Assistant Secretary of Energy Highlights Air Force Renewable and Energy Efficiency Work
August 21, 2006
As Assistant Secretary of Energy Alexander Karsner toured Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas last week his team met with senior leaders and saw first hand the advances the Air Force has made integrating energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies into daily operations of the base.
“Dyess AFB is a leader in employing energy efficiency technologies and in the procurement of renewable energy,” Karsner said of the base. “Dyess is setting an example for the Air Force and for the military in general, about to effect ways to minimize energy supply and enhance our national security mission. Their work to integrate these technologies shows a real desire to preserve and protect a positive relationship with their community (Abilene) and for the environment on water, energy and waste issues. The Department of Energy intends to work more closely with offices in the Pentagon on our core issues of national security, energy security and environmental quality. We intend to build on the Air Force’s leadership so that we can proliferate and accelerate uses of these clean renewable and energy efficient technologies across the nation.”
Assistant Secretary Karsner was escorted on his tour of the Dyess facilities by William C. Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics and Michael A. Aimone, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations and Mission Support.
Among the work highlighted on the visit were these Dyess successes:
WIND ENERGY: Dyess AFB was the first entity in the United States to use 100% renewable electricity at a single site. Their supply contract provides 100 percent wind-generated electricity making all of the base’s electrical power pollution free. The Dyess purchase resulted in approximately 75 million kilowatt hours of wind energy generated annually and, at the time, represented more than 20 percent of the entire Federal government’s renewable power.
WATER CONSERVATION: Dyess negotiated a way for the city of Abilene to build an off base 7 mile pipeline to Dyess. Using an Energy Saving Performance Contract (ESPC), Dyess installed effluent water systems which consist of two 11M gallon reservoirs and 7 miles of on base distribution piping. The project was a $3M task order. This reduced potable water consumption for the city by 2% and reduced Dyess water consumption by nearly 30%.
FACILITIES: Dyess has 476 natural day-lighting fixtures installed in high bay facilities. These fixtures provide all the hangar lighting needs on most days, displacing about 350,000 kWh annually. On most days the natural lighting provides over 100 foot-candles. This far exceeds the minimum requirement and improves productivity. For times when additional lighting is required; high efficiency, bi-level, metal halide lamps help minimize the energy used to supplement the natural light.
ICE STORAGE PLANT: Using ESPC, a 4000Ton-Hr ice plant was constructed that serves 14 buildings on the base. The ‘cooling tower’ is an 800K gallon effluent pond that is also used for irrigation and provides an aesthetic water feature for the dormitories. Retrofit of all high lighting in all flight line building and several warehouses was included in the task order. The task order also retrofitted all sinks, urinals, and commodes using new modern technology. Project was a $7.5M task order.
WASTE TO ENERGY PLANT: Two task orders signed for over $39M. One adds diesel back up generators. The second builds a waste-to-energy plant that uses municipal solid waste form both Dyess AFB and the city of Abilene. It also builds a second ice plant loop to further reduce electrical peak demand. This is unique in that we believe this is the first such project done in the US. When complete, it will give Dyess the ability to remove itself from the off-base electrical grid and still maintain 100% operations.
For more information visit the Dyess AFB website.
