We know it’s a cult when we have thousands of years of nuclear power available but scientists want to build giant mirrors in space to reflect the sun onto solar panels on Earth.
We know it’s corrupt when governments won’t pay for research into the suns role in our climate but they’ll give 2.5 million Euros to a wild idea that might rescue their banker and investment friends last technological white elephant. This was funded under “EXCELLENT SCIENCE – European Research Council (ERC)” don’t you know?
They figure we could get teams of robots into space to assemble vast mirrors about 1 km across that would reflect the sun from 900km above Earth onto solar plants so they make electricity a bit more often. What could possibly go wrong, apart from mishaps that blind drivers, hurt wildlife, screw body clocks and waste gazillions of dollars?
As the huge reflectors pass over a solar plant, they will spin around and point at it to illuminate it “and it’s immediate surroundings”. Thus theoretically extending the working day of the solar panels, and delivering energy at breakfast and dinner time when the peak hour demand is killing our new fragile grids.
Supposedly when the plant on the ground rolls out of view, the giant mirrors will spin themselves edge on to the sun so they stop reflecting sunlight. Just imagine the maintenance nightmare and cost blowouts possible with large precision space infrastructure? Not to mention what happens when the software goes wrong, or hostile cyberhackers play “spot light” with highways, airports and military installations. How much fun can you have with a 10 kilometer wide beam? (That’s just the inner intense core, the actual “stray light” could be an oval up to 70 km long.)
All the nasty surprises that make solar panels and wind farms so uneconomic on the planet would presumably multiply ten-fold in orbit as clouds get in the way, then solar flares and space junk damage the mirrors. How long will mirrors keep their smooth surface under the constant onslaught of the solar wind that runs at a million miles an hour?
Our supposedly best and brightest are publishing hallowed peer reviewed papers on frivolous new ways to rescue the low performing infrastructure that wasn’t economic to build in the first place. The whole plan is to somehow improve the weather on Earth by reducing fossil fuel use, starting by burning tankerloads of fossil fuels to mine and launch kilotons of metal into space?
Reflectors in space could make solar farms on Earth work for longer every day
Unlike proposals to build solar power stations in space and transmit energy down to earth, all the generation would still happen down here.
With the reflectors orbiting 900km above us – about twice the altitude of the International Space Station – we estimate that the illuminated area on the Earth would be approximately 10km across when at its brightest. Therefore, a system like this would not be aimed at individual rooftop solar panels but large solar power farms, typically located away from inhabited areas.
Wait for it:
Each pass would extend energy generation by about 15 to 20 minutes around the dawn or dusk hours.
So we’re spending billions of dollars for an extra 20 minutes of sacred solar sunshine?
Only government funded scientists could come up with something this exorbitantly ridiculous. Let the solar investors pay for their own damn feasibility study, their own giant mirrors, and their own research onto the effects of daylight shining at night on birds, bats, lizards and insects within some unnamed distance of the solar farm. Floating solar farms on the ocean could harass whales and corals too?
Does anyone even care about them?
REFERENCE (seriously)
Viale et al (2023) A reference architecture for orbiting solar reflectors to enhance terrestrial solar power plant output, Advances in Space Research, Volume 72, Issue 4, 15 August 2023, Pages 1304-1348
Grants: Enhancing Global Clean Energy Services Using Orbiting Solar Reflectors, grant agreement No. 883730 Cordis ERC: €2,496,392 ” CRM is also supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering under the Chair in Emerging Technologies scheme. We also thank Sun Cable for sharing information on their solar power farm.”
Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson would be very proud of the “renewable” industry.
320
Brilliant.
“All the nasty surprises”, helping banker friends, space junk.
Covered so much and this new endeavour will give another boost to universitys and the ABCCC.
It’s all about keeping the taxpayers money circulating and ending up in the right hands.
330
Twiggy’s on the line.
110
Perzacly, he has perfected the drainage “model ” for getting funding to investigate new opportunities.
Let’s calculate how much it would cost to build a solar farm and cable to Singapore, then double it.
50
Funny, the Russkies were widely condemned when they did the same sort of thing 30 years ago.
220
Sounds like something out of a B grade sci-fi movie. One might ask what could possibly go wrong? Like something in space clip the the mirror(s) and send their direct beams into heavily populated areas. I think the leftist/greenie/communists have been drinking the cool aide again. Working with what we have in abundance would seem a better option to me. We should take a cue from France with nuclear.
410
Beam me up Scotty and beam down some solar energy for planet earth at the same time.
