Space-based solar power was once the subject of the science-fiction genre has been now gaining popularity.
The sun, photographed from the International Space Station about 260 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Wireless power transfer in space is opening the door to harnessing the power of the sun to provide usable power on Earth.Credit…NASA
The prototype also transmitted small but discernible amounts of energy into a receiver located on the roof of their lab’s structure located in Pasadena, Calif. This demonstration is the beginning step towards the wireless transfer of power in space and Earth -the source of power for which Dr. Hajimiri believes will be safer than direct sunlight beams. “The beam intensity is to be kept less than solar intensity on earth,” He said.
Finding alternative sources of energy is one of the topics to be addressed by top leaders from the fields of science, business, and public policy at The New York Times Climate Forward event on Thursday. This Caltech demonstration was a pivotal moment in the effort to develop space-based solar power – an energy source that is clean and renewable. It has been largely ignored by others long-lasting clean energy concepts like nuclear fusion or low-cost hydrogen..
Scientists at Caltech lowering a portion of the Space Solar Power Demonstrator onto a spacecraft that will allow the device to capture solar power, convert electricity into microwaves and beam them to receivers.Credit…Caltech/Momentus
If solar powered by space is able to be used at a commercial scale, as claimed by Nikolai Joseph, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center senior technology analyst, these stations could provide at least 10 percent of power generation in 2050.There was never any doubt about it being technically feasible,” said Mr. Mankins, now president of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions, an IT consulting firm. “The cost was too prohibitive.”
Latest News on Climate Change and the Environment
A landmark bill passed in California. The California Legislature approved a bill that requires major corporations to make public the greenhouse gases they emit, an action that could have international and national implications for the efforts of governments to combat climate change. Gov. Gavin Newsom said that he will be the one to sign the bill.
The glaciers of Mount Rainier. The highest mountain covered by glaciers in the adjacent United States is losing its glaciers because carbon emissions from fossil fuels is heating up the atmosphere of Earth, according to an analysis released by the National Park Service. The study showed that the area of the mountain surrounded by glacier ice has shrunk by 42 percent between 1896 and 2021.
Billion-dollar disasters. A list put together by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the United States has suffered 23 billion-dollar catastrophes in 2023, the highest number of disasters recorded to date in the year, which demonstrates the struggle of the country to adjust to the impacts of climate changes.
Paris Agreement goals. After eight years since world leaders signed the historic convention in Paris to tackle climate change, nations have only made a small amount of advancements in preventing the most harmful consequences of global warming according to the initial report of the global climate agreement.
Drilling restrictions are strict to restrict drilling Alaska. In the most aggressive attempt yet to shield federal land from the dangers of oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration announced it will ban drilling on thirteen million acres of unspoiled wilderness within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and revoke Trump-era drilling leases within The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The rise of the company of Elon Musk’s SpaceX has resulted in a significant reduction in the price of rocket launches. Between 1970 and 2000, the lowest-earth orbit rocket launch price was approximately $18,500 for a kilogramram of weight, or 2.2 pounds of weight but today, the price has dropped to as little as 1,500 per kilogram. The reduction in cost has helped dramatically decrease estimates for the construction of power stations outside of the atmosphere of Earth.
A repo to the findings of a study that was conducted by the European Space Agency in 2022.
