ARPA-E: Improving Military Energy Security

The U.S. military has a vested interest in advancing microgrid technologies that can power forward operating bases. These technologies could not only help the military significantly reduce its energy demand both at home and abroad, but also they could reduce the number of fuel-supply convoys required on the battlefield and the number of troops killed in fuel-supply convoy attacks. This video highlights two ARPA-E projects that have formed strategic partnerships with the military to enable these microgrids at forward operating bases. Georgia Tech is developing an innovative absorption heat pump that utilizes exhaust heat to provide heating and cooling, which could cut the amount of energy used to heat and cool forward operating bases by 50%. Primus Power is developing a low-cost, energy-dense storage system that could store enough energy to operate a base for several days in the event of a disruption.