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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. — Marines recognized Earth Day, April 22, and deemed the 2012 theme “partnering for a greener future.”
In accordance with Marine administrative message 222/12, installations throughout the Corps participated in a variety of activities to raise awareness of the Marine Corps’ environmental impact and to reaffirm the commitment to safeguard the earth and its resources in the air, on land and at sea both in the U.S. and abroad.
In maintaining the commandant’s wishes, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., has continued to create and practice energy efficient ideas in waste disposal and renewable energy. With the installation of several hundred solar panels as well as a diesel generator aboard the air station, Miramar is well on its way to becoming a “911” base to the surrounding area in case of an emergency or power outage.
MCAS Miramar has surpassed the Secretary of the Navy Instruction on energy efficiency concerning cutting the consumption of fossil fuels per installation to 50 percent by 2020 with an already 48 percent reduction at the beginning of 2012, and has begun working toward the creation of a micro-grid energy system.
“We are attacking energy conservation from every aspect,” said Randy Monohan, the MCAS Miramar utilities and energy manager. “We are using solar power generation, reclaim water and the power from the landfill. We have pinpointed the locations of massive energy consumption and gone through to fix each problem individually.”
To alleviate water consumption, numerous exercise and sports fields across the installation have now been replaced with Astroturf. This prevents unnecessary waste through irrigation and maintenance consumption on landscaping. Reclaimed water is now used for irrigation on the remaining landscaping and plumbing at offices across the base.
“We are installing several miles of new water lines,” said Monohan. “The water is funneled to a water treatment plant and cleaned. While not to drinking standards, it is completely safe for pretty much any other use: toilets, cleaning, watering the golf course and ball fields, whatever is needed. This is much better than just continuing to use more and more water.”
The commandant also challenged environmental program managers to “exploit opportunities for partnerships, both within and outside of the [Department of Defense] to achieve environmental goals considering the impact of individual actions and make changes that will protect our environment.”
The MCAS Miramar environmental management team took this seriously and signed a 15-year purchase-of-power agreement with the Miramar Landfill that is set to generate a total of approximately 24,000 megawatt-hours of renewable, or green, energy. The construction is set to be complete by May 2012.
As each project comes to completion, MCAS Miramar pulls into the lead on becoming one of the first to complete the Secretary of the Navy Instruction brown energy consumption requirements ahead of schedule, complete energy independence with the creation of its own micro-grid and continually honor the commandant’s wishes throughout the Earth Day celebration.
| Date Taken: | 04.22.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2012 20:04 |
| Story ID: | 87205 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 91 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Miramar steps up to Earth Day challenge, by Sgt Erica Kirsop, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
