"You Don't Have to Believe in Climate Change to Solve It"

“You don’t have to believe in climate change to solve it,” says Lovins. “Everything we do to raise energy efficiency will make money, improve security and health, and stabilize climate.” - Amory Lovins, chairman of the Rocky Mountain Institute, from his new book, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era.
Tagged Climate Change Economics Energy

Could Lunar Satellite Ring Power All of Earth?

An idea sparked by American scientist Peter Glaser in 1968 has captured the imagination of researchers in Japan who envision orbiting a ring of solar-gathering satellites around the moon and pumping their energy output to Earth.

The idea, most recently publicized on ABC News on Tuesday, is at least 25 years away from being ready to begin construction according to Shimizu Corp researcher Tetsuji Yoshida. Even that date is contingent on finding appropriate funding.

The idea of lunar-based solar power isn't new or unique to the LunaRing project. 

Separately, two other Japan-based initiatives are already under way. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is partnering with Mitsubishi Electric and Kyoto University to launch a solar-power generating satellite into Earth orbit in the next 10 years. Mitsubishi Electric has also announced a project dubbed Solarbird which would use dozens of solar power generating satellites to produce the equivalent of a nuclear power plant's worth of energy.

The timing of these two more modest proposals is interesting given Japan's new interest in ridding itself of all nuclear plants as soon as possible in the wake of the earthquake-tsunami of March 11.

After Glaser's pioneering thinking in the late 60's, NASA took up the idea of the Luna Ring but has never made much progress with the concept.

Tagged Energy Science
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