Space Solar Power System
Posted on Feb 10, 08 06:01 PM PDT
I guess it is apparent by now to everyone that the world will soon be plunged into an energy crisis, no thanks to growing economies in the east as well as the general decadence in the west, but there are people from all walks of life who think otherwise and try to make their lives as green as possible. Relying on nuclear power alone is a wee bit too dangerous IMHO, so this plan by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to build a Space Solar Power System (SSPS) gets my thumbs-up. The end result would be to see the SSPS running by the year 2030 comes around, where huge solar collectors in geostationary orbit will convert sunlight into microwave beams that are then sent to receiving stations on earth 36,000 km downwards and subsequently converted into electricity for everyday consumption. One thing's for sure though, while it sound much safer than having a nuclear reactor blow up, what happens if the SSPS experiences a technical breakdown? Do we need to send a rocket up into space just to fix it?
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Legacy Comments
By Dave , 11/02/08 6:31 AM (CommentID #478154)
1. Does anyone else perceive the damage to the atmosphere of passing massive, focused microwave energy through it 7-24? We aren't talking about radio transmission levels, but power generation levels. 2. This imports massive amounts of energy into the planet it wouldn't normally get from the sun, accelerating global warming. It has all the signs of being a Really Bad Idea on a planet already experiencing dramatic climate change.
Efforts need to be directed to making better use of energy, such as Manhattan Project type plan to make every building and vehicle energy self-sufficient. It's not far-fetched - it's just that almost no one sees its necessity. Yet.
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