George Rebane
As an illustration of the public policy stasis that our collectivist brethren always wallow in, the National Space Society will announce today (14nov11) that space solar power (SSP) will be a viable, feasible, and limitless energy source within ten to twenty years. SSP will beam energy from high orbit solar collectors to anywhere on earth bringing to bear the more than seven times energy efficiencies over surface solar collectors. Talk about a green technology, and this energy source has been talked about for years. Of course, we have to figure out how to keep such an energy beam from getting into the wrong hands and becoming a death ray. (Image from SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc./Spaceworks)
Kurzweil reports (here) that today “on Monday Nov. 14 at a press conference (open to the public) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the National Space Society will announce the findings of an impressive three-year, ten-nation study of space solar power by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), co-chaired by John Mankins, a 25-year NASA veteran who headed NASA’s study of space solar power in the 90s, and Prof. Nobuyuki Kaya, Vice Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University.”
(The report’s) findings include:
• Space solar power appears to be technically feasible within 10–20 years using technologies existing now in the laboratory;
• It appears to be economically viable in the next 1–3 decades under several different scenarios for future energy markets, including potential government actions to mediate environment/climate change issues;
• Low-cost Earth-to-orbit transportation systems appear to be technically feasible during the coming 20–30 years using technologies existing in the laboratory now;
• Flight experiments are needed, and policy-related and regulatory issues must be resolved.
Today we consume about 110T KWh of energy annually (good number to remember). This will double in about 20 years, and then keep shooting upwards as the Asian countries really come online. That will be a tough challenge for fossil fuels. But it sure looks like if SSP turns out a feasible promise to deliver all that clean energy, then surely it’s a’comin’.
rebanesruminations.com 
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