Energy from the moon?

[TennesseeWalker]

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=10926

Testimony of Dr. David R. Criswell: Senate Hearing on "Lunar Exploration"

<snip>

By 2050, approximately 10 billion people will live on Earth demanding ~5 times the power now available. By then, solar power from the Moon could provide everyone clean, affordable, and sustainable electric power. No terrestrial options can provide the needed minimum of 2 kWe/person or at least 20 terawatts globally.

Solar power bases will be built on the Moon that collect a small fraction of the Moon's dependable solar power and convert it into power beams that will dependably deliver lunar solar power to receivers on Earth. On Earth each power beam will be transformed into electricity and distributed, on-demand, through local electric power grids. Each terrestrial receiver can accept power directly from the Moon or indirectly, via relay satellites, when the receiver cannot view the Moon. The intensity of each power beam is restricted to 20%, or less, of the intensity of noontime sunlight. Each power beam can be safely received, for example, in an industrially zoned area.

The Lunar Solar Power (LSP) System does not require basic new technological developments. Adequate knowledge of the Moon and the essential technologies have been available since the late 1970s to design, build, and operate the LSP System. Automated machines and people would be sent to the Moon to build the lunar power bases. The machines would build the power components from the common lunar dust and rocks, thereby avoiding the high cost of transporting materials from the Earth to the Moon. The LSP System is distributed and open. Thus, it can readily accommodate new manufacturing and operating technologies as they become available.

Engineers, scientists, astronauts, and managers skilled in mining, manufacturing, electronics, aerospace, and industrial production of commodities will create new wealth on the Moon. Thousands of tele-robotic workers in American facilities, primarily on Earth, will oversee the lunar machinery and maintain the LSP System.

[La_Serpiente]

1. Rumor had it

that Bush will release a plan in December that will have an expansion of the space program.

Can anyone say politics?

[treepig]

2. aren't efforts to harvest energy from tides

basically another (and more immediately feasible) manner to get energy from the moon?

[Frangible]

3. Until the beam goes off target....

*ZOT*

[NickB79]

4. 10 billion? I thought that number had been revised to 8.5 billion

There was a report earlier this year stating that the impact of HIV alone in 3rd world nations was causing UN population estimates to be downgraded by a minimum of 1 billion.

[treepig]

5. lots of information on population growth at this site -

http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html


estimates to 2050 support your data:




the good news, i suppose, is the rate of growth is slowly significantly: