I've seen this movie…
So…How long until some crazy guy with a weird exosuit turns up…
I suggested similar about 20 years ago, a satellite array that converts solar energy to laser and fires that at ground stations..
I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house…
Wouldn't sun hitting such a surface in space constantly be pushing it out of its location, and so need constant adjustment ?
'[GSV
Trig;4272982']I suggested similar about 20 years ago, a satellite array that converts solar energy to laser and fires that at ground stations..
I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house…
One of the classic SciFi writers has it in a book, might be Arthur C Clarke. In one book they use high power microwaves to get the power back to earth, the system gets taken over and used as a weapon. Option 2 was a lower power diffuse receiver station, but that needed lots of room.
And this is one of the reasons why I don't fear for the future. As far fetched as it may seem at the moment, we will, eventually, be able to harness solar, wind and water power to produce clean energy. Necessity is the mother of invention.
So is this a sensible investigation or have they thrown 5 quid at it and are hoping it acts as some sort of distraction from all the screwups they are making right now?
This government can't even set up a track - and - trace in a pandemic. A solar array in space??
Don't make me laugh.
That proposal for modular mini-nuclear looked interesting too …. though again the greens will probably have a kinniption fit at the mere mention of the n-word.
If you disagree with the government, then congratulations your house is briefly the new solar collection facility ;)
I think there's more chance of me getting a nice shiny RTX3080 for Christmas than there is of the UK Government pulling this off.
Also have they given any thought about what to do when it's cloudy. Like it is 90% of the time in the UK.
Saracen999
That proposal for modular mini-nuclear looked interesting too …. though again the greens will probably have a kinniption fit at the mere mention of the n-word.
Yeah I saw this a while back when looking into Rolls Royce, makes shares a tasty option :D
jimcumming
I think there's more chance of me getting a nice shiny RTX3080 for Christmas than there is of the UK Government pulling this off.
Also have they given any thought about what to do when it's cloudy. Like it is 90% of the time in the UK.
Err its in space the clouds dont impact the collection, and you use a wavelength thats not impeded by cloud to get it back down.
SimCity 2000 had these.
As for modular nukes, I suggested these some time ago but the issue was the design essentially ripped off a nuke from a sub. These operate on a higher U235 enrichment level than civilian designs and I think anti-proliferation treaties are an obstacle as well as the sheer cost and energy of enriching uranium on such a scale. Another issue is the differences in failure modes and management of a sub reactor. The sub reactor has loads of water around and is a relatively low thermal output to manage, making pressuriser management the key. Having this on land away from large water sources could make for a terrible toss up between a water hammer event and thermal runaway. The modular design, I'm guessing, will address these shortcomings.
Now, time to learn to hack satellites and fry my enemies. Seriously, this is basically a huge space laz0r.
Someone's being playing SimCity 2000
This sounds like something Elon Musk would want to go along with his internet satellite network. He could even store the energy in his Tesla battery farms, I'm sure Australia would be interested.
More space distractions like buying OneWeb. Having been on the receiving end of waiting for a test result for my son recently I wouldn't trust UK gov to organise anything. Let alone something this complex.
cheesemp
More space distractions like buying OneWeb. Having been on the receiving end of waiting for a test result for my son recently I wouldn't trust UK gov to organise anything. Let alone something this complex.
Whoever not? Large scale government projects have such a good reputation. Look at the centralisation of NHS records. And of coming in on-time, on-budget. Like HS2. And ….
Oh, wait ….
;) :D
Unfortunately when the solar beam misses the target several blocks around London get fried.
Saracen999
That proposal for modular mini-nuclear looked interesting too …. though again the greens will probably have a kinniption fit at the mere mention of the n-word.
Surely everyone going
green is what they wanted all along, though?
Go Green - Glow Green!!
'[GSV
Trig;4272982']I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house…
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
The problem is the noise they make - We stayed somewhere hilly in Cornwall, where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise… from the turbines several miles away!
We have just the one locally and when it's working it powers a whole office/industrial estate. Don't always see it turning, though.
Ttaskmaster
…
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
….
where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise… from the turbines several miles away!
….
Sure that wasn't dogs?
I quite like the look of them, too. They're …. somehow sorta serene. But for me, they're definitely a NIMBY thing.
