Japanese-owned tanker near Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint for oil shipments from the oil-rich region.

Since the destroyer's departure from its Norfolk homeport in March 2012, tensions have continued to escalate with Iran over a threatened blockage of the strait. This should bring into clear focus the need to adopt new approaches and technologies to improve fuel efficiency, increase endurance, enhance operational flexibility, and support a forward presence for allied forces while reducing the vulnerability inherent in a long supply-line tether.

Assured access to reliable and sustainable supplies of energy is central to our military's ability to meet operational requirements globally, whether keeping the seas safe of pirates operating off the coast of Africa, providing humanitarian assistance in the wake of natural disasters in the Pacific or supporting counterterrorism missions in the Middle East.

From both a strategic and an operational perspective, the call to action is clear. Rapid employment of energy-efficient technologies and smarter systems will be required to transform the military's energy-security posture while meeting the increasing electric-power demands required for enhanced combat capability.

As recently outlined by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, "Without improving our energy security, we are not merely standing still as a military or as a nation, we are falling behind."

Volatile oil prices and the high cost of providing the persistent maritime presence required to ensure access to foreign fuel supplies present a significant challenge for deployed U.S. forces.

Between 2003 and 2009, the global oil market experienced its most significant period of volatility in decades. Oil prices reached a historic high of more than $147 per barrel in July 2008, averaged the second-highest level on record in 2011 and consistently broke the $100 per barrel barrier throughout the first half of 2012.

Continued volatility in fuel prices exacerbates the fiscal challenges faced by the Department of Defense, which spends $20 billion for 135 million barrels of fuel consumed annually - making it the single largest industrial energy consumer in the world.

Further, recent economic studies sponsored by Princeton University's Oil, Energy and the Middle East program have estimated the costs of force projection in the Persian Gulf, including the cost for the U.S. Navy to maintain a carrier battle group in the region, at nearly $7 trillion dollars over the coming 30-year period - approximately half of the current U.S. national debt. In fact, operations in the Persian Gulf region represent only a fraction of the total burden for maintaining energy security, as our military provides a persistent presence far beyond the Middle East, supporting global oil trade and maritime commerce for millions of barrels consumed each day.

Navigating complex energy-security challenges requires confidence, vision and strategies that drive transformation throughout the Defense Department.

Our military forces must be able to quickly incorporate new mission capabilities that require increased electric-power demand. The challenges of technology development and system integration increase with the need to reduce fuel consumption, balance mission requirements and increase available electrical power. Nonetheless, the adoption of efficiency technologies will be required to transform our military's energy posture. While efficiency gains, often referred to as the fifth fuel, provide a fundamental first step, department-wide transformation will also require the adoption of renewable energy sources.

Beginning with the clear vision of an energy-secure force outlined by the U.S. military leadership and cultural changes adopted by operational commanders, our military is beginning to embrace energy as a strategic resource.

The Defense Department will need to extend strategic technology partnerships throughout the federal government and academia as well as with allied nations, including agreements with the newly established Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy.

Finally, aggressive legislative, acquisition and operational energy-security mandates will need to be enforced to support the Defense Department's broader transformational objectives.

Jeffrey M. Voth is the president of Herren Associates, which advises the government on issues including energy and the environment.

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/08/energy-lessons-aboard-porter

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