Over the last ten years, we have become more lethal, but we have become heavy. We have lost speed. To reset the balance, we must return to our Spartan roots—fast, lethal, and austere.-From the Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Strategy and Implementation plan.
This is an excellent article and website that details all of the benefits that the Marines have gained from becoming more self-reliant and energy efficient out there. It is also a big heads up to private industry that as the military becomes more Spartan, so shall the PMC/PSC industry.(if they want to compete)
I could also see new job types popping up because of these energy strategy initiatives. Contracts could stipulate that there be a ‘Energy Resource Manager’ on site, whose sole purpose is to monitor energy and water use and keep it at a certain level. Could we see a day where in order to be contract compliant, that a company had to maintain a certain amount of energy and water use, or be penalized? Hmmm. Well, if the Marines think energy management is of strategic importance, then perhaps logistics contracts will begin to emphasize this kind of thing?
Of course the other reason why energy management and going green is important is that it can save lives. The less fuel convoys or water convoys needed to sustain a remote site, the better. That means less exposure to the roads for those convoy teams, and less targets for the enemy. It also means that if a site can operate without that artery of logistics, then that alleviates a huge burden both for private industry and for the military.
This minimized dependency on logistics also expands the reach of a unit or company in the field, and allows them to venture further away from the larger FOBs, or to patrol longer in AOs that need constant attention in this COIN-centric war.
Finally, if you watch the big picture of energy–it absolutely sucks to depend upon other nations for oil. Especially nations in the Middle East that are impacted by regional instability. The Ares Blog mentioned that ‘A $10 increase in the price of a barrel of oil, at current consumption levels, would be equivalent to the entire Marine Corps’ procurement budget.’
That is startling to think about, and that is just the Marines. A ripple in the energy world definitely impacts the cost of operations in the war, and becoming more energy efficient and diversifying our energy sources is smart and a necessity in my view.
Finally, I wanted to highlight ExFOB’s website and latest FBO request. They are looking for a way to charge all of their gadgets from their vehicles, without wasting all of that fuel required to run a vehicle’s generators. If you think about all of the thousands of vehicles being used by the military, with each vehicle filled with energy consuming electronic devices, you can see the scope of energy consumption problem here? Perhaps one idea is to just arm everyone with smart phones and solar panels, and give our infantry a horse to ride? ….lol –Matt
Marines and sailors of India Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and their Afghan national army counterparts, pose in front of a modified ZeroBase Regenerator at Patrol Base Sparks, in Sangin District, Dec. 29. The ZeroBased Regenerator, nicknamed the Raptor, after the type of power cells in its six solar panels, can keep more than 17 computers and 15 lighting units running throughout the night. The Marines of 1st Platoon, added four more panels to their Raptor for further solar energy conservation.Renewable energy vital to Marines success in Afghanistan
January 12, 2011By Gunnery Sgt. William Price , 1st Marine Division
FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan — The Marines and sailors of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment have tapped into a vital renewable energy source – the sun – to help take the fight to the enemy in Sangin District.
Since deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, India Company, 3/5, has been working with a new program called ExFOB, or “Experimental Forward Operating Base.”
“ExFOB has provided immediate energy to my boys,” said Gunnery Sgt. Willy Carrion, ‘I’ Company, company gunnery sergeant. “Logistics and resupply to my men is essential to our mission accomplishment. Marines can sustain themselves on little food and water, but the time we have saved on convoys for fuel and batteries, has been crucial.”
The Marines and sailors of Dark Horse 3/5 have been using an array of solar equipment since their pre-deployment workup, Enhanced Mohave Viper, at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, in Twentynine Palms, Calif., in July. While there, the Marines were able to save up to eight gallons of fuel, per generator, a day.
At Patrol Base Sparks, an outpost of Forward Operating Base Jackson, Staff Sgt. David Doty has become the resident expert of the solar-powered gear and is very pleased with this new asset.
