WEBVTT 00:00.348 --> 00:02.931 (techno music) 00:06.700 --> 00:08.930 - In 2009, you outlined five goals 00:08.930 --> 00:10.970 for the Department of the Navy, 00:10.970 --> 00:13.053 to achieve greater energy security. 00:14.826 --> 00:16.910 Why is energy security so important 00:16.910 --> 00:18.510 to the Navy and Marine Corps? 00:18.510 --> 00:20.763 - Well, energy security is national security. 00:23.620 --> 00:25.310 We would never let 00:25.310 --> 00:27.880 some of the countries that we buy 00:27.880 --> 00:30.530 fossil fuels from build our ships 00:30.530 --> 00:33.330 or our aircraft or our ground vehicles, 00:33.330 --> 00:34.600 but we give 'em a vote. 00:34.600 --> 00:36.680 We give 'em a vote on whether our ships sail, 00:36.680 --> 00:39.930 our aircraft fly, or our ground vehicles operate. 00:39.930 --> 00:42.140 And even if we could produce 00:42.140 --> 00:45.563 all the oil and gas we needed in the US, 00:46.420 --> 00:49.520 fossil fuels are still the ultimate global commodity. 00:49.520 --> 00:53.590 And so, every time the price of oil 00:53.590 --> 00:55.500 goes up a dollar a barrel, for example, 00:55.500 --> 00:58.380 it costs the Navy and Marine Corps $30 million. 00:59.691 --> 01:02.340 So for FY-11 and 12, 01:02.340 --> 01:06.313 that was a billion dollars in unbudgeted fuel bills. 01:07.340 --> 01:09.933 There's not many places to go get that money. 01:10.830 --> 01:12.870 There's operations, so we fly less, 01:12.870 --> 01:15.080 we steam less, we train less. 01:15.080 --> 01:16.750 Or if the bill gets too big, 01:16.750 --> 01:19.980 we start cutting those platforms that we've talked about. 01:19.980 --> 01:24.030 And neither one of those is an acceptable answer. 01:24.030 --> 01:28.710 So, the push for different energy, 01:28.710 --> 01:30.470 push for different kinds of energy, 01:30.470 --> 01:32.650 how we get it, how we use it, 01:32.650 --> 01:36.270 is for one reason and that's to make us better war fighters. 01:36.270 --> 01:41.270 It's got some side effects of lower carbon, 01:41.640 --> 01:43.700 being better stewards of the environment. 01:43.700 --> 01:45.450 Those are definitely side effects. 01:45.450 --> 01:48.120 It's to make us better war fighters. 01:48.120 --> 01:51.000 That's the only reason that we're doing it. 01:51.000 --> 01:52.950 That's the only reason for the Navy 01:52.950 --> 01:54.190 and for the Marine Corps. 01:54.190 --> 01:57.513 The cost of not doing it, for example, for the Marines, 01:58.650 --> 02:01.250 at the height of the fighting in Afghanistan, 02:01.250 --> 02:04.910 for every 50 conveys of fuel that were being brought in, 02:04.910 --> 02:07.530 we lost a marine, killed or wounded. 02:07.530 --> 02:11.020 That's too high a price to pay, that's why we're doing it. 02:11.020 --> 02:12.460 - Thank you. 02:12.460 --> 02:15.040 What are some of the key energy initiatives from the Navy 02:15.040 --> 02:16.240 and Marine Corps that are helping 02:16.240 --> 02:18.810 the department achieve your energy goals? 02:18.810 --> 02:19.690 - Well, there a lot. 02:19.690 --> 02:23.870 One is where we demonstrated the Great Green Fleet 02:23.870 --> 02:25.300 last year at RIMPAC. 02:25.300 --> 02:29.860 A carrier strike group that every single type of aircraft 02:29.860 --> 02:34.400 flying off the carrier flew on a 50/50 blend of biofuel 02:34.400 --> 02:38.960 and aviation gas and every single surface ship 02:38.960 --> 02:43.960 ran on a 50/50 blend of marine diesel and biofuel. 02:44.100 --> 02:47.040 And the big news out of that was they were known use. 02:47.040 --> 02:49.960 We've, under presidential directive, 02:49.960 --> 02:52.060 the Department of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, 02:52.060 --> 02:53.500 and the Department of Navy, 02:53.500 --> 02:57.080 has been engaged in efforts to set up 02:57.080 --> 03:01.100 a nationwide biofuel industry and we have four companies now 03:01.100 --> 03:03.210 contractually committed to producing 03:03.210 --> 03:08.210 up to 170 million gallons of biofuels a year by 2016, 2017. 03:11.280 --> 03:14.190 At a good bit less than $4 a gallon, 03:14.190 --> 03:19.190 so very, very competitive prices on this. 03:19.350 --> 03:24.140 We're doing things on shore, we're doing things with solar 03:24.140 --> 03:26.490 and wind, we're doing things with geothermal 03:26.490 --> 03:28.490 and hydrothermal and wave. 03:28.490 --> 03:32.800 We are a long way down the road and we're gonna meet 03:32.800 --> 03:36.690 the goal that we have, that by 2020, 03:36.690 --> 03:39.580 at least half of all naval energy afloat and ashore 03:39.580 --> 03:41.703 will come from non-fossil fuel sources. 03:43.340 --> 03:45.350 - You just mentioned this, but one of your energy goals 03:45.350 --> 03:46.480 for the Department of the Navy 03:46.480 --> 03:50.320 is to sail the Great Green Fleet by 2016. 03:50.320 --> 03:51.870 What sort of progress has been made 03:51.870 --> 03:53.030 toward achieving this goal 03:53.030 --> 03:55.310 since demonstrating a green strike group 03:55.310 --> 03:57.760 in local operations in 2012? 