Can't wait to see these mini nukes installed all over London.
What to do you mean they're too dangerous?….
Ttaskmaster
Surely everyone going green is what they wanted all along, though?
Go Green - Glow Green!!
Wind turbines look quite pretty, I think, especially when you have a hillside full of them in nice straight lines, all turning in unison.
The problem is the noise they make - We stayed somewhere hilly in Cornwall, where you were actually kept awake by the whooff-whooff-whooff noise… from the turbines several miles away!
We have just the one locally and when it's working it powers a whole office/industrial estate. Don't always see it turning, though.
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
ohmaheid
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
I think it depends on the particulars of the design and interaction with the surrounding area.
I've heard relatively loud ones and some you can't hear at all.
All you hear is the screams of the flocks of birds getting shredded.
But it's okay, you just pop a ready oiled baking tray underneath and wait for dinner to drop.
The UK government is the last organisation on the planet I'd trust not to rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbish this sort of thing up.
Gentle Viking;4273000
Wouldn't sun hitting such a surface in space constantly be pushing it out of its location, and so need constant adjustment ?
I doubt it. The impulse created from the photons of light hitting an orbital satellite wouldn't be significant enough to move a relatively massive satellite out of orbit. Otherwise all the GPS satellites and the space station etc wouldn't be able to maintain a geosynchronous orbit.
I think I've used the correct terms, but there again it has been 25 years since I graduated with my engineering degree where I specialized in orbital mechanics - and I've never looked at it since :)
What amount of solar panels would it take for this to become energy efficient? It takes A LOT of energy to push stuff out of Earth's gravity.
ohmaheid
That's weird. I live less than a kilometer from one - and can't hear a thing
As Phil said, it depends on the design.
The big one we have here is silent, even when it's actually turning. The ones in Cornwall were like someone slowly swinging a grappling hook.
Shouldn't the project budget for that long discussed space elevator too, to get all the gear up into space?
Of course they'd need to build more than one, as the first would be jam packed with space tourists. :-)
…Not that I'd want to live anywhere near the anchor point!
OwP
'[GSV
Trig;4272982']I suggested similar about 20 years ago, a satellite array that converts solar energy to laser and fires that at ground stations..
I can't see the green guys going for this though, everyone wants cheap renewable energy, as long as they cant see the solar panels or wind turbines from their house…
One of the classic SciFi writers has it in a book, might be Arthur C Clarke. In one book they use high power microwaves to get the power back to earth, the system gets taken over and used as a weapon. Option 2 was a lower power diffuse receiver station, but that needed lots of room.
Failing to read the article makes u look a jackass; “Interestingly the official government press release admits the idea behind the SBSP system comes from science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who wrote about this concept back in 1941”. Arthur C Clarke is a few years to young, Asimov got there 1st.
alchemist83
Failing to read the article makes u look a jackass; “Interestingly the official government press release admits the idea behind the SBSP system comes from science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who wrote about this concept back in 1941”. Arthur C Clarke is a few years to young, Asimov got there 1st.
First means nothing, his point is still perfectly valid.
In actual fact, Clarke first delivered two
real-world engineering proposals for solar-powered geostationary comms satelites, which were later realised in the form of the the Telstar I comsat.
Getting abusive over it just confirms you are a jackass. I'm guessing PeterB's gentle caution did nothing for you?
I foresee problems with directional beams being interrupted on purpose by another satellite.
I also wonder why the single none stop source of energy available on planet earth,the tide, has not had more generation investment and development.
Until the moon moves out of orbit the tide will never stop turning and flowing at some point on the planet.
It even still flows under the ice caps.
Its easier to get to the generators too
uksnapper
I foresee problems with directional beams being interrupted on purpose by another satellite.
I also wonder why the single none stop source of energy available on planet earth,the tide, has not had more generation investment and development.
Until the moon moves out of orbit the tide will never stop turning and flowing at some point on the planet.
It even still flows under the ice caps.
Its easier to get to the generators too
We have wind, tidal, geothermal as well as solar all available on the planet, the problem is people don't want big ugly generators where they can see them and there's always the green lot that will protest things being built in the water or on the coast and so on, there seems to be a lot of short sightedness and ignorance on the whole thing..