Solar Wind Satellite Could Potentially Power Entire Planet

Discovery News:

Solar and wind power have long been two of the main contenders in the race to find the next big renewable energy resource. Rather than choosing between the two, scientists at Washington State University have instead combined them.

Read the whole story: Discovery News

Comments

[Don Knowles]

01:42 AM on 10/06/2010

Just don't let BP or Halliburton near it!

[mamacat]

12:00 AM on 10/02/2010

Two hundred years ago we didn't even know what electricity was. Maybe in another two hundred years something like this will be feasible.

BTW, on Thursday, Sep. 30, another asteroid passed inside the orbit of the moon. It was about 50 feet wide, and its nearest approach to Earth was about 70% of the distance to the moon, or about 175,000 miles.

[Edward Standley]

10:04 PM on 10/01/2010

Until it can be made more costly and dangerous, it'll never happen.

[GetAbike]

04:41 PM on 10/01/2010

What? more techno- fantasy? If it means we don't have to change the way we live- then, by gawd, tell me a story!

[eduardo fernandez]

03:42 AM on 10/01/2010

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Twenty-three thrilling minutes from Amory Lovins.

Ultra-lighting saves half the weight and half the fuel – like finding a Saudi Arabia under Detroit. And the stuff absorbs 12 times as much crash energy per pound as steel, so our lighter vehicles would also be safer. The efficiencies in car-making would make the overall ultra-lighting free.

And that’s just the first 10 minutes.

http://rmi.org/Default.aspx?Id=2318&vid=2451&cat

[Blow In]

09:31 AM on 10/02/2010

Thanks for the link. It is good to get ideas from the source rather than through journalists.

[eduardo fernandez]

10:18 AM on 10/02/2010

If you have a few minutes daily (Monday thru Friday) you should check out

:http://www.andrewtobias.com/

He us the longtime treasurer for the DNC (since 1999) . He writes a short column 5 times a week on topics ranging from politics to investing and many other things and one of his personal favorite topics are Green issues . He posts some of the most intriguing and advanced technological discoveries , experiments and advances .

I have been reading him religiously for years now and have even become friends with him . If you contact him he responds personally and is one the smartest,kindest people I have ever met .

Good luck to you my friend .

[eduardo fernandez]

03:40 AM on 10/01/2010

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

Twenty-three thrilling minutes from Amory Lovins.

Ultra-lighting saves half the weight and half the fuel – like finding a Saudi Arabia under Detroit. And the stuff absorbs 12 times as much crash energy per pound as steel, so our lighter vehicles would also be safer. The efficiencies in car-making would make the overall ultra-lighting free.

And that’s just the first 10 minutes.

http://rmi.org/Default.aspx?Id=2318&vid=2451&cat

[riverhead]

05:35 PM on 09/30/2010

If some corporation doesn't figure out how to "charge" humanity for the energy, this technology will go black very quickly ... like all the other technology available that could have weaned us off oil as recent as 75 years ago.

[FrankenPC]

03:16 PM on 09/30/2010

Yeah.... So the first thing the sail would do is SAIL. It would be pushed away from the sun. How would the sail be anchored so that wouldn't happen?

[GetAbike]

04:46 PM on 10/01/2010

It behaves like other satellites or space stations with a fixed orbit- a copper wire captures electrons that are flying away from the sun past the Earth.

[Carbon Forteetoo]

03:10 PM on 09/30/2010

With so much errant space junk zooming around up there, a solar sail that big would be shredded pretty quickly.

[Crushedknee]

04:56 PM on 10/01/2010

I think the Sails would need to be in a higher orbit Probable geocentric to have stable collection sites on earth..Its pretty clean that far up . and the Satellites up there spin with the earth so the debris are not going different directions super fast.

[David01]

01:53 PM on 09/30/2010

Why can't we just do the easy thing, the thing that will create millions of sustainable nonexportable, private sector, middle and working class jobs, and put solar power on every building where it's practical.
This would liberate poor people from the tyranny of the utility companies, for one thing.
Also, it would reduce demand on the grid during heat waves, cold spells and other "peak use times".
And it would be more efficient, I've seen estimates that we lose 70% of our energy in transmission through conventional wiring.
Add to that a revolution in architectural design that is on the horizon, and the other legitimate clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives, and we'd be well on our way to creating millions of jobs.
Let's not forget research and development on new technologies. Common sense ones.

[FrankenPC]

03:18 PM on 09/30/2010

Microwave wave guides were proven to be the ultimate in transmission efficiency decades ago. Yet, here we are still using three phase wire.

[palindrom]

01:24 PM on 09/30/2010

The energy needed to lift anything into space is very large -- even if more efficient (and less costly) ways are found, it's still a huge amount of energy. I find it hard to believe that this will ever be practical.

[Mainbob]

11:39 AM on 09/30/2010

The Danger from this plan is that it will lead to DIRECT HEATING of the planet. This plan would be a direct input of energy from outside our atmosphere down to earth. The degraded energy after use is heat... We already are dealing with a planet that is slowly overheating... Lets not add to it.... See http://350.org

[darkmark]

01:17 PM on 09/30/2010

"The main shortfall of this approach is that over the millions of miles between the satellite and Earth, even the tightest laser beam would spread out and lose a lot of its original energy." so they make the needed laser. it becomes less and less a tight beam and fries most of the planet. just one of the things that need to be worked out.

[FrankenPC]

03:18 PM on 09/30/2010

MASER: microwave laser.

[Ljilja]

11:08 AM on 09/30/2010

This is the kind of technology we should be investing in...

http://graciouslivingdaybyday.com/

[helenwheels]

11:01 AM on 09/30/2010

Science is amazing.

But sadly, big oil will win out.

[Schoolgirl666]

11:26 AM on 09/30/2010

Implement everywhere but Texas....Maybe they won't notice.

[SamKnause]

10:21 AM on 09/30/2010

Not this planet.
The oil, coal, and natural gas companies won't allow it.
Peace