“Our generators typically use more than 20 gallons of fuel a day. We are down to 2.5 gallons a day,” said Doty, 3rd Squad Leader, with1st Platoon, ‘I’ Company, and Fulton, Mo., native. “The system works amazing. By saving fuel for generators, it has cut back on the number of convoys, meaning less opportunity for one of our vehicles to hit an IED.”
His platoon commander, 1st Lt. Daric Kleppe, agrees, the less convoys, the better. “The enemy will exploit every soft target we have,” said the Vista, Calif., native. “A refueling vehicle becomes a screaming [easy] target.”
The Marines, sailors and the Afghan national army soldiers with ‘I’ Company are also using solar energy to recharge their batteries.
“As a platoon commander, if I don’t have ‘comm’ with my troops and my higher-ups, I am lost,” said 1st Lt. Josef Patterson, 2nd Platoon commander, and Owasso, Okla., native. “On the longer patrols we pack the solar blankets and can continuously charge our radio batteries. This also allows more room to pack things like ammunition.”
The Marines are also able to conserve their energy during the day, to light up their command operation centers and their tents at night. According to Staff Sgt. Greg Wenzel, 1st Plt., platoon sergeant, this has helped PB Sparks’ security when the sun goes down. “It’s way more tactical not running the generators at night,” said the Altoona, Pa., native. “At night the noise of a generator can carry a long way, become a calling card for insurgents.”
Throughout India Company’s area of responsibility, they are using four components of the ExFOB.
The Solar Portable Alternative Communication Energy System, or “SPACES,” is a flexible solar panel, able to be carried by a Marine. SPACES is mostly used for smaller items, like radio batteries. The PowerShade, or “Shades,” is a larger solar tarp that fits over a standard Marine Corps tent. It can provide enough energy to power the tent’s lighting system. The Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy System, or “GREENS,” is a solar panel array capable of providing enough energy to run a platoon-sized COC, or four computers at a time. The largest power source is the ZeroBase Regenerator. With its six outsized solar panels funneling energy into one battery, it can power more than 20 lighting systems and 15 computers at one time.
Recently, a forward operational assessment team with the Marine Corps Operational Test & Evaluation Activity came to run tests on the systems and collect data concerning the future of ExFOB.
“The Marines all saw the value in the ExFOB and all its capabilities,” said Chris Huiett, MCOTEA operations analyst. “They brought us everywhere we needed to be and took great care of us. The Marines and sailors of India Company 3/5 are all American heroes!”
Maj. Sean Sadlier, the Expeditionary Energy Liaison Officer, with Regional Command Southwest, escorted the three-man team from MCOTEA to FOB Jackson and its patrol bases.
“The Marines were very innovative and came up with ways to use the equipment that was not even thought of before their deployment. The Marines were frank about what worked well and what needed improvement,” said Sadlier. “Many of the recommendations would have been impossible to make during the pre-deployment training program. Only through use during actual combat operations would the Marines be able to realize the capabilities of the equipment and the capabilities they would like to see.”
Sadlier, and the MCOTEA team, will process their results to see where what the future holds for ExFOB throughout the Fleet Marine Force. For now, the Marines and sailors of ‘I’ Company, 3/5, are no longer doubting the capabilities of the ExFOB, but wondering where they would be without the renewable energy program.
“When we first got the gear, I was a skeptic. As Marines, we do not always like change. I expected ExFOB to be a burden,” added Carrion, a native of Philadelphia. “Now that we are in theater, and we have so many PBs set up, we all see the how crucial and important renewable energy is. Every infantry battalion should have the ExFOB, it has proven to be an extremely valuable asset!”Story here.
