A dome shelter at Ft. Irwin draws power from solar panels and a wind turbine. The Army is experimenting with alternative ways to power the Mojave Desert training area, which replicates austere combat conditions. Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles TimesFrom The L.A. Times:
A Mojave Desert Army base is full of plug-in cars, solar panels and new experiments. Liberal agenda? Nah, it's about saving money, even lives. But the Defense Department could cement a national trend.
Reporting from Ft. Irwin, Calif. -- Inside a futuristic-looking dome that rises from the sandy wasteland of the high Mojave Desert, soldiers in plywood cubicles work at computers powered by solar panels and a towering wind turbine.
Plug-in cars shuttle the troops across the vast expanses here at Ft. Irwin in San Bernardino County. At night, tents lined with insulating foam provide a cool retreat at the end of a 100-degree day.
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