The Department of Defense is the single largest energy consumer in the nation.  It consumes more than three quarters of the energy used by the federal government. In many areas of the nation, the Department is the largest local consumer of power.  The sheer size of its infrastructure, as well as the wide diversity of installation building types, climatic conditions, and available energy sources, puts DoD in a unique position to play a significant role in the development and deployment of the next generation of energy technologies.  To meet its energy, environmental, economic, and security needs, DoD requires rapid and effective deployment of new clean, secure, low-carbon energy technologies.  To address these issues, SERDP and ESTCP invest in three areas.

Conservation and Efficiency – Technologies that support sustainable building design and operations to reduce energy demand.  Innovative energy efficient lighting, heating, air conditioning, and other technologies can improve conservation and energy efficiency in buildings and other mission-support structures.

Distributed Generation – Renewable energy sources and efficiency improvements in other non-centralized energy generation alternatives.  Investments are primarily focused on developing and demonstrating renewable energy source technologies on or in proximity to installations.  These technologies must be mission compatible and at the appropriate scale for DoD installations.  Improvements in micro-turbine, combined heat and power, and other modular or distributed applications that may not involve renewable energy also are supported.

Microgrids and Storage – Control and storage technologies that will enable grid-compatible operation and improved efficiency of an installation’s power network. Control and storage technologies enable increased use of distributed generation, especially renewable energy sources. Such advances in achieving energy self-sufficiency promote an installation’s energy security.