US Army Announces First Climate Change Blueprint To Achieve Net Zero Emissions By 2050
February 09, 2022
In a first of its kind, the US Army released its inaugural climate change strategy to reduce the Army’s emissions by 50% by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050. A slew of measures were released in a report by the Army. Among these were improving the fuel efficiency, adding electric vehicles (EV), enhancing operational power generation, battery storage, land management, procurement and supply chain resilience.
In January 2021, the new Defense Secretary, Loyd Austin, vowed to study and prioritize policy shifts to address the effects of climate change within the US Army. After a year, the US Army released its first climate change strategy report. In the opening statement, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, said that climate change is not a distant future for the soldiers combating in extreme heat events like wildfire rescue and supporting in hurricane recovery efforts. She added that it is a current reality for all these military personnel.
The US Army has suffered serious consequences of climate change over the last couple of years. Air Force bases, naval stations and army bases in the continental US has suffered heavily. In 2018, Hurricane Florence caused approximately $3.5 billion in damages at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. In 2019, flooding at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska caused around $500 million in damages, according to a Defense Department report.
Wermuth said "The time to address climate change is now. The effects of climate change have taken a toll on supply chains, damaged our infrastructure, and increased risks to Army Soldiers and their families due to natural disasters and extreme weather.”
The report states that some of the strategy includes improving the resilience and sustainability of military operations in the face of extreme weather events brought on by climate change. In the blueprint, the US Army states that it will consider all the aspects of climate change in its development; building resilient energy and water supply, carbon-free energy usage, innovating and adapting the infrastructure and installations and more. Currently, the US Army has 950 renewable energy projects producing 480 megawatts of energy. There are 25 microgrid energy projects planned till 2024 and the US Army plans to install one microgrid per Army installation by 2035. According to the report, the US Army intends to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity production by 2030 and it will reach this goal by purchasing electricity from carbon-free energy sources.
Lastly, the Army’s tactics also include adapting the functions of the Army to operate with resilience in a world altered by climate change.