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Look for a National Security Space Office-led study group to detail their findings on a space-based solar power concept as a way to help de-fuse energy wars here on Earth, as well as an idea to fend off some nasty effects from global warming.
That Pentagon office will announce its study results on October 10 at a press event held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The-hour-and-a-half long briefing starts at 9:00 a.m. For you locals it’s at the First Amendment Lounge within that journalistic castle, the National Press Club.
On call for the top-level briefing is Lt. Col. Paul Damphousse of the U.S. Marine Corps from the National Security Space Office, joined by Apollo moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin. John Mankins, President of the SUNSAT Energy Council, as well as Charles Miller, Director of the Space Frontier Foundation will be there as well.
And along with the event you get a new alliance too - dedicated to advancing the benefits of harvesting energy for Earth via space solar power satellites.
October 9th, 2007 at 2:33 am
Hmmmm…
As I understand it energy is generally entropic and will break down into heat. So if you add a lot of energy to a system you will probably get a lot of heat.
I look at the earth as a system which requires a proper balance of energy entering and escaping in order for it to remain hospitable for people.
Greenhouse gasses cause more energy to be trapped in the system. If there is too much of a greenhouse effect then not enough energy will escape the system and it’ll get too warm for us. So we don’t like excessive greenhouse gasses.
If we instead beam energy to earth aren’t we facing the same problem? Instead of not enough energy escaping the system we have to much entering it.
I’m no expert here so I’d love to hear why I’m wrong because otherwise this sounds like some great technology.
October 9th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Woohoo!
I did a little work with Ralph Nansen a few years ago, which really helped me to see the value of space-based solar power. It’s a solution whose time might have arrived. I’ll be watching for the reports from this announcement!
I’m currently extremely interested in how the land-based infrastructure can be part of a multi-layered system, supporting agriculture or perhaps biofuel algae tanks, as well as ensuring the receiver is built with as low an embodied energy cost as possible. For example, earthen walls and structures are very legitimate construction techniques in many of the places you might site a receiver.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
[...] Pentagon Energy-beaming Satellite ReportLiveScience.com - If there is too much of a greenhouse effect then not enough energy will escape the system and it’ll get too warm for us. So we don’t like excessive greenhouse gasses. If we instead beam energy to earth aren’t we facing the same problem? Instead [...]