In a move that will surely bring a smile to the face of Al Gore, the U.S. Army has announced that it’s launching a fresh push in the Middle East, although to the relief of most, the latest move isn’t aiming to capture any land – this time it’s designed to lower the force’s carbon “bootprint”.

Tad Davis, deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and occupational health in the U.S., said that the eventual goal is to lower Army emissions by 30% by 2015.

"What I'm interested in doing is finding out what the greenhouse gas emissions, this carbon bootprint, are for the Army in two to three years at the latest," Davis told Reuters. "We want to emit less and do that, hand in hand with reducing energy consumption from fossil fuels."

Of course, lowering emissions does have huge advantages for a force that is currently stretched to almost unprecedented levels.

The Army’s long supply chain during the first five years of the Iraq conflict put the US Army’s many convoys – most carrying large quantities of fuel – in extreme peril. Davis now argues that cutting the amount of fuel required on the front line, a massive challenge for forces relying heavily on fleets of armoured vehicles, can cut both emissions and, more crucially, casualties.

"There's emerging technology that is providing lighter-weight armour, so I think at some point ... you're going to see more hybrid vehicles in the tactical military fleet," he said.

That day could yet be a long way off (like the US army’s withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan), but Davis appears intent on ensuring that this latest initiative is more than just hot air.