Space-based solar power - beaming it down from space

American scientist Peter Glaser introduced the idea of space solar power in 1968. The satellites would electromagnetically beam gigawatts of solar energy back to ground-based receivers, where it would then be converted to electricity and transferred to power grids. And because in high Earth orbit, satellites are unaffected by the earth's shadow virtually 365 days a year, the floating power plants could provide round-the-clock clean, renewable electricity. NASA and the United States Department of Energy studied the concept throughout the 1970s, concluding that although the technology was feasible, the price of putting it all together and sending it to outer space was not.

Skyrocketing oil prices, a heightened awareness of climate change and worries about natural resource depletion have recently prompted a renewed interest in beaming extraterrestrial energy back to Earth. And so has a 2007 report released by the Pentagon's National Security Space Office, encouraging the U.S. government to spearhead the development of space power systems. "A single kilometer-wide band of geosynchronous Earth orbit experiences enough solar flux in one year to nearly equal the amount of energy contained within all known recoverable conventional oil reserves on Earth today," the report said. The study also concluded that solar energy from satellites could provide power for global U.S. military operations and deliver energy to disaster areas and developing nations. Russia, China, the European Union and India, are interested in the concept. And Japan, which has been pouring millions of dollars into space power studies for decades, is working toward testing a small-scale demonstration in the near future.

- This is one of the responses to peak oil becoming a national security concern. The other one is the move toward electrification and running more military equipment on battery power. Put these two together and you will have the beginnings of an electric economy. Like I said earlier, the military is leading the way.

The logistics supply chain bringing up critical supplies including and especially fuel is one of the most vulnerable parts of a wartime operation. Fuel is heavy, bulky, explosive, and prone to attacks by insurgents. One can easily imagine why the military would be very interested in reducing the vulnerability of that supply chain by having power beamed directly to any arbitrary location, no matter how remote, that they would wish to setup shop at.

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