Department of Defense energy policy and research: A framework to support strategy

The Department of Defense (DOD) is the major consumer of energy within the Federal government, and it has been directed to implement cost cutting measures related to energy dependence through numerous Executive Orders and Congressional legislation. As a result, the DOD released an Energy Strategy which outlines ways to reduce energy requirements in order to meet both Presidential and Congressional mandates for energy security. With this research, we provide a historical review (1973–2014) of energy policy, legislation, and research. Additionally we identify gaps between strategy and research. The results show that DOD energy research lacks a unifying structure and guiding framework. We propose a knowledge management framework to unify and guide research efforts in direct support of the DOD Energy Strategy. - Highlights: •Unification of effort is needed to support strategic goals. •Provides the current state of DOD energy research. •Proposes a framework to guide DOD energy research. •Frames the DOD energy research context and landscape. •Promotes a unifying structure for DOD energy research.