Military support can boost hybrid vehicle technology, such as that for a new hybrid diesel-electric HEMTT ("Heavy Expanded Mobile Tactical Truck") being built in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. courant.com | Hybrid Military Truck In The Works (May 3, 2006). HEMTTs haul big loads in tactical and rough terrain environments in places like Iraq, Afghanistan and post-Katrina Gulf Coast, but their mileage is in the single numbers. The HEMTT A3's "ProPulse" hybrid technology boosts mileage, can idle silently and with minimal heat signature, and can also export 200 kilowatts of AC power, enough to power a CP, small building or emergency medical or relief center.
Announced in 2005 by Oshkosh Truck Oshkosh Truck Corporation - News Release, a demonstrator was sent to New Orleans to serve as a mobile generator and enabled workers to pump out a flooded hospital basement, according to a DefenseTech.org article in March, 2006 Defense Tech: Hybrid Truck's Katrina Duty (March 29, 2006)
For generations, investment in military applications has served to drive technology and infrastructure development that can then be extended to civilian uses. Fuel costs and supply vulnerability in tactical environments provide land forces with a big incentive to conserve fuel. The "stealth" potential of the electric option is a special plus for hybrids to the military, which is applying it in "deep strike" recon vehicles like the RST-V Army Technology - Shadow RST-V - Reconnaissance Surveillance Targeting Vehicle.
Fascination with military vehicles gave us the gas-chugging, compact-crushing suburban Hummer. Perhaps its more utilitarian big brother, the HEMTT A3, will teach us about how to save fuel, reduce greenhouse gases, and provide some emergency relief vehicles that can haul relief supplies and provide emergency AC power in post-disaster scenarios. Just as the weather is warming up. CNN.com - Experts: Global warming behind 2005 hurricanes - Apr 25, 2006
For a listing of bloggers on global warming, see: Technorati Blog Finder: global warming.
And see the Sundance Film Festival hit "An Inconvenient Truth," about former Vice President Al Gore's personal campaign to fight global warming, in movie theaters May 24.
Posted by dougsimpson at May 3, 2006 01:31 PM