50
I recall from my youth a science fiction short story, I think by Isaac Asimov, about space mirrors directing energy beams to earth which have to be very tightly controlled for obvious reasons, controlled by humanoid robots. The robots go off line and cease responding so the protagonist of the story travels to the space station. He discovers the robots have renounced human control and are no longer obeying the Laws of Robotics. However, he discovers that they have invented their own religion which requires them to keep the beams tightly focused. He concludes there is no problem and leaves them to get on with it!
I can’t find the name of the story, does anybody else remember?
30
Diamonds Are Forever anyone?
00
Terraforming was originally a science fiction concept introduced as science fiction by Jack Williamson in 1942.
Now, some science fiction concepts do come true, but others are just too far beyond current technology or too extreme to be practical or possible.
Attempting to control the planet’s weather is one such example that is too extreme to be practical or possible.
301
Also consider the adverse effect on astronomy of these space megastructures and likely effect of confusing plants and animals what time of day it is.
270
Dumbest thing we ever heard of, what could possibly go wrong.
290
It will fall to earth in a massive burnup within a few years. Most expensive Fireworks Display ever!!
130
As crazy as hydrogen fuel
120
Jo, there is a possible typo..
You wrote “The Conversion” instead of “The Conversation”.
Then again, the former is just as appropriate since that site does attempt to convert people to the cult.
100
Just another crutch to prop up the failing terrestrial solar experiment.
160
Have anyone of those Climate “Scientists” worked out that extra sunlight will cause global warming?
Solar panels are about 20% efficient so the rest of reflected sunlight would turn into heat.
This idea is a repeat of another ‘hatched up’ by someone a few years ago to radiate energy in the form of microwaves.
340
And to think it wasn’t long ago that Tim Flannery was proposing pumping sulphur into the atmosphere to block sunlight!
210
That was my thought as well.
They think the world is heating up, so in order to cool it down they want to beam more of the sun’s energy to the earth. Yeah, that makes sense.
180
Dear Dad,
send money!
love,
Puck
120
Per the late Warren Zevon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZx_TokIHdI
30
Gosh the energy density of this lunacy is even less than our land based TOXIC, UNRELIABLE W & S.
Why not build more coal or gas or Nuclear plants on a very tiny footprint where we need the energy 24/7?
No need to wreck our environments to connect thousands of kilometres for isolated wind and Solar disasters on the land and sea.
How would an extra 20 minutes of directed sunshine make any measurable difference anyway? And the extra clouds during La Ninas should be a real bummer.
Let these idiots finance it themselves and leave our taxpayers alone for a change.
220
It would be an interesting exercise to compare the amount of energy consumed manufacturing and launching this fantasy monstrosity with the amount of extra energy produced by panels on the ground.
I’d be willing to bet that it consumes more energy than it ever produces, like most “green” projects.
One thing it will produce though, is plenty of cash for the subsidy harvesters by whatever means they devise to harvest subsidies.
250
There will be goverment funding for battery powered rockets to get these mirrors into space – I am preparing an application right now to send to Chrissy Bowen.
150
Meanwhile, Bill Gates and other fools are proposing seeding the air with reflective dust to reduce the solar flux. If there is any logic here, I’m missing it.
260
But if the sun has no impact on climate change, or so they tell us, it’s all down to CO2, then why do they want to mess with the atmosphere by seeding it with all kinds of nasties to reduce the impact of the sun on Earth?
60
then why do they want to mess with the atmosphere by seeding it with all kinds of nasties to reduce the impact of the sun on Earth?
Exactly.
But, as we all know, it’s not about the “climate”. Never has been.
It’s about the Marxists’ never ending mania to bring down the Western democratic order.
30
Of course the tiny little King island hybrid disaster is running on the diesel generator AGAIN this morning.
Big surprise NOT.
So how would we generate enough energy from Australia’s 7.7 million sq klms landmass on TOXIC UNRELIABLE W & S or even 2 million sq klms or 1 million sq klms or …..?
But I’m sure the extra 20 minutes bonus from the directed space mirrors would make a big difference? SARC.
https://www.hydro.com.au/clean-energy/hybrid-energy-solutions/success-stories/king-island
190
Just as wind energy for “free” electricity production was a concept of the National Socialists (ref 1, 2) who do you think invented the idea of space mirrors to control the weather (ref 3)?
Why, it was a scientist who supported the National Socialists and helped develop the V-2 rocket, Hermann Julius Oberth who in 1943 awarded him the War Merit Cross.
