Base leaders, along with representatives from New York-based manufacturer Plug Power Inc., Atlanta-based Logan Energy Corp., the Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center and others, gathered outside of the base's Ground Water Treatment Plant for the unveiling of 10 five-kilowatt fuel cells commissioned in early October.

"It is critical to our mission to explore and compare fuel cell systems with our existing power sources to remain efficient, cost effective and environmentally focused." Mike Mead, APTO chief

The alternative fuel sources, which re-form propane gas and extract hydrogen to produce electricity, came to the base as part of Robins' Fuel Cell Micro-grid project, also known as the Common Core Power Production, or C2P2, program.

This program was a year-long demonstration-validation Department of Defense, Air Force program to ultimately seek alternative, environmentally-sound fuel sources for troops in deployed locations, as well as backup power sources for stateside bases.

"Over the next year, they will be supplying 275,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to Robins Air Force Base," said Roy Case, senior project engineer with the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing's Advanced Power Technology Office. "The produced electricity will go into Robins' power grid and save on the use of fossil fuel.

This may be something we could use in BEAR (basic expeditionary airfield resources) base locations." Case said the units have performed well in the short time they've been here. "In the first six weeks, they had a few software and hardware glitches," he said.

"As of last week though, all 10 were operational and producing power." In addition to using propane as an alternative energy source, the fuel cells can also re-form jet fuel, natural gas and any fuel source that contains hydrogen, even water, into power sources - a method that may prove to be more convenient for servicemembers already carrying jet fuel to power the mission, said Mike Mead, Advanced Power Technology Office chief here.

"It is critical to our mission to explore and compare fuel cell systems with our existing power sources to remain efficient, cost effective and environmentally focused," he said.

"This is a great opportunity for the U.S. military to partner with Plug Power to evaluate a new product before the commercial product release. This demonstration will assist the Advanced Power Technology Office in increasing the war fighters' capabilities, support the Air Force environmental policy and reduce the dependency on foreign oil sources." Robert David, Advanced Power Technology Office subject matter expert engineer, said savings go far beyond fuel costs.

"One of the neat things about this project is that this technology is quiet," he said. "When these devices are running, they make about as much noise as a quiet dishwasher. That's one of the environmental benefits of the technology."

Phil Manning, 78th Civil Engineer Group's Environ-mental Management Division's base environmental engineer and project manager for the Groundwater Treatment Plant, said the fuel source has the potential to provide troops a reliable, environmentally-friendly way to power deployed locations.

"The Groundwater Treatment Plant is a state-of-the-art facility," he said. "It serves as an appropriate backdrop for this innovative technology."

The more than $900,000 congressionally-funded project may be used at other military bases and in "tent cities" in deployed locations, if proven successful in its test location, said Mead.

Use of the fuel cells helps the Air Force meet its goals of increasing war fighters' capabilities, supporting its environmental policies and reducing dependence on foreign energy sources through advanced power technology, Mead said.

Case said once the project is complete, 78th Civil Engineer Group's Environmental Management Division plans to retain some of the fuel cells so Air Force environmental engineers can use them to determine what they want to propose for the next generation back up power when building new facilities.

At the end of the year-long program, the Advanced Power Technology Office will receive a final report on the unit data retrieved by Plug Power and the fuel cell systems will be returned to the company for destructive testing and autopsy to determine what configuration of the 10 systems worked best.

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