Source: CVDaily Feed
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TOOELE ARMY DEPOT, Utah – As America honors its veterans Tuesday, a new report concludes the military in Utah, and across the U.S., is leading the nation in the use of clean energy and energy efficiency.
The study, titled How Clean Energy Works for the Military, was published by the nonprofit and nonpartisan organization Environmental Entrepreneurs. Bob Keefe, executive director at Environmental Entrepreneurs, says the military is quickly moving away from fossil fuels.
“Almost every branch of the military right now is moving away from dirty fuels like oil and gas, and moving toward cleaner fuels,” he says. “The Navy and Air Force want to get at least 50 percent of the fuel that powers our airplanes and our ships from biofuels over the next few years.”
Keefe says this is “big news” because the U.S. military is the biggest consumer of fuels and electricity on Earth. The report cites the use of electric vehicles like the Chevrolet Volt at Tooele Army Depot as an example of the military’s clean energy practices in Utah.
Keefe adds that military personnel are also learning job skills that are becoming increasingly valuable as the clean energy economy continues to grow.
“The folks that are coming home from war and from deployments overseas already know how this stuff works,” he says. “So they can move right into the private sector whether it’s at a solar company, a biofuels company, or an energy efficiency company.”
Beyond the military, Keefe’s organization publishes a clean energy quarterly jobs report, which shows Utah has added over 1,200 jobs in the clean energy sector this year.