And according to his Wikipedia entry “According to an obituary by Stille Hilfe, Oberth was “a loyal supporter and donor” of the Stille Hilfe (National Socialist) support organization.”.
Do you see a pattern here?
References:
1) Green Tyranny: Exposing the Totalitarian Roots of the Climate Industrial Complex, Book by Rupert Darwall
2) http://en.friends-against-wind.org/realities/how-renewables-and-the-global-warming-industry-are-literally-hitler
3) Oberth, Hermann (1984) [1923]. Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen (in German). Michaels-Verlag Germany. pp. 87–88.
150
Please, Jo, STOP saying “Government funded”.
And say the REAL funder, “Taxpayer Funded.”
290
I fully agree, Just.
I always try to say taxpayer-funded rather than government-funded.
It clarifies from whom the money is being stolen.
290
Taxpayer squandered is better yet!
GOvernment FUnded…not safe to complete! 😆😆
120
Government squandered taxpayer funds.
60
We all know how Government money is sourced. If you think there is any confusion or misinterpretation around “Government funded”, then consider that “Taxpayer funded” could be interpreted as privately funded by people who pay tax. i.e. My car is taxpayer funded. My wife and I paid for it and we are taxpayers.
The only people who don’t seem to fully appreciate whose money is used in “Government funded” expenses are those spending the money.
70
Actually, in the USA most of the dollars spent by Govt are borrowed or invented these days, 55% versus 45% taxes. It may be less in Aussie, but its more complicated than just taxpayers.
If we could stop Govts printing money or borrowing it, we would solve most of our problems immediately.
50
Yep, this is representative of modern democracy at work. Our democratically elected politicians can blow out budgets and pour funds (via our taxes) into worthless schemes without having to be accountable. It’s only after when one of them conducts a gross misdemeanour that the media will crucify them for greedy or illegal actions. Only then will the constituents be aggrieved. In the meantime, they readily tolerate the poor standards, for the most part, set by their duly elected member.
It’s like the system is broken but it’s validated because the people voting to maintain its operation think there’s no other way. A true democracy would entail the constituency holding its elected representatives to its principles as well as its promises
30
Wasn’t this the plot of a James Bond movie?
110
Yes. More or less.
Die Another Day
From Wikipedia:
60
Actually, it was Star Wars.
20
That was my first thought- this is sounds like the evil machinations of a Bond villain. Mwawhawahaw (little finger tip touching the side of my mouth)
30
My first thought. But Bond saved us.
30
Indeed. But James Bond generally had a shoddy death trap or loose prison to deal with before upsetting the plans of the villain. Having said that- l reckon a lot of the Bond villain schemes have a better measure of success than the one being highlighted in this thread 😉
30
Why not scrap this idea and continue with fairy dust and unicorn farts to power the planet! Just as logical.
190
They say that moon dust is essential for fusion power, getting it back to earth poses a few problems.
30
And nobody questions the emissions from all the rocket fuel.
150
See my post on battery powered rockets above.
50
Nothing is idiotic enough not to be considered as “best” for climate #facepalm#
100
So their “Net Zero Australia” tell us that Labor’s TOXIC W & S will cost TRILLIONS $ by 2040 and of course this will all have to be replaced every 15 to 20 years and over and over AGAIN.
Replacing this EXPENSIVE, UNRELIABLE TOXIC mess so often should’ve been a warning to these loonies that we must only build long lasting RELIABLE BASE-LOAD energy for Australia’s future, but apparently clear THINKING is way beyond these donkeys understanding. And I doubt enough Aussies will wake up and change their vote before the next election. Who knows?
150
With just a little bit of satellite drift, or a small malfunction somewhere, those concentrated rays fry a city.
No thanks.
120
On reflection, what could possibly go wrong?
Hmm…
130
Oh, groan! Plenty to reflect upon for sure.
50
When Alice stepped through her Looking Glass she found everything was reversed, including logic.
You might recall when Alice ran she stayed still. Walking away from an object brought her closer to it.
The European Research Council (ERC) like its Australian equivalent (ERC) is is an exercise in make believe.
The difference between it and Lewis Carroll is that Lewis Carroll was a mathematician. He knew what he was doing.
20
This mirrors many of the technical problems we face.
It will work fine if everyone is on the same wave length.
And we cast light on the real issues.
70
The Goodies did the Mirror Trick at the North Pole Winter Olympics in the 1970s because
there was too much snow.
