CRS On DOD Energy Use

With more than $1.4 billion requested in fiscal year 2013 for operational energy initiatives, the Congressional Research Service has taken a look at potential issues for lawmakers regarding the Defense Department's fuel use.

"By some accounts, DOD is the largest organizational user of petroleum in the world. Even so, DOD's share of total U.S. energy consumption is fairly small," a Dec. 10 CRS report -- originally obtained by Secrecy News -- states, adding: "DOD is by far the largest U.S. government user of energy. The amount of money that DOD spends on petroleum-based fuels is large in absolute terms, but relatively small as a percentage of DOD's overall budget."

CRS notes that the Pentagon's fuel costs "have increased substantially over the last decade, to about $17 billion in FY2011," with petroleum-based liquid fuels being the department's largest energy source, "accounting for approximately two-thirds of DOD energy consumption."

The Air Force is the service that uses the most fuel, according to CRS.

About 75 percent of the Pentagon's energy use goes toward operational energy and the remainder goes toward installation energy, the report states.

Consequently, CRS lists the following "potential oversight issues for Congress regarding DOD's energy initiatives":

* DOD's coordination of operational energy initiatives being pursued by the military services.

* DOD's efforts to gather reliable data and develop metrics for evaluating DOD's energy initiatives.

* DOD's estimates of future fuel costs.

* DOD's role in federal energy initiatives.

* The Navy's initiative to help jumpstart a domestic advanced biofuels industry.

* The potential implications for DOD energy initiatives of shifts in U.S. military strategy.

View the full CRS report.

And for more InsideDefense.com coverage of Pentagon energy issues, check out Defense Energy Alert.