July 5, 2007: You probably don't notice that you never hear about an American fuel convoy being blown up in Iraq. The reason is that these are the best guarded convoys, and rarely get attacked, much less hit. But since about two-thirds of convoys are carrying fuel, this is a huge diversion of resources. Combat commanders have done the math, and with more combat units out and about these days, they are demanding more solar panels and fuel cells, in order to lower the demand for generator fuel. With all those computers and electronic gadgets out there, the demand for electricity, especially by units in combat, is huge. If each combat battalion can get by with one, or more, fewer fuel convoys a month, that means more troop support from helicopter gunships and UAVs. Moreover, the cost of protecting those fuel convoys makes solar-panel juice cost about the same as the conventional generator electricity.