28/08/2012 - Call Closes Tues 28 Aug 2012 at 1700
In 2010, MOD spent £628m (1.6% of the total defence budget) on equipment energy. The volatility in the energy market means that MOD is significantly exposed to energy cost increases. For every 1p per litre rise in the price of fuel, the annual equipment energy bill increases by £13m. If no action is taken it is currently predicted that by 2015, at least 3.9% of the defence budget (assuming FY11/12 levels) will be spent on energy, rising to 7% in 2020. This is unacceptable, so mandatory energy efficiency targets will be introduced in 2012 that requires defence to significantly reduce its equipment fossil fuel consumption by 2020.
Meeting these energy targets whilst maintaining the ability to deliver operational effect is a significant challenge, not least as the majority of existing equipment will still be in service in 2020. Optimising the use of existing equipment to be more efficient, or introducing efficiency through technology insertion, represents the most cost effective and rapidly exploitable options to enable MOD meet its equipment energy reduction targets while continuing to deliver operational effect.
Responses to this CDE themed call for proposals should address either optimisation (using what we have more effectively) or improved energy efficiency.
- For optimisation: scoping studies and analysis to understand and demonstrate how and where existing military equipment can be operated more efficiently whilst still being able to deliver the required operational effect, or understand where the limitations of optimisation occur.
- For efficiency: low-cost, proof-of-concept technologies [low-mid technology readiness levels, TRL 2-4] that will provide credible evidence of the performance and possible utility in military systems. These should be capable of easy integration with existing military systems to improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption of fossil fuels. Technology that has the potential exploitability across a wide range of equipments and environments is desired.
For both challenges, the primary focus is to be placed on platforms, particularly land and maritime. Proposals relating to fixed-base infrastructure or personal (man-carried) power are not within the scope of this themed call.
This call does not seek and is unlikely to fund high technology readiness level (TRL 5+) Technology Demonstrators.
Explotation of any proposal must be carefully thought through in terms of cost (there must be a sensible payback period) and physical implementation. Exploitation that requires a major engineering undertaking to install or a major change to infrastructure is unlikely to be funded. As a general rule updates, replacements or integration into existing systems should be compatible with the form, fit and function of the current system architecture.
As well as technology directly associated with the use of energy, this call will consider proposals from many other areas providing that the end effect is an improvment in energy efficiency and reduction in the use of fossil fuels. This could include more diverse technology areas such as coatings, but also ideas to change operator behaviour through innovative training, improved information provision or efficient planning and management.
CDE exists to prove the value of high-risk, high-potential-benefit research; ideas for incremental research are unlikely to be funded through the CDE mechanism.
A call document and presentations from the launch event will be provided on this webpage after the launch event.
The call will close at 1700 on 28 August 2012.
All proposals must be submitted via the CDE Portal.
Please email technical questions to: dstlacquisitionpolicy@dstl.gov.uk
Capacity to answer these queries is limited in terms of volume and scope. Queries should be limited to a few simple questions or if provided with a short (few paragraphs) description of your proposal, the technical team will provide, without commitment or prejudice, broad yes/no answers. This query facility is not to be used for extensive technical discussions, detailed review of proposals or supporting the iterative development of ideas. While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, CDE and Dstl reserve the right to impose management controls when higher than average volumes of queries or resource demands restrict fair access to all potential proposal submitters.
General questions, including the submission process, please contact CDE on cde@dstl.gov.uk or 01235 438445 .
Energy Efficiency and Optimisation - CDE Call Document
Energy Efficiency and Optimisation - CDE Call Launch Presentations (11 July 2012) (6.4 MB)
