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Saving Lives On the Battlefield With Green Tech
Harperdog writes "This article describes the efforts by some in the Pentagon to save lives by using renewable energy in the battlefield. 'Seventy percent of all convoys carried liquid fossil fuels, and attacks on convoys ... account for about half of all the casualties. Generators consumed more of the fuel brought in than did combat vehicles and air support.' It's a good description of energy efficient projects already happening in Iraq. '... the first significant response in a combat zone came with the investment of almost $100 million for insulating thousands of tents in the two war zones. Before, air conditioners in summer and heaters in winter powered by generators controlled the climate inside the tents used as barracks, dining halls and offices. Now they spray foam so it covers the exterior of the tents like shaving cream. Foaming the tents saves the military $2 million a day in avoided energy costs. This translates into a payback of less than two months. It saves 100,000 gallons of fuel per day, taking 4,000 trucks off the road each year."
When the cost of safely delivering gasoline in-theatre is $400/gal, any non-trivial reduction in fuel consumption will result in a serious cost savings for the military. I'm all for this.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Man, oh, man, are you going to be disappointed.
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
I grew up in Oman, you insensitive clod.
Seriously though, you can survive in very hot places without AC, you just can't _do_ all that much. At over about 40 degrees in the shade, your body expends most of its energy trying to get cool. AC just allows you to function fully all day long, it's not technically necessary (at least if not fighting a war). It hit 50 degrees in the shade a couple of times when I was there.
That being said, I (obviously) wasn't living in temporary structures over there, like tents.... most of my homes had AC (most of the time), and all proper buildings retained a little of the night cool to lower the high mid-day temperatures. The thicker the walls, the better they did it - some places with massive walls, without AC, remained at absolutely fine temperatures throughout the day.