Re: For David Brin and the rest of you
On 9/4/2013 4:40 PM, ALBERTO VIEIRA FERREIRA MONTEIRO wrote: Even if these things were economically viable (which they probably ain't), ambientally it would be a disaster. I can't image the Earth getting such extra amount of radiant energy and not turning it (she? Gaia?) into a hell much worse than the most pessimistic images of the most radical ecogroups. Alberto Monteiro (oil company guy) Alberto-- I'd argue that if people are going to be using all the energy anyway, they might as well be doing it without adding to the greenhouse effect. Or are you worried about energy being beamed down inefficiently, producing much more heat than just the amount from people using energy directly? ---David ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: For David Brin and the rest of you
Even if these things were economically viable (which they probably ain't), ambientally it would be a disaster. I can't image the Earth getting such extra amount of radiant energy and not turning it (she? Gaia?) into a hell much worse than the most pessimistic images of the most radical ecogroups. Alberto Monteiro (oil company guy) ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: For David Brin and the rest of you
> 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. ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
For David Brin and the rest of you
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 ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
