Military kicks the tires of green technology

Writing at the GigaOM blog, Katie Fehrenbacher points to seven green technologies the military is pursuing.

• Powerfilm is working with the Army’s Natick Soldier Center to develop solar tents using the company’s thin amorphous silicon technology.
• DARPA has launched a BioFuels program to design bio-aviation fuel with a 60 percent or greater conversion efficiency, leading to a 90 percent conversion efficiency.
• MTI Micro Fuel Cells is focusing on military adoption of its Mobion 1 fuel cell system.
• DARPA is in the midst of a three-year effort with the DuPont-University of Delaware Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC) Consortium to produce solar cell modules that are more than 50 percent efficient and cost less than $1,000 per square meter. The hope is that cheap efficient solar power could alleviate the need to transport batteries to soldiers in the field.
• BAE Systems (BAESY) says it has developed the the first hybrid electric drive system for ground combat vehicles. It's being adopted into the Army’s Future Combat Systems program.
• The Army is working with United Solar Ovonic to create a “UNI-PAC solar panel,” which can be worn by soldiers and adapted to recharge a field generator or vehicle.
• A vehicle that seems unlikely to go green, The Aggressor , is is getting a diesel-electric hybrid version.