National Academies Report Released: Energy Reduction at U.S. Air Force Facilities Using Industrial Processes: A Workshop Summary

Recently, the National Academies Press (NAP) released a report authored by Gregory Eyring, Rapporteur; and produced by the Committee on Energy Reduction at U.S. Air Force Facilities Using Industrial Processes: A Workshop; Air Force Studies Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; and the National Research Council titled, Energy Reduction at U.S. Air Force Facilities Using Industrial Processes: A Workshop Summary (2013). The 76-page report (available free with a one-time registration) discusses how,

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest consumer of energy in the federal government. In turn, the U.S. Air Force is the largest consumer of energy in the DoD, with a total annual energy expenditure of around $10 billion. Approximately 84 percent of Air Force energy use involves liquid fuel consumed in aviation whereas approximately 12 percent is energy (primarily electricity) used in facilities on the ground. This workshop was concerned primarily with opportunities to reduce energy consumption within Air Force facilities that employ energy intensive industrial processes—for example, assembly /disassembly, painting, metal working, and operation of radar facilities—such as those that occur in the maintenance depots and testing facilities. Air Force efforts to reduce energy consumption are driven largely by external goals and mandates derived from Congressional legislation and executive orders. To date, these goals and mandates have targeted the energy used at the building or facility level rather than in specific industrial processes. (internal footnotes omitted).