Report links national security to energy independence

A report released today links national security to energy independence and says the U.S. Department of Defense stands the best chance of guiding development of alternative sources of power and defusing the growing threat caused by relying on other countries for fuel.

"America's current energy posture undermines our economic security and constitutes a serious and urgent threat to our national security," said officials of CNA, a not-for-profit research and analysis firm based in Alexandria, Va. that released the report.

The Defense Department is uniquely positioned to spur clean energy innovation "because of its size, the considerable amount of energy it consumes and its extensive experience in technological innovation," says the report, issued by CNA's Military Advisory Board. "DoD is in a position to help drive this change -- for itself and the nation as a whole."

CNA says the board is made up of 15 top-ranking admirals and generals.

The report, Powering America's Economy: Energy Innovation at the Crossroads of National Security, says that without a strong economy, the United States has neither a strong defense, nor effective international influence.

"We need to remain competitive in the world as we move toward a future of green, sustainable energy," said Gen. Charles F. "Chuck" Wald, USAF (Ret.), in a statement. "The biggest motivation to do it is national security."

The report draws similarities of the race to get a man into space back in the 1960s between the U.S. and USSR. It lists China, Spain, Germany and even the United Arab Emirates as pushing forward with greater gusto and success than the United States in the realm of green energy innovation. Failure to develop its own technology would again require the U.S. to depend on foreign nations to meet future energy needs, the report says.

U.S. military might could eliminate that concern. "Numerous widely adopted technologies, including the jet engine, gas turbines, solid-state electronics, and the Internet were pioneered by the United States military," the report said.

The report also said the Defense Department should partner with the U.S. Department of Energy for that agency's "robust research and development capability for energy technologies and vast knowledge base."

Gen. Gordon Sullivan (Ret.), chairman of CNA's Military Advisory Board, said, "The DoD-DoE partnership, which has been successful in the past, could be instrumental in the move away from fossil fuels if there is a willingness to empower this team to seek clean, renewable, and economical sources of power for domestic use."

The report said the U.S. government "should take bold and aggressive action to support clean energy technology innovation and significantly decrease the nation's dependence on fossil fuels."

The CNA Military Advisory Board also produced the 2007 report "National Security and the Threat of Climate Change" and the 2009 report "Powering America's Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security." Its roster includes retired 2-, 3- and 4-star flag and general officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserve. The board includes a former Army Chief of Staff, commanders of U.S. forces in global regions, and leaders in logistics, procurement, research and development, engineering, nuclear energy and ocean management.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is a nonprofit dedicated to improving our region's quality of life by increasing its production and use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley.

Fuels from sunlight? Energy Department says, 'Make it so'

A California team won an award of up to $122 million to produce fuels from the sun, the U.S. Department of Energy said today.

The key appears simple in concept but Star Trek complex in execution. The mission will be making it commercially viable.

"Finding a cost-effective way to produce fuels as plants do -- combining sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide -- would be a game changer, reducing our dependence on oil and enhancing energy security," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, in a statement.

The award is over five years. It went to the California Institute of Technology, which is partnering with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other California institutions, and will establish the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis.

"With this award, some of California's top scientists will continue to lead the way forward by working together to create 'artificial photosynthesis,' a process that can emulate the inner workings of plant life to produce a useful transportation fuel we can put right into our cars without further processing," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., in the DOE statement.

"If successful, this concept -- to combine sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to produce a clean fuel -- would revolutionize the energy sector. It would help scrub the atmosphere of excessive carbon dioxide, help eliminate our dependence on oil, and generate an innovative industry in the heart of California. This is very exciting."

The operation is one of three that will receive money from DOE this year. The agency announced in May that a team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory will pursue research on modeling and simulation for nuclear reactors. The final selection has yet to be announced.

DOE officials explained cracking the sunlight-to-fuel process this way: "Research will be directed at the discovery of the functional components necessary to assemble a complete artificial photosynthetic system: light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers, and separation membranes. The Hub will then integrate those components into an operational solar fuel system and develop scale-up strategies to move from the laboratory toward commercial viability."

Clear as mud?

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is a nonprofit dedicated to improving our region's quality of life by increasing its production and use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley.

Algae and wastewater mix to make power results

A University of Merced graduate student hates "waste" in wastewater, and is looking for ways to use it to create algae, a biofuel.

Patrick Wiley's interest in wastewater began in his home state of Maine, and then expanded into his study of renewable fuel sources, according to this story out of UC Merced. Algae grows naturally in wastewater and, through photosynthesis can be used for biofuel.

Wiley's studies led him to the master's program at Humboldt State University and then to UC Merced, where he is teaming up with Professor Elliott Campbell, who shares his interest in biofuels.

This is what Elliott told us: "The synergistic opportunity that is most apparent to me for the Valley is between wastewater and algae biofuels. Finding cost effective ways to produce algae biofuels is a real challenge. The San Joaquin Valley may be a good place to think about economic solutions where existing algae wastewater ponds can be combined with algae biofuels production."

Wiley will work in Santa Cruz cultivating algae in ocean-floating bags and with a UC Berkeley group that is developing ways to generate power with algae.

We are so fortunate to have UC Merced in our Valley, and look forward to hearing more from Wiley and other students at the university. Thanks to them, the San Joaquin Valley, which has low incomes, high power bills and is ideally suited to benefit from and develop clean energy, could someday be the standard-bearer for clean and alternative energy.

The San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is a nonprofit dedicated to improving our region's quality of life by increasing its production and use of clean and alternative energy. The SJVCEO works with cities and counties and public and private organizations to demonstrate the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy throughout the eight-county region of the San Joaquin Valley.