The Winter Olympics became the Summer Olympics when the Goodies flying bicycle plus mirror
caused the melting of the ice and skiing events morphed into swimming events. Will our
officialdom be as adaptable when the seas rise or some such Black Swan events occur>
60
So lets do the very simple sums again. At the start of the IND REV co2 levels were about 280 ppm or 0.028% of the atmosphere.
By 1900 this had increased to about 295 ppm or an increase of of about 15 ppm.
By 1950 the level was about 311 ppm and today about 420 ppm or an increase of about 140 ppm or about an extra 0.0140 % of the atmosphere.
Of course the world is GREENING thanks to the extra co2 fertiliser and 87% of coral islands are stable or increasing in size and according to the Dutch study we have more coastal land today than 40 years ago.
And SLs today are about 1.5 metres lower than 4000 years ago at the end of the Holocene Optimum.
So how much longer do we have to put up with their BS and FRAUD? And why do so many people BELIEVE it?
180
“If you tell a Big Lie often enough – people will tend to believe it” – Joseph Goebbels (Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda)
110
Project Icarus returns.
https://youtu.be/3j2tLhnn38Y?si=IVXEcUBESCnQi9F3
Let’s see now…unintended consequences…
10,000 or so satellites in multi level orbits already with many thousand more planned, 20 thousand tons of space debris in the path, cloud penetration, wildlife, blinding of plane pilots (and you thought a laser pointer from the ground was bad).
Then there’s the focussing and dispersion of light energy from orbit to the ground, which is why the Maui wildfires were not from DEW weapons.
Then there’s the atmospheric heating (for real!) from all that focussed solar input, altered climate patterns…
…blinded Earth observatories, more space junk limiting our ability to spot incoming threats…
Meh, she’ll be right mate! That’s how it works isn’t it?
120
Forgot…all that space junk is distorting the Earth’s magnetic field too, resulting in more cosmic rays getting through.
Maybe some big mirrors on tbe ground to reflect them? 😆
30
What timing!
Japanese startup plans to vaporize space junk using ground lasers
To combat the issue of space debris, Australia’s EOS Space and Japan’s EX-Fusion will develop a laser system to remove it from Earth’s orbit.
EX-Fusion stands apart because it is taking the ground-based approach, with the startup tapping its arsenal of laser technology initially developed in pursuit of fusion power. In October, EX-Fusion signed a memorandum of understanding with EOS Space Systems, an Australian contractor with technology for detecting space debris. EX-Fusion has announced its plans to install a powerful laser system at the EOS Space Observatory near Canberra.
The initial stage of this project will involve setting up laser technology to track space debris that measures less than 4 inches (10 cm). This size of debris has been traditionally challenging to target from the ground using lasers. During the second phase, EX-Fusion and EOS Space will use laser beams fired from the surface to remove space debris.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/japanese-startup-vaporize-space-junk
It’s a giant “laser”. 😁
30
So now we blind airline pilots and astronauts from the ground upwards! Maybe they don’t count a 100mm diameter hole burnt through an aircraft a hazard. As for what happens when space-debris-melting laser meets sunshine-reflating mirrors, no-one wants to know!
I blame the education system of the last 50years!
40
I started doing what I still do now way back in March of 2008, sixteen years ago now, seems like an age really.
My original 50 plus Part Series canvassed what needed to be done to replace those filthy dirty CO2 emitting nasty ancient coal fired power plants, all to comply with that original Kyoto Protocol.
Over a four Month period, I submitted my Posts to what is now my home site via email, before (part way through) the site owner allowed me login facility so I could write them direct to the site.
A fair chunk of that series dealt with ‘viable’ replacements for coal fired power.
During the process, I had to do research, (and that’s where I quickly learned the real meaning of that word research) and I saw quite a few hair brained schemes.
One of them was what Joanne has written about today, the placing of mirrors in geostationary (or even geosynchronous) orbit, and beaming the Sun’s light back to a point on the Planet.
It was a harebrained idea then, and it remains that way today.
The process is to boil water to steam, that steam then driving a turbine, and the turbine then drives the generator. (and that is such a very simple explanation of that process)
The idea is ‘crackpot’ still today, and on so many levels.
Compared to large scale (2000MW PLUS) coal fired power, the power generated from something like this would be so minute, for such a horrendous cost.
It’s amazing innit, that people these days are bombarded with so much informational feedback on how to not pay any attention or give credence to crackpot ‘things’, and yet when it comes to something like this, it’s a case of ….. “Yeah! This’ll work, eh! What a great idea.”
It wasn’t going to fly back when I wrote about it, and it still won’t fly today.
