> Date: Wed, 4 Sep 2013 10:10:33 -0700
> Subject: For David Brin and the rest of you
> From: hkeithhen...@gmail.com
> To: brin-l@mccmedia.com
>
> As of last April, there seems to be a solution to the
> energy/carbon/climate problems, even water. Relatively cheap, less
> than ten dollars a person.
>
> It's long been understood that solar power from space gets around the
> limitations on the Earth. The problem has always been the high cost
> of lifting solar power satellite parts to GEO.
>
> It looks like a combination of Skylon, a project being developed in
> the UK and big propulsion lasers will get the cost to under $100/kg to
> GEO. Due to a clever idea by Steve Nixon, investment cost could be
> around $60 B, the break even point from selling power satellite around
> 8 years, and the ten year return on investment 500%. The cost of
> electric power from space would rapidly fall to 2 cents per kWh or
> less. That's cheap enough to make synthetic gasoline from CO2 out of
> the air for a dollar a gallon. Energy this cheap will allow sea water
> to be turned into fresh at low cost and permit recycling just about
> everything.
>
> $60 B is smaller than a number of exiting energy project, and only
> twice what the Chinese spent to build Three Gorges dam.
>
> Eye candy: Laser powered Skylon near the end of acceleration to LEO on
> hydrogen heated by 3 GW of lasers located in GEO
>
> http://www.htyp.org/File:SkylonLaser.jpg
>
How much does it cost in energy as well as in dollars? Cradle to grave? And is
the initial investment within the capability of the United States right now? (I
know. $60B is peanuts. Even so -) or any corporation? What are the economics -
in the terms mentioned above - of beaming solar power down to earth? (Those of
using it space are, of course, well understood by now.)
Over the past 7 decades, I've come to see the wisdom of getting a good, solid
cost accounting done before instituting any large scale project.
Anyway, subject to that sort of analysis, it does sound good indeed.
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