Citizens for Space Based Solar Power

Category: private sector

  • Hot, Flat and Crowded

    I received Thomas L. Friedman’s book Hot, Flat and Crowded for Christmas. I am about half way through it and one particular paragraph prompted me to post the following comment on his website under the topic Making Clean Energy Work:

    Tom,

    I am on pages 186-187 of Hot, Flat and Crowded in the section Clean Electrons. Your most powerful paragraph in the book so far begins with the sentence “No single solution would defuse more of the Energy-Climate Era’s problems at once than the invention of a source of abundant, clean, reliable, and cheap electrons.” You go on to list many of the currently intractable global problems that a source of abundant, clean, reliable, and cheap electrons would solve. In the next paragraph, you state that “no one has yet come up with a source of electrons that meets all four criteria: abundant, clean, reliable and cheap.”

    As a self-appointed advocate, I believe that space-based solar power has the potential to meet all four of the criteria you set out. Space-based solar power is the 24/7/365 collection of solar power by satellites in geosynchronous orbit which convert and beam it to receiving antennas (rectennas) anywhere on the face of the planet to be distributed to end users by either the existing electrical grid or by wireless power transmission. On a large enough scale, such a system would give humankind direct access to unlimited clean, reliable and ultimately cheap electrons.

    The idea of space-based solar power, patented by Dr. Peter Glaser in the 1960’s, was last reviewed in depth in a 2007 study sponsored by the Pentagon’s National Security Space Office. Most recently, the Space Frontier Foundation submitted a white paper to the Obama Transition Team which was subsequently posted by them for public comment.

    Here are some sources where you and your readers can learn more about the potential game-changing technology of space-based solar power:

    Space Based Solar Power – a public discussion

    Citizens for Space Based Solar Power

    Space Solar Power (SSP) – A Solution for Energy Independence & Climate Change – (Obama Transition Team website)

    I invite you and your readers to learn more about Space Based Solar Power and, if you reach the same conclusions about its tremendous potential that I have, become advocates to have this potentially game-changing technology added to America’s system of solutions for a clean energy future for the entire planet.

    Best regards,

    Rob Mahan: Citizens for Space Based Solar Power

  • Allianz Knowledge Website – Comment Posted

    07/08/2008 Update: My comment was indeed published on the Allianz Knowledge website, below the article titled “Solar Energy Profile: Straight from the Source“.

    This afternoon, I posted the following comment on the Allianz Knowledge website, in a section on Energy and CO2 at the end of an article titled “Solar Energy Profile: Straight from the Source“. A quote from the main website stated “Allianz Knowledge focuses on Climate Change, Microfinance, and Demographic Change. These topics are vital to our business – and to our world.” I found the website to have a great deal of information regarding the energy situation we face.

    I will let you know if I hear back from the website’s editors and if they decide to publish some or all of my comment.

    My Comment:

    Our Sun is ultimately the source of all forms of energy we consume. Solar power is nearly a direct form, while fossil fuels took as long as 400 million years to collect and convert the Sun’s energy that they store.

    I am a self-appointed advocate for the immediate and large scale development of space-based solar power. Large solar panels would be put into orbit, where they would receive intense sunlight 24/7/365. This energy would be beamed to receiving antennas (rectennas) on earth in the form of electromagnetic radiation at frequencies that would not be hampered by clouds or dust in the atmosphere. This energy would be converted to conventional electricity and connected directly to the existing power grid for distribution.

    This will be a complex and expensive engineering project with many beneficial offshoots in terrestrial alternative energy and space exploration technologies. I have much more information and many links on a website titled Citizens for Space Based Solar Power (c-sbsp.org).

    While this idea has existed since the 1960’s, it is very disappointing that space-based solar power isn’t at least a part of the worldwide conversation on moving our energy outlook towards a sustainable future.

    Best regards,

    Rob Mahan
    Citizens for Space Based Solar Power

  • Google’s Goal: RE<C

    Google’s Goal: Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal

    Google Press Release

    Mountain View, California
    Tuesday, November 27, 2007

    Google announced a new strategic R&D initiative to develop ways to generate electricity from renewable technologies that will be cheaper than electricity generated from burning coal. As a major consumer of electrical power and a desire to be a green corporate citizen, Google projects that the anticipated investment of hundreds of millions of dollars will result in large scale renewable energy generating capabilities and a positive impact on their corporate bottom line.

    Larry Page, Google Co-founder and President of Products, said “If we meet this goal and large-scale renewable deployments are cheaper than coal, the world will have the option to meet a substantial portion of electricity needs from renewable sources and significantly reduce carbon emissions. We expect this would be a good business for us as well.”

    “Cheap renewable energy is not only critical for the environment but also vital for economic development in many places where there is limited affordable energy of any kind,” added Sergey Brin, Google Co-founder and President of Technology.

    With the goal of developing one gigawatt of electricity (GWe) production capacity that is cheaper than coal, this is an excellent example of the private sector taking the initiative to develop and commercialize existing renewable energy technologies. According to the press release, one GWe could power a city the size of San Francisco.

    Also stated in the press release, Google is on track to be carbon neutral for 2007. For more information on Google’s commitment to a clean energy future, see http://www.google.com/renewable-energy.

    We should all contact Google’s Mr. Page and Mr. Brin and ask for their support and involvement with Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) as a way to help reach their goals. They just might be very receptive to the idea. The video Moon 2.0, which explains the Google Lunar X-Prize, includes a cameo appearance by SBSP!