Kyoto – A Perspective (Part 21) dated 5th May 2008 (read it all, or just scroll down a little to the heading ‘Orbital Solar’)
Tony.
220
Proven technology, except for placement and distance.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epnvzn/viganella-italy-fake-manmade-sun
Web has a few images.
30
Sounds like the Space Force should hire a few more accountants!
60
Would sending extra sun rays to earth cause global warming?
50
Hey Ma. Have we reached peak stupid yet?
Apparently not son.
Over the last 20,30 years or so it appears to me, (being a layman), that “the science” in science no longer has any merit.
I have developed a distrust of “the science” given what has been promoted and instigated by so called eggspurts.
111
Meanwhile their dangerous climate change is so extreme that Hydrographic Surveyor Daniel Fitzhenry can’t find much change in sea level at Fort Denison since 1914.
He explained the data to Andrew Bolt in 2019 and I’ve just checked the BOM’s last few months of 2023 and the mean SL is still lower than 1914.
So why are they lying to us and where is their dangerous global warming? Yet the CSIRO BELIEVES we could have a metre rise in SL by the end of the century. Who thinks this is possible?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mjOmsqIibk&t=1s
110
Falling sea levels are now a real possibility
31 JULY 2023
Rapid warming across West Antarctica has reversed over the past 20 years, with the region now experiencing significant cooling, according to new research published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
The research challenges the conventional understanding that global warming will uniformly affect the planet, and highlights the importance of understanding regional climate variability.
https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2023/cool-change-for-west-antarctica/
80
Neville, if you do a Goolag search for “fact check ft denison” without quote marks, you will see the extraordinary lengths that the climate change propagandists are going to dismiss the lack of significant sea level rise at Fort Denison.
50
I followed your advice and one dated July 2022 stated.
What do they have to say about record breaking snow falls in Northern Europe in 2024 and artic ice increasing?
40
In searching for the truth – always follow the money trail.
40
Even our home grown ex-spurt, Timmy Flannery used to live right on the waterfront on The Hawkesbury until so many people found out where he lived and pilloried him, so he sold up and escaped.
30
Ronin;
He was about 6 metres above water level and I think that his selling coincided with a marriage breakup.
20
Just another wet dream from BOB and his WEF paymasters! As I read somewhere recently “the tyranny of the minority”.
50
I like “BOB”, but don’t like BOB.
Thanks.
10
Meanwhile back on planet earth {“There seems to be no signs of intelligent life anywhere.”} China is permitting two new coal fired powerstations EVERY WEEK.
I know what energy source I would put my money on.
110
ok, we can spend billions for a extra 20-30 minutes of solar panel generating for a few houses
or
we can spend billions on nuclear that can generate power 24/7 365 days of the year for a few hundreds thousands of houses
they trying to make electricity unaffordable
80
SMR Nuclear Technology, see many submissions and technical details, costings …
https://www.smrnuclear.com.au
20
You’d think a moment’s reflection would put paid to this idea?
110
Oh, groan mk2! See #2.3.1.1 for mk1.
50
Oh, very punny!
50
The BS just never ends.
And this should cause Leftist heads to explode:
Climate change allegedly caused by rocket launches vs supposed mitigation of climate change from huge numbers of launches of rockets to make giant mirrors to alter the weather.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220713-how-to-make-rocket-launches-less-polluting
Rocket launches are an integral part of our 21st-Century world. But how do we stop their polluting exhausts accelerating climate change?
40
And what happens when the axis/tilt of the world alters even one or two degrees either way, as has happened in the past, and hey presto every thing changes and man adapts!
60
See my post above on battery powered rockets and how I have already sent an application to Chrissy Bowen to get some funding to further develop the concept.
I expect a favourable response,
60
Mr. Lover,
Wouldn’t it be better to use long leads, then your electric rockets can be powered from windmills/bird-blenders here on earth?
And, if they’re elasticated, they’ll bounce back and be re-usable.
Re-use and Re-cycle.
Auto
[PS, if you get some grant money for this, send a few bob to the numeracy charities at the IPCC!]
30
What? No-one’s heard of this yet?
https://www.space.com/spinlaunch-aces-10th-suborbital-test-launch
10
BTW here’s the BOM Fort Denison Mean SL data since 1914 and you can see little change over the last 110 years. See 2023 up to NOV and then check back to 1914 and see little difference.
