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Why should we want to increase our energy production by an order of magnitude? Maybe a new generation needs to read E. F. Schumacher.
by jfk13 8y ago
Why should we want to increase our energy production by an order of magnitude?
Maybe a new generation needs to read E. F. Schumacher.
- rayiner 8y agoBuilding a fully electric transportation network, supporting a greater population, advanced weapons like rail guns, etc. You know, progress. The future. Maintaining our technological supremacy. China, Russia, etc., aren’t going to be reading E.F. Schumacher. Energy production equals economic, military, and political power. Whoever figures out how to break past the fossil fuel bottleneck is going to own the future.
- chimpburger 8y agoAnd for space exploration. Nuclear propulsion would enable humans to reach Alpha Centauri within a lifetime.
- pfdietz 8y agoNo, fusion could not allow humans to reach Alpha Centauri in a lifetime, unless you mean they flew through the Alpha Centauri system without stopping. If you want human interstellar travel, that probably means beamed power propulsion. That's a better solution anyway, since it allows higher power density at the vehicle. There is no need for fusion for that.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- chimpburger 8y agoLet's restrict it to travel within the solar system. We'll need fusion to power all of those beams.
- pfdietz 8y agoWhy is fusion needed to power the beams? Sunlight would work just fine.
- chimpburger 8y agoThere is a cap on potential solar power generation. Compare the amount of power generated per square meter for a solar panel versus a nuclear power station. Nuclear reactors can be stacked vertically or located underground. Also it is ugly to have vast areas of the natural landscape covered in panels. Ugly waste of space.
- pfdietz 8y agoWe're talking here about solar collectors IN SPACE, where the beam sources would be placed. The cap there is the entire output of the Sun.
- manigandham 8y agoSo we can take over the galaxy.