The Ways that the Military is Using Alternative Energy
The US military knows that its branches must revamp
their thinking about how to engage in “the theater of war” in the new,
post-Cold War world of the 21st century. One thing that the military
leaders stress is the desire for the forces deployed in the theater to
be able to be more energy-independent. Currently the US military has
policies and procedures in place to interact with allies or sympathetic
local populaces to help its forces in the field get their needed energy
and clean water when engaged in a foreign military campaign. However,
this is not wholly reliable, as the US might well find itself facing
unilateral military activities, or have itself in a situation where its
allies cannot help it with the resources it needs to conduct its
military actions successfully.
The US military is very interested in certain alternative energies that,
with the right research and development technologically, can make it
energy independent, or at least a great deal more so, on the
battlefield. One of the things that greatly interests the military along
these lines is the development of small nuclear reactors, which could be
portable, for producing theater-local electricity. The military is
impressed with how clean-burning nuclear reactors are and how energy
efficient they are. Making them portable for the typical warfare of
today's highly mobile, small-scaled military operations is something
they are researching. The most prominent thing that the US military
thinks these small nuclear reactors would be useful for involves the
removal of hydrogen (for fuel cell) from seawater. It also thinks that
converting seawater to hydrogen fuel in this way would have less
negative impact on the environment than its current practices of
remaining supplied out in the field.
Seawater is, in fact, the military's highest interest when it comes to
the matter of alternative energy supply. Seawater can be endlessly
“mined” for hydrogen, which in turn powers advanced fuel cells. Using
OTEC, seawater can also be endlessly converted into desalinated, potable
water. Potable water and hydrogen for power are two of the things that a
near-future deployed military force will need most of all.
In the cores of nuclear reactors—which as stated above are devices
highly interesting, in portable form, to the US military—we encounter
temperatures greater than 1000 degrees Celsius. When this level of
temperature is mixed with a thermo-chemical water-splitting procedure,
we have on our hands the most efficient means of breaking down water
into its component parts, which are molecular hydrogen and oxygen. The
minerals and salts that are contained in seawater would have to be
extracted via a desalination process in order to make the way clear for
the water-splitting process. These could then be utilized, such as in
vitamins or in salt shakers, or simply sent back to the ocean
(recycling). Using the power of nuclear reactors to extract this
hydrogen from the sea, in order to then input that into fuel cells to
power advanced airplanes, tanks, ground vehicles, and the like, is
clearly high on the R & D priority list of the military.
About the Author: D. Benjamin is the owner of
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