The U.S. Army has just flipped the switch on its first wind power project, a single wind turbine at the Tooele Army Depot in Utah. That might sound like small potatoes but it’s a giant step forward for the U.S. military, which has been cautious about wind power primarily due to concerns over radar interference. The installation took more than five years to come to fruition, starting with an approval process in 2005.
Though the military has been reticent about wind power, it has been surging into a clean energy future on other fronts. For the past several years it has been moving rapidly to convert its operations to other forms of renewable energy such as solar and geothermal. That comes along with an aggressive push for energy conservation and biofuels, too, as well reducing the use of toxic chemicals and preserving habitats on Department of Defense lands.