The US Army simply launched the largest floating solar farm in the Southeast-- why this is a big deal

• The United States Army has launched the biggest floating solar farm in the Southeast. It's also the initial project of its kind for the US Department of Defense.

The US Army's brand-new floating solar farm

A ribbon cutting occurred on June 10 for the floating solar, which gets on Big Muddy Lake at Camp Mackall on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Fort Bragg is the largest military installation by populace in the Army, with around 49,000 army personnel, 11,000 civilian employees, and 23,000 family members. It's the home of Airborne as well as Special Operations forces.

The 1.1-megawatt (MW) floating solar farm consists of 2 MW/2 megawatt-hour of battery energy storage.

The floating solar farm is a partnership between Fort Bragg, utility Duke Energy, and also Framingham, Massachusetts-based renewable energy firm Ameresco. The US Army's news discusses:

This utility energy solution agreement project will give carbon-free onsite generation, supplement power to the local grid, and offer backup power for Camp Mackall during electricity outages.

The system likewise features a digital recloser, which detects and disrupts temporary faults.

Rachel Jacobson, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and also Environment, claimed:

This project fulfills the commitment made in our Army Climate Strategy to enhance durability while supplying clean energy and also decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.

When we collaborate with regional energies and industry to advertise energy durability while powering the regional grid, it is a winning option across the board.

Electrek's Take

To repeat what Jacobson said: The US Army has a climate-change strategy. The 20-page document can be accessed here.

The US Army has an objective of lowering its emissions 50% by 2030 and accomplishing net zero by 2050. It likewise intends to "proactively think about the security implications of climate modification in strategy, preparation, procurement, supply chain, and programs documents and also processes."

This is considerable due to the fact that the United States Army is a major pollluter. Because 2001, the armed force has actually produced more than 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases-- more than entire nations like Denmark or Portugal. Better, the Department of Defense accounts for almost 80% of the federal government's fuel intake, according to Neta C. Crawford, a political science professor at Boston University,.

The US Army also formally acknowledges that climate adjustment is a genuine risk. The initial line of its climate strategy states:

Climate adjustment threatens America's safety and security and is changing the geostrategic landscape as we understand it.

So it's excellent information that such a huge polluter identifies its problem and also is taking steps to remedy that problem.

It additionally shows nonpartisan climate modification action in a presently polarized country. There is a tendency among climate adjustment deniers to associate the movement to adopt renewables as some sort of a left-wing plot. (Just read a few of our comments on Facebook.).

So when somebody starts to scream concerning the liberal plot to set up "ineffective solar," and wind turbines killing birds, send them a link to the Army Climate Strategy.