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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 goi
by culopatin 3y ago
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 ?
- bryanlarsen 3y agoSpace based solar is in very low earth orbit. IOW, it shades the Earth, decreasing the amount of energy that reaches Earth.
- csomar 3y agoDoes it? Because they are beaming that energy back to earth, just to a very specific place.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoSolar panels are ~40% efficient. So they capture and beam 40% of the energy, and the other 60% gets reflected away and/or radiated as heat. Reflected energy won't hit Earth. Some of the heat will be radiated to Earth and some won't.
- thx-2718 3y agoWouldn't it already then be energy on earth but now it's energy that humans can make use of? It's a benefit because it's energy that doesn't require releasing carbon to aquire and make use of.
- qmarchi 3y agoThe 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.
- jvanderbot 3y agoI would say it replaces one problem with 1000 harder ones. Space based solar power just doesn't make a ton of sense, either from a capacity or cost per watt-hour sense.
- jfengel 3y agoThey already possess fossil fuel plants that can be turned on for those rare occasions where nothing else is working. If they run only 1% of the time it is the least important problem. Even if they run 10% of the time it's still a massive decrease in CO2, without requiring putting things in orbit.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]