Energy of the Future; What is Space Solar Power?: Energy, #3

By Energy Consortium

ENERGY OF THE FUTURE

Space Solar Power is very likely to be the future of energy.

What is Space Solar Power?

Space based Solar Power (SBSP) or Space Solar Power (SSP) is a technology to harvest 24 hours a day energy from outside the atmosphere of the Earth and beam it safely to Earth. This would, its proponents argue, lessen, or even replace the need for fossil fuels or terrestrial renewable energy. This has knock on effects for social and economic justice because it lowers the need to extract harmful chemicals to make batteries and other technologies if the SSP is built to make hydrogen based liquid fuels. Space Based Solar Power would also change the way energy is distributed. If energy is required in a disaster zone, then mobile receiving systems could be deployed rapidly. The scale of SSP is both large and small, with minimum impact on the Earth's environment.

Space Solar power also has its detractors, with many people failing to understand that comparative approaches are alright if one understands that one has to try to compare like with like. Even proponents often make erroneous comparisons such as SSP with solar power in North African deserts or Southern Spain. These comparisons often do injustice to SSP which is a technology that will have far reaching effects.

Whoever controls SSP will become what Saudi Arabia is to the world of oil supplies. We hope though the SSP will be a commodity owned by the world for the world, in a truly egalitarian way. Therefore, this book is so much more than a technology review. It's a book that will touch upon the economics of energy and wider long-lasting impacts on a range of new technologies and markets yet to be created. It is a course about a vision that has been the lifelong work of John C Mankins and his predecessor, Peter Glazer, NASA scientists to whom we owe so much.

If you have interests in entrepreneurial projects of the future, economics, Sustainable architecture, Climate Change, Corporate Investment Responsibility, Leadership, Business Strategy, Business Analysis, banking, project management, journalism, science, robotics, aircraft, rockets, markets for space technology, the Great Reset, Greening our economy, space, moon bases or you like Star Trek, this is a book you will enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royal Hawaiian Press
• Release date: Jun 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223330356

Book preview

Energy of the Future

What is space solar power

By Energy Consortium

Energy of the Future

Solar Energy from Outer Space

By Energy Consortium

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All material contained herein is Copyright

Copyright © Energy Consortium 2023

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Paperback ISBN: 979-8-3992219-8-4

ePub ISBN: 979-8-2233303-5-6

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Written by Energy Consortium

Published by Royal Hawaiian Press

Cover art by Tyrone Roshantha

Publishing Assistance by Dorota Reszke

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission of the Author. Your support of Author’s rights is appreciated.

Table of Contents

PART I

1. Previous Book Conclusions

2. The Terrestrial Solutions

3. Solutions continued

4. Space Based Solar Power

5. Hurdles & Challenges  in Brief

6. Looking Forward

PART II

1. History of Space Solar Power

2. History of Wireless Power Transfer

3. Achieving Orbit

4. History of Space Based Photo Voltaic

5. Solar Satellites to Stagnation

6. Rebirth & Robots

7. Summary

PART III

1. Introduction to Design and Applications Options

2. Orbit & Orientation

3. Methods of Achieving Orbit

4. PV and Solar Dynamic SSP

5. Types of Power Transfer

6. US Naval Lab Experiment

7. The Mathematics of SSP

8. Rectennas and PV Receivers

9. Applications for Space Based Solar Power

10. Space based Solar Power Designs

11. Climate Change

12. 2000 Years from now?

PART IV

1. Challenges & Hurdles

2. Leveled Cost Analysis

3. Other Technical Hurdles

4. SSP as a Space Weapon - military applications

5. SSP as a Space Weapon  (for Space)

6. EROIE

7. More about Rockets

PART V

1. Primary & Secondary Market Opportunities

2. SSP as a means to produce Synthetic Liquid Fuels

3. Pacific Islands

4. Desalination

5. Space based Electric Propulsion

6. Space Planes

7. Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

8. Solar Sails

9. Space Elevators

10. Airships - for Commerce and WPT Purposes

11. SSP powered Drones

12. Earth Defense system

PART VI

1. SSP Roadmaps

2. Early Roadmaps

3. Modern Roadmaps - China and UK

4. Space based Earth Defense System Roadmap

5. Financing SSP

6. Create your own Brief Roadmap for SSP Exercise

7. Grand Finale

PART I

1. Previous Book Conclusions

In our first book in the energy series, the bigger picture, the probable future of energy, we discussed how historically speaking energy enables and indicates the wealth and quality of life in a society, nation, state, Empire, or civilization. It is the one element that no major civilization survives the loss of for very long. This conclusion is backed by many examples throughout history.

Here are some of the conclusions we drew from a previous book. The world currently uses about 120,000 billion kilowatt hours per year 85% of which is fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. Oil is the dominant primary fuel making up 33% of the total and essentially is the fuel that runs our global civilizations.

And electricity, by contrast, is a secondary fuel or energy carrier, it only exists due to primary fuels and systems. By 2100, the world will probably have eight to 12 billion people and will require four times the amount of energy. That's four times the average American who uses 60,000 kilowatt hours per year, and four times more than average African who uses 17,000 kilowatt hours per year. Determined by using many different scientific assessment methods.

Oil, mainly due to yearly consumption rates and energy return on investment is likely to be effectively expired and too expensive to extract by midcentury. This will trigger a global energy crisis, which is likely to have a greater impact on civilization that climate change.

We cannot know exactly when this will happen. But it will happen. Whether it starts mid-century or later, it is like death and taxes assure that we therefore require solutions to this coming energy crisis.

2. The Terrestrial Solutions

Terrestrial Electrical Utility Markets. Early studies, including one by NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) in the late 1970s, focused overwhelmingly on serving the terrestrial power grid. This remains an important objective as demand for electricity continues to grow worldwide, although serving the other two categories of users may become technically and economically feasible much sooner. In the terrestrial power grid, SPS would compete with a variety of entrenched and relatively inexpensive energy sources, including fossil fuels and renewables. In populated areas, traditional sources can deliver power to consumers at a price of a fraction of a dollar per kilowatt. Some experts we spoke with believe