Powering Our Future: Our Greatest Challenge and Greatest Opportunity

Vehicles. Weapon systems. Communications networks. Everything on the battlefield requires power. Hear from leaders of DIU’s newest portfolio, Advanced Energy & Materials, dedicated to attacking DoD’s growing energy needs.

What you’ll find out

• What we mean by ‘operational energy’ (01:09)
• Follow the money: investment trends (03:00)
• How the energy domain is evolving (18:10)
• Why reliance on fossil fuels must decrease (20:00)
• What’s happening to untether from fossil fuels (27:06)

Key quotes

• “Operational Energy is the term we use to refer to how we power our force in the field, from the warfighter on the ground to our planes, ships and vehicles to our bases in the field. They all require power and that power, that immense power, has energy requirements that are growing” — Lee Robinson, DIU, Chief Security Officer (01:05)
• “We’re following trends obviously in the energy sector. So what that means is really, it’s billions and billions of dollars pouring into the business of decarbonization.” — Doug French, DIU, Program Manager (03:29)
• “The energy demand will only increase as we implement and operationalize future technological innovations into the military.” — Jonathan Villasensor, US Army, Maneuver Chief, Maneuver, Aviation, Soldier, Lethality Robotics Division, FID, FCC, AFC (14:24)
• “The United States predominance is being challenged across all domains, including operational energy. If our ability to get energy into a contested area is denied, then it quickly becomes a strategic issue.” — Jonathan Villasensor, US Army, Maneuver Chief, Maneuver, Aviation, Soldier, Lethality Robotics Division, FID, FCC, AFC (15:54)
• “Those are the kinds of technologies we’re looking at bolting on and finding ways to introduce commercial technology onto those legacy systems whether it be tactical vehicle hybridization or an effort some of my colleagues are working to standardize private sector batteries across the DoD or adding hydrogen fuel cells.” — Doug French, DIU, Program Manager (26:09)

Who you’ll hear from

Jonathan Villasenor, US Army, Maneuver Chief, Maneuver, Aviation, Soldier, Lethality Robotics Division, FID, FCC, AFC

Doug French, DIU, Program Manager

Lee Robinson, DIU, Chief Security Officer

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