Lunar Power
I found this very interesting article on the proposed Lunar Power System. The premise does not sound too crazy, so I wonder if it is possible. I guess the question is not whether or not it is possible, but whether or not it will happen.
1 Comments:
I have some issues with the fundamental concept and numbers. For example, 20 TW of power via beams that are 20 percent or less of noontime sun (on earth) intensity means many millions of beams- presumably this means many millins of beams. The question then is how many beams per reciever? How many recievers need to be constructed and what is the cost of same, and the real estate that would be necessary? Something that works in a lab may not be fiduciarily or ecologically feasible if the requirement is a ficility that spans 1000 square miles and would cost trillions of dollars to construct and maintain. He says "genereates NET", how could he possibly know what it generates in NET dollars without knowing the construction costs?? Maintenance costs? Acquistions costs?
How about an EIS on the affects of beaming 20TW of energy through the atmosphere (which contains water vapor and dust particles) contributing to the already critical spectre of global warming?
This sounds more like a half-baked idea of a gradeschool student than a scientific proposal, the way I'm reading it. More specifics and adressing some of these issues would give it more credibility in my non-scientist objective opinion.
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Anonymous, at 8:45 AM
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