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NATO Plans to Reduce Carbon Emissions and Is Considering Investing in Solar Panels as an Energy Source
As the world moves to reduce CO2 emissions, NATO, the world’s most powerful military alliance, sees investment in clean energy as essential. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Secretary General, recently called for member countries to start working together so that heavy tanks, fighter jets, and warships could have solar panels in their weaponry.
The Secretary General’s remarks came during New Ideas for NATO 2030. He emphasized that the militaries of NATO member countries need to commit to curbing CO2 emissions: ”NATO must work to see how we can reduce emissions from military operations”.
NATO Seeks to Reduce CO2 Emissions and Contribute to the Environment
He highlighted that war weapons such as ships, tanks, and fighter jets consume a lot of fossil fuel, being major emitters of CO2: ”We all know that tanks, fighter jets, and warships consume a lot of fossil fuel. Therefore, we need to study how we can reduce these emissions through alternative fuels, solar panels, and other ways to carry out our missions.”
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With 160,000 m² of collectors, an area larger than 20 football fields, Silkeborg, in Denmark, hosts a solar thermal plant that heats 19,500 homes and could become the largest solar heating plant in the world.
Are War Weapon Expenditures Really Concerning?
A report produced by SGR on the carbon footprint revealed that, in 2019, approximately 24.8 tons of ‘tCO2e’ were emitted by the military power of the European Union. This is equivalent to about 14 million mid-sized cars. At the same time, another study from the same year shows that the U.S. Armed Forces alone pollute more than the armed forces of 140 countries combined. To give you an idea, an American tank pollutes as much as 10 regular cars.
Would Solar Panels Be Able to Power Such Heavy Weapons?
According to data from the Interesting Engineering website, powering a tank with solar panels using current technology would be impractical. Today, solar panel technology in vehicles is still in its infancy, making it even more challenging to apply it to war weapons that require a lot of power. However, it could be used to provide additional power to tanks and reduce dependence while increasing fuel efficiency.
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