rationale for studying this possibility was a concern over energy supply, a renewed interest in recent years has centered on the environmentally-friendly aspect of such a source of energy. A solid base of analytical and experimental work has established the technical feasibility of importing solar energy captured in space, but the ability of such a source to compete economically has not been established. This paper illustrates the impact on energy costs of a more complete economic analysis reflecting environmental and other side effects of acquisition and use of energy. Such an analysis would make renewable energy resources, including energy from space, more competitive with the sources which presently dominate. World Energy Demand and Supply Outlook The study of energy demand, supply and pricing is an important area of economic analysis in its own right. For the purpose of this paper, a brief overview will suffice. Demand for Energy The demand for energy is a much-studied topic and many organizations track energy production and consumption and develop demand scenarios or projections [1,2], As shown in figure 1, energy consumption at a global level has historically increased rapidly, especially in the last few decades. Among numerous projections that of the World Energy Council (WEC) is probably as good as can be made. The 15th World Energy Congress of the WEC, held in Madrid in 1992, presented three scenarios: • A reference scenario, extending the present trends or, essentially, "business as usual" • A scenario for enhanced economic development, assuming conditions favor rapid, world-wide expansion of economic activity
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