Setting Direction: Research Roadmap for Navy Decarbonization

By Bill Muras, Faculty Associate–Research, Energy Academic Group and Kristen Fletcher, 
Faculty Associate–Research, Energy Academic Group

With the Office of Naval Research, the Energy Academic Group has developed a Research Roadmap for Navy Decarbonization through the Navy Decarbonization Research Consortium, a public-private collaboration that advances interdisciplinary research to help the Navy meet the complex challenges of platform decarbonization, with a focus on ships and aircraft.     

The Navy’s Climate Strategy, Climate Action 2030, sets the Department of the Navy (DoN) on a path to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, while becoming a more capable, climate-resilient and lethal fighting force. Emissions reduction from operations is especially challenging for the Navy, as the vast bulk of emissions are from fossil fuel use in ships and aircraft, platforms that are difficult to decarbonize, especially in the military context.     

To help address these challenges, the Consortium team assessed and identified research focus areas for the highest potential to enable ship decarbonization, developed the Roadmap to guide research and lay the foundation for future efforts, and identified key next steps required to advance the research agenda and develop potential technology transition pathways.     

The Roadmap’s key findings include: Decarbonizing Navy ships requires research and development to enable integration of lower carbon fuels, alternative propulsion systems, efficiency technologies, and carbon capture. Continued emphasis on demand reduction and efficiency technologies are key to early emission reduction efforts. The Navy will pursue decarbonization measures that maintain or enhance warfighting capability and mission effectiveness. Collaboration and partnering will be a key component to the success of these decarbonization initiatives.
    
The importance of collaboration to decarbonization success cannot be overstated. The Roadmap suggests a whole-of-government approach, with a focus on increasing collaboration between the Navy, the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation. The DoN must also expand collaboration to the rest of DoD, private sector and international partners while setting realistic decarbonization targets for identified thrust areas. Finally, the DoN must be prepared to identify policies that constrain adoption of promising technologies and offer appropriate policy changes to enable adoption of key technology.

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Contact Bill Muras at william.j.muras.ctr@navy.mil or william.muras@nps.edu or Kristen Fletcher at kristen.fletcher@nps.edu.