———————————————————-Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy
Marines are modern-day Spartans – our ethos demands that we change the way we think about energy as we train, equip, and lead our expeditionary force
Marines in Afghanistan use about 200,000 gallons of fuel a day to power our warfighting capabilities and sustain our forces. While we have proven lethal fighting in rugged environments for nearly a decade now, we’ve dramatically increased our energy consumption. Because of our thirst for liquid fuel, we’re not as light and agile as we once were, putting both our Marines and our expeditionary capabilities at risk.The Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Strategy, spanning Bases to Battlefield, centers on changing the way we think about energy – that our warrior ethos equates the efficient use of energy and water resources with increased combat effectiveness.
Our priority is to save lives by reducing the number of Marines at risk on the road hauling fuel and water.
Our objective is to allow Marines to travel lighter -with less -and move faster by reducing the size and amount of equipment and dependence of bulk supplies.
The key elements for success are to aggressively pursue innovative solutions to reduce energy demand in our platforms and systems, to increase our self-sufficiency in our sustainment, and to reduce our expeditionary foot print on the battlefield.Transforming the way we use energy is essential to rebalance our Corps and prepare it for the future. The strategy calls for, by 2025, Marine Expeditionary Forces capable of maneuvering from the sea and sustaining C4I and life support systems in place; the only liquid fuel needed will be for mobility systems, which will be more energy efficient than systems are today.
To this end, by 2025 we will reduce by 50 percent our battlefield requirement for energy. By 2020 50 percent of our bases and stations will be net-zero energy consumers.
———————————————————-
ExFOB – Concentrated Solar Harvesting Technology & Tactical Vehicle Fuel Efficiency
Solicitation Number: M00264-11-I-0209
Agency: Department of the Navy
Office: United States Marine Corps
Location: RCONE
Synopsis:
Added: Mar 14, 2011 11:42 am
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) 2011INTRODUCTION:
This announcement constitutes an RFI notice for planning purposes. This is NOT a Request for Proposals. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME. This RFI does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the USMC Expeditionary Energy Office (E2O) will take a procurement action in this matter. Neither E2O nor the Government will be responsible for any cost incurred in furnishing this information.
The USMC E2O is interested in gathering information to further its understanding of currently available technologies that could enhance the logistics sustainability of remote Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) engaged in combat operations. Specific areas of interest for this RFI include: (1) Concentrated solar harvesting technologies to produce power and hot water at remote FOBs; and (2) Technologies to increase tactical vehicle fuel efficiency while exporting power at idle or static conditions. Technologies of interest are those that would most rapidly and effectively enhance the self-sufficiency of FOBs roughly the size of a Marine Corps Company (approximately 200 Marines). Information is requested in the form of brief technology descriptions.GENERAL BACKGROUND:
In March 2010, the USMC established its first temporary Experimental Forward Operating Base (ExFOB) at Quantico, Virginia. The ExFOB was established to provide industry with an opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities to enhance the USMC’s self-sufficiency and reduce its need for fuel and water logistics. Following the first ExFOB Third Battalion, Fifth Marines (3/5) was trained and deployed to combat operations with renewable and energy efficient technologies demonstrated during this inaugural ExFOB. In less than a year technologies demonstrated at ExFOB were deployed to combat for further end-user evaluation, and have helped guide requirements and investment decisions.
In August 2010, ExFOB was established at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) Twentynine Palms, California. Again technologies were identified that showed potential for reducing fuel and water demand on the battlefield. These technologies include hybrid PV-generator-battery systems, solar powered direct current (DC) air conditioners, and solar powered DC coolers. These systems will be evaluated further during the spring of 2011 to determine potential impact on the battlefield. If successful, deployment of these technologies for end-user evaluation and testing will occur during the summer of 2011.
The rapid deployment of 3/5 proved to be highly successful and has already resulted in changes to USMC’s requirements documents, acquisitions, and investment decisions. ExFOB has provided the USMC the ability to mitigate decision making risks in an environment that vendors and government can collaborate real-time in the field with actual capabilities operating in a representative combat environment.
