PODCAST: Balancing military capability and clean energy transition, with Felix Bowman-Derrick

Joint-capabilities
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By: Jessa Sargento

In this renewable energy and environment-focused episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Felix Bowman-Derrick, Assistant Secretary of Environment and Engineering in the infrastructure division of the Department of Defence’s security and estate group.

In this renewable energy and environment-focused episode of the Defence Connect Podcast, senior journalist Robert Dougherty is joined by Felix Bowman-Derrick, Assistant Secretary of Environment and Engineering in the infrastructure division of the Department of Defence’s security and estate group.

Bowman-Derrick holds a bachelor of environmental science (environmental management, honours) from Deakin University and an executive master of public administration from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.

He has previously worked with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

The pair discuss:

  • Bowman-Derrick’s perspectives on how the Australian Defence Force and Defence are improving their renewable energy usage and environmental sustainability under the Net Zero Strategy and Future Energy Strategy.
  • Australia’s need to balance these crucial policies with military resilience and lethal capability.
  • The importance of contributing to Australia’s emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030 and net zero by 2050, through the Defence estate.
  • Initiatives being implemented and developed such as energy resilience with large solar farms and the upgrade of lighting and heating systems to recycling uniforms and tyres into new materials.
  • Defence’s priorities for environmental management and policy into the immediate future, examples being displayed at Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 and how industry partners can get involved in the journey along the way.

Enjoy the podcast,
The Defence Connect team

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Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:

Episode 11: CONTESTED GROUND: Weak, vulnerable, backwater – Australia’s choice between strategic camps and managed decline
Episode 10: PODCAST: Undersea dominance – Australia charts the maritime future through autonomous systems and AUKUS innovation
Episode 9: PODCAST: Australian Army Cadets pathways, submarine industry growth and Australia’s fuel security
Episode 8: CONTESTED GROUND: The blind faith factor – why Australians trust an ADF they don’t understand
Episode 7: PODCAST: Defence preparedness, artificial intelligence productivity, and Australian industrial resilience
Episode 6: CONTESTED GROUND: Shots fired! Chinese missile test shatters Australia’s ‘fog of peace’, with Mike Pezzullo
Episode 5: SPOTLIGHT: Counter-drone innovation, directed energy and delivering operational outcomes, with EOS Defence Systems’ Lee Kormany
Episode 4: PODCAST: Strengthening security ties, Fiji defence pact and Australia’s counter-drone push
Episode 3: CONTESTED GROUND: Lessons from the UK in political polarisation, generational dislocation and intergenerational warfare, with Ben Dullroy, Bravo Delta Advisory
Episode 2: PODCAST: Defence Industry Development Strategy, Defence reform and Australians fighting in Ukraine