Most of the waste heat generated by SPS would be dissipated in space. Nevertheless, about 7 percent of the energy delivered to an SPS rectenna site would be lost as heat in the atmosphere near the earth's surface. This heat loss is about the same as produced by contemporary suburban developments near large cities. Localized effects produced by SPS waste heat near rectenna sites, if they were to occur, would depend upon the characteristics of the environmental surroundings, as is the case for decentralized solar systems. The waste heat which would be produced near SPS rectenna sites is not expected to affect regional weather patterns. Large terrestrial power generating systems capable of producing energy capacities equivalent to SPS would be expected to produce regional and global weather and climate effects which would be greater than any currently envisioned from SPS. III.3 Will the SPS damage the ozone layer and create a "greenhouse" effect by heating up the atmosphere? The bulk of the ozone is contained in the stratosphere between about 10 and 40 km. This region has been under intensive investigation during the past ten years. Preliminary analyses^ indicate that effluents from SPS rocket launches would have a negligible effect on the ozone in this region. Above about 50 km., where the ozone concentration is less than 1% its peak value in the stratosphere, preliminary analysis suggests that ambient water concentrations, especially above 70 km, may be appreciably enhanced and may become involved in the complex chemical mechanisms which control ozone concentration at these altitudes. Even the direction of these effects is not predictable without a much closer examination. However, the above-mentioned preliminary calculations indicate that the globally averaged change in total ozone would be negligible (i.e., not detectable) and that, consequently, the change in intensity of ultraviolet radiation at the ground surface would also be negligible. The reduced ability of the atmosphere to transmit long wavelength (infrared) radiation relative to shorter wavelength (visible and ultraviolet) radiation, commonly known as the "greenhouse" effect, most directly arises through the addition of light reflecting aerosols and infrared absorbing molecules (CO2 and H^O). As noted in the relevant documents31>32? ^he relative abundance of these substances in the lower atmosphere is so large that SPS contributions are considered to be completely negligible. The water vapor budget in the stratosphere and above is poorly understood, so that at altitudes above 70 or 80 km., SPS water vapor ^^SPS Preliminary Environmental Assessment, DOE/ER-0021/2, October 1978, pp. 86, 106. q 0 “JSPS Preliminary Environmentai Assessment, DOE/ER-0021/2, October 1978, pp. 86-91.
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