The US military could become a major player on the green-energy scene, says AFP. According to the news service, the Pentagon is actively seeking ways to save energy and to switch to renewable sources.

The Pentagon, says AFP, is already trying to reach a target of obtaining 25% of its electricity from renewables by 2025. There are strong reasons to go green beyond climate change too: a 1% decrease in fuel consumption would mean 6,400 fewer soldiers in fuel convoys at risk of insurgent attacks.

“When you don’t use as much fuel, not only does it not cost you as much, but it also saves lives and injuries of those people who would have to deliver fuel through hostile territory,” says Keith Eastin, assistant army secretary for Installations and the Environment.

AFP also notes that Obama’s stimulus package earmarked $300 million for Defense Department research on renewable energy. Some of the research from this may eventually lead to clean-tech in the non-military sector.

“Just by nature of the fact that we are big, we can be a test bed for a whole lot of things that normally wouldn’t seem to make a lot of powerful economic sense,” says Eastin.

Full article: Gas-guzzling Pentagon going green.

Image: modified from aerial photograph of the Pentagon by Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway, U.S. Air Force / DoD