Veterans in Advanced Energy Profile: Alex Yachanin

Alex Yachanin, a 2021-2022 Veterans advanced energy fellow

Alex Yachanin, a 2021-2022 Veterans Advanced Energy Fellow, studied ocean and environmental engineering to learn as much as he could about the causes and solutions to climate change. After his service in the US Navy as a Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer, he has applied this technical education and hands-on experience in the clean energy industry to combat climate change, reduce pollution, and create economic opportunities. As told to Madalin How.

Why did you join the military and what was your role?

I first considered joining the armed forces during my junior year of high school, when I started looking at where to go to college. I knew that I wanted to study engineering and that I wanted to challenge myself mentally and physically, so that’s what put the Naval Academy on my radar. That year, I visited Annapolis for a weekend to tour the campus and meet some of the students, and I had a great experience. I was impressed by the history and tradition of the school, and I was drawn to its mission of developing Midshipmen for a career of honor, duty, and public service.  I was also interested in the education, training, leadership development, and travel opportunities that the Naval Academy and a career in the Navy could provide. I made the right choice! 

As a Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer, I had dual specializations in conventional surface warfare operations and aircraft carrier nuclear propulsion systems. After completing the Navy’s nuclear power training pipeline in Charleston, South Carolina, I served on two operational sea tours. My first ship was the guided missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60), where I led a division of Sailors and earned my Officer of the Deck and Surface Warfare qualifications. My second sea tour was on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), where I served as the Reactor Controls Division Officer and stood watch as the Propulsion Plant Watch Officer to supervise reactor plant operations. My last tour was at Naval Air Forces Pacific Command, where I served as a nuclear staff officer to support the pacific fleet’s aircraft carrier reactor departments. 

How did the military influence your career trajectory into energy? 

At the Naval Academy, I majored in Ocean Engineering because even then I was interested in climate science and renewable energy. I realized that climate change would be the defining challenge for humanity in the 21st century, so I wanted to learn as much as I could about its causes and solutions. I was able to take classes on wind energy and oceanography, and I conducted research on tidal energy and ocean wave energy at the Naval Academy’s world-class hydromechanics lab. After graduating from Annapolis, I went to Stanford for a master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, where I specialized in atmospheric sciences and renewable energy systems. 

After graduate school, I went to the Navy’s Nuclear Power School and Prototype training, which gave me hands-on operational experience in power plant systems and furthered my interest in advanced nuclear energy as a solution to climate change. During my two sea tours, I learned more about how the Navy and Department of Defense (DOD) are such enormous consumers of fossil fuels, and how vulnerable they are because of this fossil fuel dependency. However, I realized that the United State, and in particular the DOD, can set the example in implementing the changes and adaptations necessary to combat climate change. In fact, the US Navy has historically led the way in energy transitions. From sailing frigates to coal-powered battleships, to gas turbine destroyers, and finally to nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, each energy transition brought greater range, speed, and operational capability. In the 21st century, the Navy, DOD, and the United States can and must undergo another energy transformation to a future of sustainable and resilient clean energy.

What are you most excited about in advanced energy developments, and what are you most concerned about? 

I am equally excited about three developments in advanced energy: offshore wind, energy storage, and advanced nuclear energy. Offshore wind has been a key part of Europe’s path to decarbonize its energy sector for many years now, but the United States has been lagging—until now. We’re seeing a strong commitment from East Coast states to develop this untapped resource, and hopefully the West Coast can follow suit once floating offshore wind technology matures. The energy storage sector has already started to expand dramatically, especially in California where I live. Storage will play a key role in harnessing the excess solar power during the middle of the day and shifting it into the evening hours when it is more valuable. Lastly, I’ve followed with great interest the progress of several advanced nuclear energy companies that have developed reactor designs that promise to be much safer, simpler, and cheaper than the previous generation of reactors. 

Even with all of these exciting developments, I am still concerned that our political leaders lack the courage, will, and foresight to act decisively and quickly enough to address the enormity of the challenge that we face. As we saw during the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP 26), there remain significant disagreements between developed and developing countries, and the world still seems to have an insatiable demand for fossil fuels. Even if all countries stick to their emissions reduction commitments, we are still on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. We can and must continue to advocate for strong climate policy to ensure that we leave the world in a better state for future generations. 

Why is energy important to US national security? 

The US Department of Defense is the largest institutional energy consumer in the world, and most of this energy is derived from fossil fuels. While this has enabled our armed forces to operate and project power around the globe, it has come at a significant cost. Not only does it cost billions of dollars to pay for the millions of barrels of oil used by the DOD every year, our reliance on fossil fuels at forward operating bases leaves those bases vulnerable to supply shortages and has led to the deaths of Soldiers and Marines protecting fuel convoys in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The consequences of climate change also greatly impact how our armed forces execute their missions. As more frequent and intense natural disasters strike a warming world, our military will be called upon for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Climate-induced food shortages and human migration will also trigger regional instability and conflict, as we’ve already seen in the Middle East and Central America. Rising sea levels, increased flooding, longer droughts, desertification, wildfires, ocean acidification, and higher temperatures will endanger our military installations at home and abroad. All of these natural effects will also continue to strain our aging power grid, which is dangerously vulnerable to kinetic or cyber-attacks.

Sustainable and carbon-free energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, and advanced nuclear can not only help prevent the worst-case global warming scenarios, but they can also benefit the electric grid and help sustain defense operations. Forward operating bases that are self-sufficient from solar panels and battery storage wouldn’t be tied down by expensive and deadly fuel convoys. Many of the largest military installations here in the United States are in areas of high renewable energy potential. By maximizing on-site energy generation, adding energy storage, and enabling microgrid technologies, these bases can greatly improve their energy security and even island themselves from the civilian power grid to protect critical operations during blackouts. 

Do you have advice you would like to share with other veterans? 

My advice is to leverage your military experience, education, and training to make the world a better place. The clean energy industry is a great fit for veterans because it requires people with strong technical backgrounds and hands-on experience with mechanical and electrical systems. While serving in the military, we were called to achieve mission objectives and to serve the higher purpose of national security. The clean energy industry also has this type of larger purpose. Renewable and carbon free energy provides vital electricity services and economic development to our communities, all while reducing pollution and combatting climate change. I am proud to work in the clean energy industry, and I believe you would be too.

What are you most looking forward to about the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship? 

First of all, I’d like to say how grateful I am to be a part of such an amazing program with such impressive people. I believe that the Veterans Advanced Energy Fellowship program is the ideal way for me to gain experience and connections after I start my post-Navy career. Each aspect of the program, from the energy policy training to the experience-based skills training, to the mentorship from senior national security and energy leaders, will help me learn and grow within the clean energy industry. Transitioning from the Navy into the private sector was a daunting step, but I know that this program can equip me with the knowledge, leadership development, training, and support community to get a head-start on this next phase of my life, and to be an advocate for more veterans to join the advanced energy community.