Information received in response to this RFI is intended to serve two purposes. (1) Technology descriptions will help formulate the Science , Technology and Acquisition planning necessary to mature technologies toward fieldable solutions; and (2) Technology descriptions may result in invitations for equipment manufacturers to demonstrate their technologies at the ExFOB 2011 at no cost or risk to the Government, from 11 through 20 August 2011, if the manufacturer indicates that a product or prototype would be sufficiently developed for a conceptual demonstration by this date. This ExFOB event will be conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Army through their Expedited Modernization Initiative Procedure (EMIP) process.SPECIFIC INFORMATION OF INTEREST:
Concentrated Solar Energy Harvesting: Solar energy is the only realistic renewable energy source available for harvesting in the expeditionary environment. During the first two ExFOB vendors demonstrated various traditional small scale photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies. The issue with small scale traditional PV technologies are low efficiency and large area required to harvest enough solar to support a company-sized FOB, approximately 5kW range and below. The USMC is interested in investigating solar concentrating technologies that reduce the area required to harvest solar energy at the 5kW and below. In addition to an interest in providing small renewable power the USMC is interested in concentrated solar technologies that produce hot-water for health and hygiene. Technologies of interest will demonstrate the ability to utilize solar energy to reduce fuel demand for company-sized FOBs. Possibilities might include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Concentrated Solar Harvesting Systems i.e., lens-focused PV, solar thermal dishes powering Sterline engines, etc.; and?2. Concentrated Passive Solar Water Heating
Increase Fuel Efficiency of Tactical Vehicles at Idle or Static: Often Marines at FOBs idle their tactical vehicles to provide power to critical combat systems like radios, laptops, blue force tracker, etc. For example, the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) can maintain 2.4kW of power to off-board equipment. To provide this power the MTVR consumes an average of .8 gallons of fuel per hour. This is a highly inefficient method to provide off-board power considering a typical 10kW tactical generator only consumes .92 gallons per hour. In addition, USMC tactical vehicles have become significantly less fuel efficient due to the addition of significant weight from armor and other Warfighter requirements, and continue to require increasing on-board power due to the demand of new electronic systems (i.e. IED jammers, radios, vision devices, communication equipment, etc.). Both of these issues result in greater fuel demand at FOBs, requiring significant logistics support that the USMC would like to reduce. The USMC is interested in improving the fuel efficiency of its tactical vehicles and looking for ways to more efficiently power both on and off-board electronic systems. Possibilities might include, but are not limited to the following:
1. Bolt-On Auxiliary Power Units;?2. Improve Fuel Efficiency at Idle/Stationary with No Degradation of Driving Performance; and?3. Improve overall fuel efficiency through improved engine/power train efficiencies, as well as any other automotive technologies such as cold and hot weather idle free solutions for vehicle climate control, reduction of parasitic loads, or any other automotive solutions designed to improve vehicle fuel efficiency.SUBMISSION PROCESS AND DUE DATE:
The ExFOB team is partnered with the Army’s Expedited Modernization Initiative Procedure (EMIP). Please go to the EMIP website below to determine how to submit information papers for technologies for the ExFOB 2011. The due date for all submissions is midnight on 29 April 2011. Additional information regarding the joint Army/USMC review process and the August 2011 EXFOB industry demonstration shall be provided to those who submit information papers pursuant to the standard Army Expedited Modernization Initiative Procedure (EMIP), Component Technology Demonstrations process here.
NOTE: This RFI is issued for the purpose of determining market capability of sources and does not constitute an Invitation for Bid (IFB), a Request for Proposal (RFP), a Request for Quote (RFQ) or an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and/or services contained in this notice. No solicitation document exists at this time. All information received in response to this notice that is marked Proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses may not include Classified material. Responses to this notice will not be returned. No reimbursement will be made for any costs to provide information in response to this announcement or any follow-up information requests. Information contained herein is based on the best information available at the time for publication, is subject to revision, and is not binding upon the Government. Availability of any formal solicitation will be announced under a separate Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) announcement.