Washington (Platts)--11Apr2012/405 pm EDT/2005 GMT

The Obama administration on Wednesday announced that the US military will seek to deploy 3 GW of renewable energy, including solar, wind, biomass and geothermal, by 2025.

In addition, the Department of Energy's advanced research arm will sponsor $30 million in projects aimed at improving the performance and safety of energy storage devices, including hybrid energy and storage modules being developed by the Department of Defense for military applications.

The announcements came as part of the Obama administration's so-called "all of the above" approach to improve US energy security.

"These new steps build on President Obama's unwavering commitment to energy security for America's warfighters, and to a sustained, comprehensive strategy to ensure a secure energy future for all Americans," the White House said in a statement.

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The military's commitment to 3 GW of renewable energy builds on Obama's announcement during his most recent State of the Union address in January that the Navy would develop 1 GW of renewable energy on its installations by 2020. The Air Force will set a goal of obtaining 1 GW by 2016, while the Army would obtain 1 GW by 2025, according to Thursday's announcement.

All together, the commitments are part of DOD's goal of meeting 25% of its energy needs with renewable energy by 2025. The White House said these efforts would come at no cost to taxpayers, with DOD leveraging private-sector financing.

The Army also will open a new 30,000-square-foot laboratory in Michigan to develop cutting-edge energy technologies for combat vehicles, the White House said. The lab at Detroit Arsenal will involve a partnership with academia and industry, and it will support the development of the "Green Warrior Convoy" of vehicles in 2013.

The convoy will test and demonstrate fuel cells, hybrid systems, battery technologies and alternative fuels.

The DOE effort, launched by its Advanced Research Projects Agency, will seek projects that involve creating a new generation of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, increasing the fuel efficiency of military generators, improving the reliability of military aircraft generators, and enabling next-generation high-power weapons systems and fuel-efficient operations for Navy ships.

ARPA-E funds high-risk, high-reward energy research with the potential to transform the way the US uses, generates and stores energy.

"Innovation is our nation's sweet spot, and it is critically important that we look at every possible energy solution in order to ensure America's future prosperity and security," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Through [this] competition, we are charging our nation's best and brightest to develop more effective energy storage technologies, which are used in everything from cell phones to electric vehicles to high-powered military equipment."

--Herman Wang, herman_wang@platts.com

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