21–30 of 98 posts
Aren’t we trying to manage the energy we already get, and maybe even get less energy? Isn’t it that at the current rates with our modified atmosphere we are going to cook ourselves ?
Space based solar is in very low earth orbit. IOW, it shades the Earth, decreasing the amount of energy that reaches Earth.
I’m no rocket scientist but surely it’s cheaper to build more panels and batteries on Earth? Launching stuff into orbit is expensive in cash and emissions.
Something like this was tried by Russia: Znamya ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite) )
I’m no rocket scientist but surely it’s cheaper to build more panels and batteries on Earth? Launching stuff into orbit is expensive in cash and emissions.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Space based solar is in very low earth orbit. IOW, it shades the Earth, decreasing the amount of energy that reaches Earth.
Does it? Because they are beaming that energy back to earth, just to a very specific place.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Space based solar is in very low earth orbit. IOW, it shades the Earth, decreasing the amount of energy that reaches Earth.
Does it? Because they are beaming that energy back to earth, just to a very specific place.
It's a benefit because it's energy that doesn't require releasing carbon to aquire and make use of.
Someone played too much SimCity 2000
Aren’t we trying to manage the energy we already get, and maybe even get less energy? Isn’t it that at the current rates with our modified atmosphere we are going to cook ourselves ?
The big problem is the peaky-ness of the current renewables. They're either very weather dependent, ecologically intensive or time dependent. This solves a lot of this by moving the actual capture above us, into geostationary orbit where there's still plenty of space and by using microwaves (rather than traditional light) you can avoid clouds.
I’m no rocket scientist but surely it’s cheaper to build more panels and batteries on Earth? Launching stuff into orbit is expensive in cash and emissions.
They tried building on mountain faces but shoddy construction by yakuza linked companies lead to landslides[0] and many dead people a couple of years ago.
For the record, I live in a remote mountainous (snowy) region and have panels generating 10kw on my roof. It generates really well 8 months out of the year. 2 months of snow and another couple of months for the rainy season and I’m still generating more than I use in a year. If the govt is willing to reintroduce subsidies and raise the fees in tariffs, a lot more people would be willing to install them.
You could beam energy up to a station in the orbit which would then redirect it to the place where energy is needed. You could then get "easily" energy from solar farms in Sahara, for example.
Aren’t we trying to manage the energy we already get, and maybe even get less energy? Isn’t it that at the current rates with our modified atmosphere we are going to cook ourselves ?
The big problem is the peaky-ness of the current renewables. They're either very weather dependent, ecologically intensive or time dependent. This solves a lot of this by moving the actual capture above us, into geostationary orbit where there's still plenty of space and by using microwaves (rather than traditional light) you can avoid clouds.