0191-9067/85 $3.00 + .00 Copyright ® 1985 SUNSAT Energy Council THE SOLAR POWER SATELLITE — A GOAL FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF SPACE PETER E. GLASER Arthur D. Little, Inc. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA INTRODUCTION Recent events have indicated the vulnerability of the global energy supplies to disruptive political forces which threaten to turn an oil glut into an oil shortage. Disregarding such short-term disruptions the long-term energy supply, in spite of significant untapped energy resources, will be under increasing pressure as global population growth continues and the people's demands for higher living standards become more insistent. There is a growing consensus that inexhaustible and renewable energy resources will be needed to meet global energy demands in the 21st century. The transition from non-renewable to renewable energy sources is unlikely to be completed even by the middle of the 21st century unless more active steps are taken to develop appropriate technologies and to improve the economics of their use. Research to date has identified only two promising methods for large-scale, continuous energy conversion, other than nuclear fission, which do not depend on fossil fuels: thermonuclear fusion, and energy converted in space for use on Earth. At present, fusion is under active investigation. There is, however, no concerted research program devoted to energy from space. Future economic and geopolitical stability may be influenced by the results of long-term alternative energy R&D programs, so that dependence on the outcome of only the one advanced R&D effort, the fusion program, entails significant risks. Comparative assessments of promising energy conversion methods including energy from space is required to maintain focussed energy R&D efforts. In this context, energy from space, using the concept of solar power satellites (SPS), deserves continuing consideration. THE SOLAR POWER SATELLITE CONCEPT The SPS, proposed in 1968 to capture the energy radiated by the sun, represents an energy conversion method capable of generating electricity continuously (baseload) on a global scale (1). Besides providing energy to Earth, the SPS can be a focus for expanding human activities in space. Presented at the Conference on Developing Space, Our Next Frontier, The National Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, Texas, June 7-8, 1984.
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