The Air Force is the leading purchaser of renewable energy in the EPA’s green power partnership for the second year in a row, according to the agency’s annual report. How much renewable energy does the Air Force buy? The answer is: only 11 percent of its total electrical usage for 2005. While that number may not astound some hard-core environmentalists, it is significant for one thing because the Air Force is the leading purchaser of renewable energy in the entire federal government, says EPA. And, USAF has two bases—Dyess AFB, Tex., and Fairchild AFB, Wash., that now get 100 percent of their energy from wind or other renewable power sources. Why not more? Cost. Renewable energy is only now becoming competitive due to new technologies. The Air Force is even generating some renewable power on its own, operating a wind farm on Ascension Island and at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and looking at biomass at Hill AFB, Utah.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.