Mean SL is second last column. So where’s their dangerous global warming?
http://www.bom.gov.au/ntc/IDO70000/IDO70000_60370_SLD.shtml
50
About 15 years ago there was a company called Satellite Based Solar Power – SBSP.com – now defunct – Special BS Project. I was asked to give an analysis for an investment company to which :-
>>>
the SBSP project is a total non goer for a lot of practical – engineering – reasons as well as business reasons .
Looking at this my initial reactions are :-
geosynchronous orbit … constant and unobstructed output of the Sun : as the Earth is rotating does this mean that you are beaming down one of the axis ? the poles ? – or constantly re-pointing ( affecting the down beam at the same time ) – how are you collecting and distributing ? If you are re-pointing – how much fuel are you using ? – what are the resupply costs ? what is your pointing accuracy ? – it’s critical at those distances .
SBSP cell to be 6-8 times more efficient than a comparable solar cell on the Earth’s surface : what does this mean exactly ? – the latest solar cells are rated at 30% efficiency .
2.4 GHz : that’s the WiFi & other unlicensed transmissions band – massive interference ? Radio waves bounce around – even at that frequency – and at a high power even more so . Radio waves also interact with the ionosphere – ie. not just bounce – and cause ionisation .
MS – So it works in the same frequency range as mobile phones then? Peter – Exactly : er – not exactly . 900Mhz , 1800Mhz .
Also – what happens if you miss aim – does the male population lose it’s ability to procreate ?
Converting RF energy to power requires resonance – how are you setting that up ? What are the near field and far field strengths ? And how do they affect space flight etc. ?
I’ve looked at the web site and it says – Solar power satellites are large arrays of photovoltaic panels assembled in orbit, which use very low power radio waves to transmit solar power to large receiving antennas on Earth : low power means exactly that low power . If you are producing high power from low power spread over a large area you need a large antennae . Then there is going to be the issue of spot beam widths because the RF energy is not going to be evenly distributed . There are physics and engineering involved and the maths .
… just a few of many questions the article raises . Yes – there are a lot of issues and a lot of maths to stack up .
Question : is this a Special Bull Shit Project ? it certainly looks like it
<<>>
Yes – spot on – I thought the resonant frequency of water was lower but microwave ovens do operate at 2.45GHz – so 2.45Ghz it is . And as 50% of the power , as I understand it , will be lost on the way down a lot of that would be heating up water – ie. global warming – so it would actually work against one of it’s supposed benefits .
The basic concept sounds brilliant – real science fiction stuff . However the reality is a totally different thing and it’s the reality that we have to deal with .
<<>>
The basic ‘Tesla’ idea of transmitting energy via RF energy is a valid physics principle – I’m not disputing that . What I am saying is that there are a lot of issues , a lot of physics and engineering and a lot of associated maths that would have to be gone through before the project could be made to stand up technically . Then there are all the business issues . For starters :-
1) where would the satellites be parked – this is basic – if they are parked in geostationary orbit – ie. geostationary – always pointing at the same spot on the Earth – they will rotate around with the Earth – this means that the solar cells will have to be constantly retargetted – repointed at the Sun – it also means that the down link – the power – would have to be constantly re pointed . This produces 3 issues :-
i) the power required – you can’t use electrical power for the repointing – ref. Newton’s Third Law – you have to use a thruster and that requires fuel . All of a sudden you have the following issues \ questions :-
a) the amount of fuel required .
b) the practicality of getting that fuel up to the satellite .
c) the cost of the fuel and of getting it up to the satellite .
ii) the accuracy of the downlink would be constantly an issue .
iii) there would be a period when the Sun goes behind the Earth – ie. no power generation . The only way that this would be solvable would be to put the satellite above a pole and then you would have to get the electricity the polar region to where it could be used .
2) when the RF is received there are a number of practical issues :-
i) the RF signal needs to be received via a resonant circuit – the physics and engineering would have to be addressed – powers , losses etc. .
ii) the signal would have a footprint over which the RF energy would be spread – the accuracy of the placement of this would determine the resulting amount of power received .
iii) the receiving antennas would not cover the total footprint area – ie. they would cover spots within the area – and this would , hence , affect the resulting amount of power received .
iv) the RF signal needs to be converted from 2.4GHz to 50 \ 60 Hz – in simple terms this means either :-
a) rectification and oscillation .
or
b) somehow driving a 50 \ 60 Hz generator .
how this would be done is a big issue .
And then you have the RF interference problem – any large leakage of the 2.4Ghz into the power distribution system would cause a lot of interference to all sorts of RF devices , WiFi being just one of them .
