New Delhi, Thursday, March 18, 2010:The Armed Forces have taken a major initiative towards adopting energy efficiency and conservation in operations and cantonment complexes. Under the programme, disclosed Air Marshal D. Kukreja, Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, DCIDS (Operations), the day is not far when the Jawan treading up the Siachen glacier along with his platoon would need not carry the heavy batteries; instead the Army is planning to replace dry and wet batteries with solar power packs.

Addressing a daylong seminar on ‘Renewable Energy for Defence Services’ here today, Air Marshal Kukreja said that the three Services have completed an energy audit of few major installations. “At least one building in each Command would soon meet the GRIHA standards and the ball has been set rolling by the Engineer-in-Chief’s branch,” he added.

Defence Forces around the world being amongst the largest consumers of energy, it is imperative of them to optimize consumption of diesel and conventional energy sources, noted the Minister of State for Defence Dr MM Pallam Raju. He, who is also the Chairman of the Task Force set up by the Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) to monitor the progress of the application of non-conventional and renewable energy in the military environment.

Calling upon the Services to take the initiative, Air Marshal SC Mukul, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS), said that while the Renewable Energy generation still costs three to four times that of Conventional Energy sources, the high fuel transportation costs to high-altitude areas and the comparatively more lifecycle of solar energy, around 20 years, place Non-Conventional Energy utilization at an advantage.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) was in the process of setting up small and micro hydel projects across Himalayas, from Ladakh to Tawang and solar and wind power plants in peninsular India, said Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE. A large share of the power generated could be committed to the Armed Forces, he added.