Hugely interesting concept coming out of the Millenium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University relating to Wireless Energy Transmission. This is a tantalizing idea -- beam energy wirelessly from satellites to the power grid on Earth, allowing for (a) ubiquitous energy and (b) a global market for energy broadcast. Here's an excerpt:
Wireless energy transmission converts electricity to microwaves, which can then be beamed over long distances via satellite, and then reconverted back to electricity. NASA demonstrated the feasibility of such technology in 1967. (Emphasis added.)
If electric cars catch on over the next 20 years, and current urban growth trends continue, we will need far more electricity than today. “Instead of exporting oil in giant tankers, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, and other oil producing nations could use their own oil and gas that is currently flared away to produce electricity locally and then beam it by satellite to other countries’ receivers attached to local power grids,” explained Jerome C. Glenn, Millennium Project director. “This has the great benefit of reducing potential catastrophic oil spills, managing pollution more locally, and eventually opening up new energy sources such solar panels in earth orbit.”
Ultimately, one possibility could be the generation of energy in space, through huge, high efficiency solar panels attached to satellites, which could then beam the energy wirelessly down to the power grid, thereby eliminating emission of greenhouse gases in energy generation, transmission and conversion. I am interested in as much information on this as anyone out there has. E-mail me with info and links.
A related announcement from the Millenium Project involves carbon sequestration -- the elimination of the CO2 emitted by cars, trucks, buses, etc. -- through "new, creative high-risk approaches." Seems the options on the table include injecting carbon dioxide into the Earth or into coral reefs (which thrive on it), or planting many trees to utilize the gases. MP proposes the possibility of reconverting CO2 to fuel for fuel cells.
Al Gore: From the Associated Press: "In the past few days, Gore has made numerous TV appearances, including interviews with Barbara Walters, David Letterman and Larry King." (Sorry, Larry.) For a guy who says he isn't sure about running in the 2004 Presidential election, he sure is getting his face out there. I heard him on MPR this morning, and I have to admit he said the right things about not looking back to the 2000 election, letting the Democrats choose who runs in 2004, etc. He came off as much more intelligent than our current President (not hard to do). But, for fun, check out this quiz, in which you have to guess which statements were written by Al Gore and which were written by the Unabomber.
Wireless energy transmission converts electricity to microwaves, which can then be beamed over long distances via satellite, and then reconverted back to electricity. NASA demonstrated the feasibility of such technology in 1967. (Emphasis added.)
If electric cars catch on over the next 20 years, and current urban growth trends continue, we will need far more electricity than today. “Instead of exporting oil in giant tankers, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Venezuela, and other oil producing nations could use their own oil and gas that is currently flared away to produce electricity locally and then beam it by satellite to other countries’ receivers attached to local power grids,” explained Jerome C. Glenn, Millennium Project director. “This has the great benefit of reducing potential catastrophic oil spills, managing pollution more locally, and eventually opening up new energy sources such solar panels in earth orbit.”
Ultimately, one possibility could be the generation of energy in space, through huge, high efficiency solar panels attached to satellites, which could then beam the energy wirelessly down to the power grid, thereby eliminating emission of greenhouse gases in energy generation, transmission and conversion. I am interested in as much information on this as anyone out there has. E-mail me with info and links.
A related announcement from the Millenium Project involves carbon sequestration -- the elimination of the CO2 emitted by cars, trucks, buses, etc. -- through "new, creative high-risk approaches." Seems the options on the table include injecting carbon dioxide into the Earth or into coral reefs (which thrive on it), or planting many trees to utilize the gases. MP proposes the possibility of reconverting CO2 to fuel for fuel cells.
Al Gore: From the Associated Press: "In the past few days, Gore has made numerous TV appearances, including interviews with Barbara Walters, David Letterman and Larry King." (Sorry, Larry.) For a guy who says he isn't sure about running in the 2004 Presidential election, he sure is getting his face out there. I heard him on MPR this morning, and I have to admit he said the right things about not looking back to the 2000 election, letting the Democrats choose who runs in 2004, etc. He came off as much more intelligent than our current President (not hard to do). But, for fun, check out this quiz, in which you have to guess which statements were written by Al Gore and which were written by the Unabomber.
posted by fkaJames at
11/21/2002 10:06:00 AM
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