3) the interaction of the RF signal with the atmosphere would produce a number of issues :-
i) ionisation – probably not a bad thing but would have to be checked . The ionosphere actually provides a protective blanket around the Earth and provides a means for propagating radio signals .
ii) heating – this is going to be a significant issue – water will be heated up , turing to vapour , screening out the Sun and heating up the Earth .
4) interference – there is very much an interference issue :-
i) the general interference to devices on the Earth – an annoyance .
ii) the specific interference to aircraft flying above the Earth – an saftey issue .
and that’s just for starters – many issues – many problems – many unanswered questions .
<<<
81
I believe your repointing stuff is not correct … existing communication satellites point to the same spot on Earth and work fine. Their solar power is not 100% uptime though and they manage that via internal batteries.
In terms of improving the solar uptime by making the cells track the sun, it should be possible to do with only electric power simply by moving a counterweight. It would track back and forth each day … might be fiddly but it’s the sort of thing space engineers are good at. In practice I doubt anyone would actually do it, for the small gains in efficiency.
The real problem is transmission losses between the orbit and the surface. Regular comms satellites already put in the biggest microwave generators they can carry and only very tiny signals get to Earth. They could tighten up the beam focus somewhat and making the Earth stations larger also helps but the losses will be huge.
It might be an interesting experiment to try RF power transmission, point to point on Earth … done in a remote location to avoid regulations on transmission power limits. I did a quick search to see what others had already done in this regard and found the following claim:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484720317273
That’s supposedly a 1% transfer efficiency, including transmitter and resonant receiver and rectification back to DC … over a distance of 10 km. It looks mostly theoretical, I don’t think they ever built it but let’s presume that works. The satellite is 35,000 km up, you would be lucky to achieve transfer efficiency of 0.01% at that distance.
At that point everything else is a waste of time completely.
70
Satellites can use a reaction wheels to rotate antennas and solar cells. However for a very large panel system that is impractical as a very large reaction wheel would be required. There is also the problem of maintaining the accuracy of the beam landing point. If the solar panels are not being rotated then they would be only achieving maximum illumination for a short part of the day. Granted you could double the panels up – have them on either side. The ‘counter weight’ (?) system wouldn’t work – that’s a terrestrial device.
10
A reaction wheel is a counter weight.
00
I have seen the news items recently in the Age with alarm – where they seem to accept the IPCCs worst case projection of sea levels of up to 1.4m by the end of the century as fact when it would depend on everyone of their assumptions and modelling not only to be correct, but to achieve absolute worst case. There is no evidence that current sea level increases of around 2 to 3mm per year over the last 30 years are at an increasing rate and appear likely to be slowing and, as indicated elsewhere on this page – may even start to decline. As a geologist – I have often plumbed the depths or our paleochannels at as much as 100 metres or more below current sea levels due to erosion in our rivers during the last glaciation. Unfortunately, people seem to believe the modelling which is only as good as the input and a bit like computers – Garbage in Garbage out!
100
Gold star to you today for reading the Melbourne Age.
50
For sea levels to rise ice must melt.
Antarctica has been getting colder and even if Greenland’s ice sheet were to retreat – most frozen water is in Antartica.
No time to panic about rising sea levels yet.
40
There’s possibly a presentation on this fantasy at the WEF gabfest in Davos. It’s reminiscent of the Death Star from Star Wars. Old Klaus baby sounds a lot like Darth Vader at times , so in his wheelhouse. One of those filthy rich billionaires would love to jointly fund this project. No doubt there’s lots of subsidies to harvest at the same time. Perhaps Twiggy Forrest could get on board and this project might help to alleviate his deadly humidity and carbon bombs he keeps talking about.
70
Here’s the Dutch Deltares Aqua monitor study and they calculated about 13,000 sq klms increase of extra global coastal land over the last 30 years.
So why are we WASTING TRILLIONS of $ for DECADES into the future? And why choose the TOXIC, UNRELIABLE and DILUTE W & S LUNACY?
https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3111
40
That great mirrors in orbit be based,
And beaming to solar farms placed,
Shouldn’t get off the ground,
Being unsafe and unsound,
The next frontier in government waste.
110
Things are not at all as they seem
Yet this is not just a very bad dream
With no razzle dazzle
You’ll be burnt to a frazzle
If you get in the way of that beam
110
This is almost as good as the idea from the 1970s, which was to dust the Arctic with soot to make the ice melt.
40
Dang! And solar power is aready so cheap! (well, until you need it at a certain place and time)
This is only going to make it cheaper, right? There is just no way that it be very expensive to set-up and run this clownshow.