03:57.760 --> 04:00.120 - Well that was the first step we said 04:00.120 --> 04:03.400 that we would demonstrate it in 2012. 04:03.400 --> 04:05.390 When I announced that in 2009, 04:05.390 --> 04:09.110 a lot of doubters as to whether we could do that. 04:09.110 --> 04:10.890 But we did it, we did it all on schedule, 04:10.890 --> 04:14.010 we did it as part of the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. 04:14.010 --> 04:18.790 Now the just normal deployment of a carrier strike group 04:18.790 --> 04:23.790 using the 50/50 blends of biofuel and aviation gas 04:23.850 --> 04:25.960 are the nuclear and the carrier 04:25.960 --> 04:30.350 and the 50/50 blend for the surface ships. 04:30.350 --> 04:33.010 Proceeding, we're working with allies, 04:33.010 --> 04:35.480 working with allies around the world 04:35.480 --> 04:38.560 in terms of being able to procure 04:38.560 --> 04:42.363 and get biofuels wherever we go. 04:43.250 --> 04:44.920 The Australians are a good example. 04:44.920 --> 04:46.367 Last year at RIMPAC, 04:47.890 --> 04:51.390 a senior Australian naval officer flew over 04:51.390 --> 04:55.210 from an Australian ship on a helicopter. 04:55.210 --> 04:57.730 We signed a memorandum of understanding 04:57.730 --> 04:58.920 about what we're gonna do, 04:58.920 --> 05:02.100 how we're gonna share information on biofuels 05:02.100 --> 05:05.360 and our research and our activities on that 05:05.360 --> 05:10.360 and his helicopter was refueled on that 50/50 blend. 05:11.280 --> 05:13.350 When the press asked him, they said, 05:13.350 --> 05:14.790 how committed to this program are you? 05:14.790 --> 05:16.720 He said, I'm getting on the helicopter, 05:16.720 --> 05:18.370 that's pretty committed. 05:18.370 --> 05:20.920 - If we could revisit power for a minute, 05:20.920 --> 05:22.930 also, one of your top priorities, 05:22.930 --> 05:26.130 how is this relevant to the everyday lives of sailors 05:26.130 --> 05:29.210 and marines and how does it impact their day-to-day routine? 05:29.210 --> 05:31.140 - Well, in a lot of ways. 05:31.140 --> 05:36.100 One is just the culture is changing in the Navy. 05:36.100 --> 05:40.700 I visited Makin Island, which is a hybrid ship. 05:40.700 --> 05:44.700 It's got an electric drive for speeds under 12 knots, 05:44.700 --> 05:47.160 normal drive for speeds over 12 knots. 05:47.160 --> 05:52.160 And they saved almost half of their budget. 05:52.470 --> 05:55.830 They went out with a $34 million fuel budget 05:55.830 --> 05:57.690 on their last deployment, 05:57.690 --> 06:02.690 came back having spent about 18 million of that. 06:04.540 --> 06:08.420 But, when I visited them, they were very proud of that, 06:08.420 --> 06:12.060 but the thing that the engineering officer 06:12.060 --> 06:16.973 said that he was the proudest of was how young sailors, 06:18.480 --> 06:20.920 third class petty officers, would come up and say, 06:20.920 --> 06:23.700 I've got an idea of how we can save some more fuel, 06:23.700 --> 06:26.130 I've got an idea of how we can save some power here, 06:26.130 --> 06:29.900 I've got this idea and how it's become ingrained 06:29.900 --> 06:32.280 that you're looking for ways to do that. 06:32.280 --> 06:35.800 And it's as simple as changing the light bulbs. 06:35.800 --> 06:38.513 Instead of using the regular kind of bulbs we use, 06:39.887 --> 06:42.120 put these LED bulbs in. 06:42.120 --> 06:46.310 That can save 1% or 2% on the total fuel bill, 06:46.310 --> 06:47.660 so that sort of the thing. 06:47.660 --> 06:52.010 But I'll go back to what I've said over and over again. 06:52.010 --> 06:53.730 It's gonna impact sailors 06:53.730 --> 06:57.820 because it's gonna make us better at our jobs. 06:57.820 --> 07:02.820 It's gonna make us less dependent on foreign sources of fuel 07:03.870 --> 07:08.870 and it's gonna take us out of the big price spikes, 07:09.720 --> 07:14.490 the price spikes, the shocks to the system. 07:14.490 --> 07:16.820 And so, we won't be making the trades 07:16.820 --> 07:19.900 between readiness and buying fuel. 07:19.900 --> 07:22.870 We won't be making a trade between buying enough fuel 07:22.870 --> 07:23.970 to get the platform there 07:23.970 --> 07:26.690 and building the platform in the first place. 07:26.690 --> 07:30.660 So, it will have an impact whether seen or unseen. 07:30.660 --> 07:32.210 And I think a lot of 'em will be seen 07:32.210 --> 07:35.510 because some of the efficiencies that sailors 07:35.510 --> 07:40.070 are gonna see at sea, on their ships, on the bases at home, 07:40.070 --> 07:42.130 but it's also gonna have an unseen impact, 07:42.130 --> 07:45.010 that we'll have more money to do the things 07:45.010 --> 07:47.540 that the country expects us to do, 07:47.540 --> 07:51.660 things like training to be ready to go on deployment, 07:53.290 --> 07:56.810 to be ready to do the incredible range of missions 07:56.810 --> 07:58.953 we ask from our sailors every single day.