Yesterday marked the 9th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. It’s a fight that has cost a lot of lives and a lot of money. In an effort to save both, Company I of the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines is conducting an experiment using renewable energy technology — solar panels, solar battery chargers, also LED lights. And they’ve trained the Marines in the field on how to operate and maintain the technology.

Much of the equipment used by military personnel overseas relies on diesel fuel, but getting that fuel to them requires big trucks to drive a long way on roads where they’re far from safe. The thinking is that if some of those trips aren’t necessary, options like solar power would make a lot of sense.

We talk with Major Patrick Reynolds of the Marine Corps Technology War Fighting Laboratory and with Colonel Bob Charette, Jr., director of the Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Office.