Moorehead got interested in energy efficiency in Iraq. “I’d see huge generators running all the time yet powering very little,” he says. He also spent countless hours guarding fuel convoys. Carting diesel to remote bases in Iraq and Afghanistan can cost $35 a gallon or more, and one US soldier is killed or injured for every 24 fuel convoys.
When the US Marine Corps tested his 18-kilowatt hybrid generator in the Mojave Desert, it cut fuel use by 93 percent. The Corps is now using a pair to power two frontline command centers in Afghanistan. The SEALs recently ordered several units. Fuel savings should pay for the devices in about five months. If trials go well, the US military could soon be using thousands of the generators. Moorehead is also developing a megawatt-scale system for the commercial shipping industry. For companies hesitant to try his tech, the special-ops vet says he has ways of making them reconsider.To reduce fuel requirements, Moorehead’s new generator uses solar panels, but the really big savings come from a battery module. Instead of going constantly, the diesel engine only has to run for short bursts at maximum efficiency to recharge the batteries. “We take it from running 24 hours down to four or five hours a day,” says Moorehead, who worked for lithium-ion-battery giant A123 Systems before launching Earl Energy. LINK
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