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Problem is not in harvesting the energy but in delivering it. The only reasonable option is to beam highly energetic beam back to Earth. Do we want us to be br

Problem is not in harvesting the energy but in delivering it. The only reasonable option is to beam highly energetic beam back to Earth. Do we want us to be browned by l/masers from the orbit?

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
> only reasonable option is to beam highly energetic beam back to Earth This is how we should do it. But we can’t. Fortunately, the sat-to-sat laser folks are working on that kit. In the meantime, these proposals tend to focus on microwaves. In any case, to the degree this one day has an economic case around Earth, it’s in powering low-orbit satellites. Not punching through the atmosphere. That said, I don’t have any obvious near-term high-power use cases for a LEO constellation.
- c-smile 4y ago
  > to focus on microwaves Ah, it will be masers then ... and so together with masks we will wear saucepans ... We do not need additional energy to be delivered to the Earth from outside, we are warming it already. Instead we need to harvest energy that is heating up Earth surface already.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > do not need additional energy to be delivered to the Earth from outside, we are warming it already Waste heat isn't our problem. > we need to harvest energy that is heating up Earth surface already If we're being artistic that's what an in-orbit solar panel, which at least part of the time blocks photons from reaching the Earth, does.
  - throwaway4aday 4y ago
    Why have I been seeing this egregiously wrong idea everywhere lately? Delivering power in the form of microwaves to the Earth is not going to cause any warming. Even if we were to purposefully beam it straight into the ocean and heat the water we just aren't capable of delivering enough wattage to make a serious difference. The reason global warming is a concern is because of the greenhouse effect of CO2 trapping the Suns heat which is an energy input that we can't even come close to approximating.
  - wnkrshm 4y ago
    Thermodynamically correct but CO2 making our atmosphere scatter solar radiation internally and increasing total absorption is a much larger effect. I try to imagine it like a fog: all kinds of radiation makes it through to the ground but then the heat from that radiation cannot simply radiate into space, because the sky is all dense fog and scatters in the infrared. We're effectively making a more diffuse lamp out of Earth. Of course, if your solar array projected area as seen from the sun is approaching the Earth's own projected area, then you're overdoing it again.

Problem is not in harvesting the energy but in delivering it. The only reasonable option is to beam highly energetic beam back to Earth. Do we want us to be browned by l/masers from the orbit?

JumpCrisscross 4y ago

> only reasonable option is to beam highly energetic beam back to Earth This is how we should do it. But we can’t. Fortunately, the sat-to-sat laser folks are working on that kit. In the meantime, these proposals tend to focus on microwaves. In any case, to the degree this one day has an economic case around Earth, it’s in powering low-orbit satellites. Not punching through the atmosphere. That said, I don’t have any obvious near-term high-power use cases for a LEO constellation.

c-smile 4y ago
> to focus on microwaves Ah, it will be masers then ... and so together with masks we will wear saucepans ... We do not need additional energy to be delivered to the Earth from outside, we are warming it already. Instead we need to harvest energy that is heating up Earth surface already.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > do not need additional energy to be delivered to the Earth from outside, we are warming it already Waste heat isn't our problem. > we need to harvest energy that is heating up Earth surface already If we're being artistic that's what an in-orbit solar panel, which at least part of the time blocks photons from reaching the Earth, does.
- throwaway4aday 4y ago
  Why have I been seeing this egregiously wrong idea everywhere lately? Delivering power in the form of microwaves to the Earth is not going to cause any warming. Even if we were to purposefully beam it straight into the ocean and heat the water we just aren't capable of delivering enough wattage to make a serious difference. The reason global warming is a concern is because of the greenhouse effect of CO2 trapping the Suns heat which is an energy input that we can't even come close to approximating.
- wnkrshm 4y ago
  Thermodynamically correct but CO2 making our atmosphere scatter solar radiation internally and increasing total absorption is a much larger effect. I try to imagine it like a fog: all kinds of radiation makes it through to the ground but then the heat from that radiation cannot simply radiate into space, because the sky is all dense fog and scatters in the infrared. We're effectively making a more diffuse lamp out of Earth. Of course, if your solar array projected area as seen from the sun is approaching the Earth's own projected area, then you're overdoing it again.