The U.S. Departments of Interior and Defense have signed a Memorandum of understanding that supports the development of renewable energy on public land reserved for defense purposes or near military bases. Solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy will be supported.
Installations of the U.S. Department of Defense comprise approximately 28 million acres of land in the United States. Some bases are located in the western United States, where there are good conditions for wind, solar and geothermal energy. Many bases of the Department of Defense are also located on the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and Hawaii.
Access to renewable energy sources will help a military base to maintain important functions for weeks or months if the commercial network fails. Each military installation has committed to deploy a gigawatt of renewable energy sources on its property until 2025.
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