Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs

[Locutus]

One of Doctor Evil's plans no doubt.


WASHINGTON: The sun’s abundant energy, if harvested in space, could provide a cost-effective way to meet global power needs in as little as 30 years with seed money from governments, according to a study by an international scientific group.

Orbiting power plants capable of collecting solar energy and beaming it to Earth appear “technically feasible” within a decade or two based on technologies now in the laboratory, a study group of the Paris-headquartered International Academy of Astronautics said.

Such a project may be able to achieve economic viability in 30 years or less, it said, without laying out a road map or proposing a specific architecture.




more, with an artists' rendering too:


Orbital solar power plants touted for energy needs | Sci-tech | DAWN.COM

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

So how is the energy to be beemed down at a more efficient rate than the sun? I can see collection being better but you still have to get the energy through the atmosphere. Perhaps a real long extension coard would be work.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I like space stuff and solar power is so sexy. Yet it requires gazillions in subsidies to get anywhere, on Earth or in space.

On the other hand, geothermal, which has a smaller footprint, is abundant in western Canada, is renewable, is baseline or firm power, is sustainable for a thousand years, and supplies Iceland with 30% of its power, is treated like it has constant diarhea. Wind and solar require endless subsidies, have a huge cost and footprint, and are not baseline or firm power. Not all renewables are the same. Some work and some are pies in the sky.

 

[Tonington]

So how is the energy to be beemed down at a more efficient rate than the sun?

Ummm...Lasers or microwaves, it's in the article. Solar irradience is about 1360 watts per square meter. The world's most powerful laser has an output on the order of 10^15 watts.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Things in space can also drift out of position, get hit by an asteroid or run out of fuel. Just a little tilt in space I think is a large distance on Earth for a laser. I like this idea less and less. The money ought to be spent on developing geothermal energy.

 

[petros]

That's funny.

 

[Jorge11]

As the realities of an unstable supply of oil set in, consumers sought cheaper options. Financial markets quickly took notice of this and solar energy investments soon followed. Washington State is pioneering the first pay-for-performance renewable energy incentive in the U.S. you can receive 70% as much solar energy as many of the best locations in the United States.

 

[EagleSmack]

As the realities of an unstable supply of oil set in, consumers sought cheaper options. Financial markets quickly took notice of this and solar energy investments soon followed. Washington State is pioneering the first pay-for-performance renewable energy incentive in the U.S. you can receive 70% as much solar energy as many of the best locations in the United States.

Cheaper options? Alternative energy is far from cheap.

 

[B00Mer]

So how is the energy to be beemed down at a more efficient rate than the sun? I can see collection being better but you still have to get the energy through the atmosphere. Perhaps a real long extension coard would be work.

...using high-energy lasers... duh. Although we may figure out warp speed first..

Sun-Powered Laser Beaming from Space for Electricity on Earth | Space Studies Institute

[youtube]D56vRfv71OA[/youtube]

 

[Tonington]

Cheaper options? Alternative energy is far from cheap.

In some places it's already cheaper than coal:
Solar Power May Already Rival Coal, Prompting Installation Surge - Bloomberg

And the price is falling year after year:

 

[L Gilbert]

Things in space can also drift out of position, get hit by an asteroid or run out of fuel. Just a little tilt in space I think is a large distance on Earth for a laser. I like this idea less and less. The money ought to be spent on developing geothermal energy.

lmao Got any stats on how many satellites have been hit?
BTW, geothermal energy is in business in BC.

Seems to me that germany subsidised solar energy for its population and stuff. It saved a lot more than it spent in the long run. And it's a rainy country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany

Here's a bit about Portugal's Polamis wave power: http://www.pelamiswave.com/

The more alternative energy is used, the cheaper it gets.

 

[MHz]

Cheaper options? Alternative energy is far from cheap.

There are lots of other options that are better than this Walt Disney type of stuff. Cheaper or more expensive is relative, it would be like asking if going back to the way it was before fire was tamed would be a worthwhile goal to try and achieve. If the US had to rely on sghale oil then it wouldn't matter if it came to $30/gal of gas, it would still be done and the rest of the world might be much worse off than that price. They may not have any at any price.

Pelamis Wave Power[/URL]

The more alternative energy is used, the cheaper it gets.

The US has a current just off the east coast. strip down a sub and put in a genset from all the wind-turbines being phased out and a prop to match and anchor it all to the sea floor and that is an unending power supply, may not be cheap to install but if the parts last a long time the price comes down.

 

[L Gilbert]

DailyTech - Is the "Magic" Alternative Energy Bloom Box for Real?

 

[MHz]

In theory you could install a conveyor belt on a mountain and load it up at the top and collect energy as it makes the belt spin and just waste it away at the bottom (rather that take it up the mountain doh)

 

[petros]

Seems to me that germany subsidised solar energy for its population and stuff. It saved a lot more than it spent in the long run. And it's a rainy country. Solar power in Germany - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

.....3% of total electricity.[3] Some market analysts expect this could reach 25 percent by 2050

3%..WOW that's stellar and another 22% in another 40 years. They'll burn a ****load of coal in the mean time before reaching a whopping 25% in 40 years.

 

[karrie]

Metal Tornado - YouTube

 

[Bar Sinister]

Beaming energy to the Earth from space is not a new idea. It was first proposed several decades ago as one of the ways in which large space stations could help pay for themselves. The initial cost would be enormous and would probably require international cooperation in order to fund it, but once in place would provide pollution free power in perpetuity. The initial idea proposed using converting electricity to microwaves and then beaming it to the surface.

 

[petros]

Who will change the fuses?

 

[taxslave]

Cheaper options? Alternative energy is far from cheap.

Just put a wood fired steam engine in your car. Free power.

 

[earth_as_one]

Actually car wood/gas technology exists and this Swede uses it to power his car:
Swede gets around in wood-burning car | Wheels.ca

I suspect the engine gets gummed up, so you'd have to be a mechanic.

here is the science behind this technology:
Wood gas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia