Some industries must locate near sources of raw materials because of availability and cost considerations. One would not expect the mining industry to relocate toward a rectenna, although it may be expected that the smaller industries could move, depsite their dependence on raw materials. This possibility is likely for the Texas rectenna sites indicated in the study by A.D. Little, Inc.5 The reason for this is that seabed ferroalloy mining smelters could be sited in Texas10 and, hence, the availability of raw materials would work in harmony with the availability of SPS energy. Labor cost, availability, and productivity factors may constrain many industries from relocating toward rectenna sites since many of the suggested sites are rural. For example, the machine tool industry may not relocate based on the availability and/or cost of energy since it depends on highly specialized labor which is not found in suggested rectenna regions. Markets are also prime determinants of industrial location. Firms strongly dependent on the maximization of profit and which locate in their market region probably will not relocate to sparsely populated rectenna-bearing regions. Besides these primary factors, there are many secondary factors that affect industrial location. These factors include: topography, climate, and water availability, government policies (including subsidies, ownership, environmental laws and other legislation, and taxation), and personal considerations of corporate decision-makers. Government policies are the most important of these secondary factors. By direct legislative action or by indirect pricing policies, the government can exert significant influence over industrial locations around the SPS rectennae. As mentioned above, the pricing policies that are established for SPS power will exert significant incentive or disincentive for relocation. The effect of these policies on industrial mobility should be explored in future work. 4.2.2.3 Location Options Available to Firms Location options that facilitate industrial consumption of SPS generated electricity are somewhat limited. Present safety standards require the microwave beam to be diffused for Earth reception. The rectenna sites will therefore cover large areas of land, located away from population concentrations
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