50
And to think this is being promoted by my old University in Glasgow. It gars ye grue!*
* it makes you sick – in the Sots language.
90
Another frontier in government waste is the $368 Billion AUKUS manned submarine deal when manned subs are now as obsolete as battleships.
The Australian navy is now planning to mothball two frigates since it is short of sailors!
The Australian navy had to recruit British submariners to man the Collins class subs.
China is Australia’s largest trading partner an a large source of immigrants, but the Goverment must counter the “China Threat”!
Meanwhile, in China
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/09/chinas-secret-extra-large-submarine-drone-program-revealed/
We are being governed by idiots.
60
Note: A Morrison Coalition Government defence procurement programme unmanned submarine drone;
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/08/upstart-anduril-australia-hopes-to-make-100s-of-large-drone-subs-itar-free-ceo-says/
And also consider the Joint Strike Fighter programme that resulted in the F-35 Lightning stealth jets now flown by the RAAF, and the Super Hornets and Hornet Growlers, and other RAAF assets. The MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone jet aircraft designed here by Boeing Australia and RAAF is now flying and being developed as a force multiplier to fly with piloted aircraft or controlled from the ground;
https://www.boeing.com.au/products-services/Defense-Space-Security/ghost-bat.page
50
Please note that the AUKUS Partnership nuclear submarine project is in two parts, and future after that development process, long range, high speed, weapons platforms and shipping stealth attack, raider carrying SASR soldiers, and other operations.
1)
Supply of second-hand but operational Virgina Class US Navy nuclear submarines to the RAN and training before delivery of RAN crews on board US and UK nuclear submarines.
2)
Design and construction of a brand new generation of nuclear submarine for all three AUKUS Partnership nations, built in each country.
Not discussed at the time AUKUS was signed in September 2021 were many other defence projects underway or planned.
40
The future of submarines including the mix of manned and unmanned;
https://newatlas.com/future-submarines-modern-warfare/49896/
30
The last ship sunk by a torpedo was a World War 2 ship in the Falklands War -ARA General Belgrano was an Argentine Navy light cruiser in service from 1951 until 1982. Originally commissioned by the U.S. Navy as USS Phoenix.
The only role for a manned sub now is to carry Nuclear Missiles – does not apply to Australia,
The AUKUS subs are a complete waste of taxpayers money.
30
That was about 42 years ago.
30
Please, I’ve asked before: How do you remotely command a submerged vessel [1 m is “submerged”] in real time?
00
Anything to bankrupt the West and Democracies. An endless mastication of national wealth by the powerful.
Has the advantage of keeping the parasitic elites financial at the expense of the now screwed middle classes.
Keeps the quad of Bigs – political, financial, media and moguls – intact and in power.
Nothing like dependency on government to keep the masses in line.
Seems now that education system has so dumbed down people that they will accept anything they are told is
for their own good. Non believers are ‘sceptics’, the modern equivalent of ancient lepers. Not to be heard.
90
Right on Doc, well put.
The system doesn’t operate for us, we work and pay for the self styled elites.
Time to upend that arrangement.
60
Well it is a new take on space solar power. Search for Peter Glaser, SPS (Solar Power Satellites), also “Gerry O’Neill, High Frontier”. You don’t launch everything from Earth at the bottom of a deep gravity well. Leverage the Moon. O’Neill asked some students back in the 1970’s “Is the surface of the Earth the best place to run a hi tech industrial civilization?” The students looked at the problem and said,”No”. Their Professor agreed.
Jeff Bezos has bought into this vision. Unfortunately he doesn’t have Elon Musk’s engineering skills and leadership. The sentiment however is neatly put in the last line of this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTc2SeHSdRc
“And the Earth is clean as Springtime dream, no factory smokes appear, for they’ve left the land to the gardener’s hand and they all are circling here”
You may recognise the melody- it is “Rolling Down to Old Mauai”.
30
Musk will get them there for a few bob each. What are you worried about?
00
I could probably find a dusty dime in some obscure pocket to help fund a study into methods of transferring a little heat from say Australia to Alberta, Canada during our periods of between-40 and -50. Oh, here in central Alberta we had climate warming of 30 degrees C overnight. Still a balmy minus 15. I would go swimming but the water is awfully hard.
50
Pure pie in the sky.
00
All that is missing is the smoke…
00
Does anyone remember using a magnifying glass to burn things (paper/ants/sleeping “friends”)?
00