Navy updates energy policy for first time in 18 years

Efram Ramirez

The U.S. Navy may be more energy efficient in the coming years. It recently unveiled the first updated energy policy for shore installations in 18 years, calling for more efficient energy use with an increase in renewable power, Reuters reports. The policy also aims to cut energy consumption in half at bases across the globe by 2020.

The new policy details the Navy's goals by 2020 - cutting power consumption, getting half its energy to come from renewable sources and half of its installations to be net-zero energy consumers. However, it does not explain exactly how the military branch plans on achieving the goals.

The plans may still be the subject of debate in Congress. Lawmakers who believe alternative fuel is too expensive are working on legislation that would block the military from spending more on alternative biofuels than on petroleum, although Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has said the Navy will not purchase operational quantities of the fuel until they are competitively priced.

"I know we've got a lot of support in Congress," Mabus told Stars and Stripes. "People recognize that we're not doing this for environmental reasons, we're not doing it because it's a good thing to do. We’re doing it to remove … one of the biggest vulnerabilities I see for us as a military and as a nation."

Indeed, the push for biofuels is part of President Obama's effort to promote green energy consumption and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil, Reuters reports. Plus, the cost of oil is not cheap. According to Phyllis Cuttino, the director of the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate, every $10 increase in a barrel of oil will cost the Department of Defense $1.4 billion.

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