Isra-Mart srl:Top Gun goes green as US Air Force turns to renewable energy

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The US Air Force (USAF) has purchased or produced almost 250m kilowatt-hours of energy from US solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass and hydro facilities since 1997, making it one of the country's top consumers of renewable energy.

Its record of having generated or purchased 243.9m kilowatt-hours puts the USAF in second place amongst all federal government departments, and 15th overall in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) latest list of 1,300 of the largest renewable energy purchasers nationwide.

According to the EPA figures, the USAF's renewable energy consumption equates to cutting annual greenhouse gas emissions comparable to that produced by 33,497 cars or 21,261 homes.

The USAF also purchased 250m kilowatt-hours of renewable energy from facilities built before 1997, which are not credited in the EPA league table, giving it total renewable consumption of 493.9m kilowatt-hours.

Although USAF bought less renewable power in 2010 than in previous years, officials said this was because it now had more on-site generation.

About six per cent of all facility energy used by the Air Force comes from renewable energy, exceeding the federally mandated goal of five per cent by 2010.

However, under new rules adopted by the Obama administration, 10 per cent of USAF's energy will have to come from renewable sources by 2015, and 25 per cent by 2025, prompting increased investment in on-site renewable technologies and the signing of a wave of new green electricity purchasing agreements.

"We have seven new solar projects under construction right now, including one at Camp Perry Air National Guard Base in Ohio capable of producing 60 per cent of that installation's electrical needs," said Ken Gray, rates and renewables branch chief at the Air Force Facility Energy Center. "This year, we expect to begin construction on at least a dozen more renewable energy projects, including two new solar arrays in Arizona each larger than the 140-acre [14.2MW] solar array at Nellis, Nevada, which made news headlines as the largest array in the country a few years ago."

USAF is also expected to award contracts for wind and waste-to-energy projects this year.