The Department of Defense is the single greatest energy consumer in the world. Officials have said that the department will join forces with the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or Arpa-E, in an effort to create technologies that can benefit civilians as well.

“The steady march of technology has created a voracious appetite for energy in the military,” said Ray Mabus, US Navy Secretary. He went on to explain that during the Vietnam War, Marine platoons used two or three radios on patrol. Now, squads in Afghanistan take more than ten. Even if the soldiers were to use solar panels to generate energy, the lack of effective power storage devices would put the military at risk.

“We need the ability to effectively store the energy we create- to be able to use it when it’s need, and to use it where it’s needed,” Mabus said.