
The U.S. Department of Defense is planning to move towards using green energy to cut spending on the 300,000 barrels of oil it averages daily.
The U.S. military's use of renewable energy has increased 300 percent between 2006 and 2009, according to SustainableBusiness.com. The armed forces are now investing $1.2 billion in renewable energy and plan on increasing it to $10 billion annually by the year 2030, Pike Research stated in a recently released report.
The move to using more renewable energy is an effort to protect soldiers while enhancing national energy security and saving taxpayers money. More than 11 percent of the Department of Defense's energy currently comes from renewables, which saves taxpayers billions of dollars, according to SustainableBusiness.com.
"The DOD is positioned to become the single most important driver of the cleantech revolution in the United States," Pike Research President Clint Wheelock said. "In particular, military investment in renewable energy and related technologies can help bridge the 'valley of death' that lies between research & development and full commercialization of these technologies."
The current presidential administration has proposed a $553 billion budget for the Department of Defense, which the White House website says will provide soldiers with the technology, equipment and infrastructure needed to maintain military readiness.

