Michael Fabey, Air Force explores space-based solar power, Aerospace Daily

& Defense Report, August 29, 2006, News; Pg. 1 Vol. 219 No. 40
Perhaps the hardest technological hurdle needed to be overcome would be developing a
rocket capable of putting the panels into space , Preble and other experts say. The currently planned
expendable rockets won't be able to do the job.And space itself is considered risky business.
Nearly every .!. Air "orce or other #uasi$military satellite program is now behind schedule and over budget. %There are no
company&s'( however( prepared to assume the immense financial risk of initiating
construction of &a space solar power system'( however. )t would be akin to asking a company to build *oover +am
or the interstate system without federal assistance(% Preble says.%There are simply too many engineering(
financial( regulatory and managerial risks for any group we have been able to identify to
undertake ...today.%
No Author given( Pew ,haritable Trusts -esearch ,enter on .lobal Problems(
.lobal /arming( 0nvironment -eports( 1223
The world4s leading scientists agree that the planet is warming and that human activities5
especially the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests5are a big part of the cause.)n a
1223 report( the )ntergovernmental Panel on ,limate ,hange( the international group of
scientists charged with reviewing( validating and summari6ing the latest research concluded that
the warming of the climate system is une#uivocal. They stated that it is 72 percent certain that
human$generated greenhouse gases account for most of the warming in the past 82 years.9any
published scientific reports have documented the actual observed impacts of a warming planet5
including dramatic melting of the Arctic ice cap( shifting wildlife habitats( increased evidence of
wildfires( heat waves and more intense storms. Americans are now seeing the impacts of global
warming in their backyards. The warming trend poses serious risks to the economy and the
environment.
+ouglas Durante and Todd Sneller( 0nergy !ecurity( ( A Publication of 0thanol Across
America !ummer 2005
5
!ince :7;7( .!. interests and objectives in the region have included maintaining the
uninterrupted flow of Persian .ulf oil( ensuring the security of )srael( and promoting a comprehensive resolution
of the Arab$)sraeli conflict. The :772 Persian .ulf /ar provided the nited !tates with first hand
experience of the cost of protecting oil supplies associated with an escalated military
conflict in the 9iddle 0ast. <The original intent of !addam *ussein(= said !enator >ohn .lenn &-$?*' in :772( <was to
take over 32@ of the world4s known oil reserves. That would give him control over much of the energy for the whole industriali6ed
world.= The energy security cost to the .!. of maintaining the uninterrupted flow of oil
from this area is approximately A82 billion per year( and depending on various assumptions in several
studies( can make the true cost of oil( counting military and energy security expenses( as high as A:22$A:82
per barrel. A study by the National +efense ,ouncil "oundation &N+,"' in 122B provides the most in$depth examination of this
subject since the :7C3 study by the .eneral Accounting office( which was prior to the first .ulf /ar. The N+," study found that
America spends A;7.: billion defending Persian .ulf oil( adding more than one dollar to the cost of a gallon of gasoline. The
study further concluded that the overall economic toll of this dependence on foreign oil is
staggering. The diversion of capital and investment resulting from spending nearly A:22 billion annually on foreign oil( i.e.
money that would otherwise be spent in the .!.( costs the .!. economy more than
C22(222 jobs per year( and costs federal( state and local government treasuries A:B.;
billion in lost revenues. A National +efense ,ouncil "oundation study found that when taken together( the
economic losses( the defense costs( and oil supply distribution costs bring the total cost of imported oil
to approximately A182 billion per year( or close to A;.22 per gallon over the current purchase prices of gasoline.
By eonard David, !pecial "orrespondent, !pace #ews !pace Based !olar $ower Fuels
%ision of &lobal 'nergy !ecurity, !epte(ber 2007
The .!. +epartment of +efense has an %absolute urgent need for energy(% !mith said(
underscoring the concern that major powers around the world D not just the nited !tates D could
end up in a major war of attrition in the 1:st century. %/e've got to make sure that we alleviate
the energy concerns around the globe(% he said.%0nergy may well be the first tangible commodity
returned from space(% said >oseph -ouge( Associate +irector of the National !ecurity !pace
?ffice. %.eopolitics in general is going to be a large issue. ) don't think there's any #uestion that
energy is going to be one of the key next issues( along with water ... that's going to be the
competition we're going to fight.%
Al Globus) AdAstra) !olar $ower Fro( !pace* A Better !trategy for A(erica and t+e
,orld-) .ay /0, 2007
!!P is environmentally friendly in the extreme. The microwave beams will heat the atmosphere slightly and the
fre#uency must be chosen to avoid cooking birds( but !!P has no emissions of any kind( and that's not all. 0ven
terrestrial solar and wind re#uire mining all their materials on 0arth( not so !!P. The satellites can be
built from lunar materials so only the materials for the receiving antennas &rectennas' need be mined on 0arth. !!P is probably the
most environmentally benign possible large$scale energy source for 0arth( there is far more than
enough for everyone( and the sun's energy will last for billions of years.