General Dempsey: Net Zero Energy Consumption Saves Soldiers’ Lives

General Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday on a range of issues regarding the Defense Department’s 2013 budget request, including future planning on operational energy (i.e. the strategic use of energy resources on the battlefield). At around 2:58:11 of the video, he discusses the security benefits of energy efficiency for the military, in terms of lives saved and operational agility, stating:

We lose soldiers, marines, notably airmen and soldiers, on the roads of Afghanistan going from FOB [forward operating base] to FOB…on resupply missions and so forth. So to the extent we can create autonoumous or semi-autonomous, in terms of energy consumption, power and energy organizations…net zero in terms of their consumption of power and energy, we’ll actually save lives, and become a lot more agile because we won’t be as traditional, linear [with our] line of communications.

You can see the full testimony over at CSPAN. Thanks to Will Rogers at CNAS for the heads up.