On Sat, 13 May 2006 09:48:59 -0400, "jonathan"
wrote:

[snipped]
Science at Nasa

Beam it Down, Scotty!

"Solar power collected in space and beamed to Earth
could be an environmentally friendly solution to our
planet's growing energy problems."
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast23mar_1.htm


Jonathan

Did they ever do any studies of what beaming all that power through
the atmosphere would do to things like the ozone layer and weather
patterns, or is it so small compared to what we get from the SUN that
it wouldn't make a difference.

Actually, I've wondered if we could do some weather and energy usage
control with shades or reflectors in space. Could you diminish the
power of a hurricane by cutting off much of the sunlight to it since
it seems like warmth that makes hurricanes grow. How about partially
shading places like Los Angeles on hot summer days to cut A/C energy
usage or reflecting light to add an extra hour of mild daylight in the
winter. Of course, we'd have to be extremely careful when messing with
the weather. Except for hurricanes, I'd limit it to very densely
populated areas like LA where a lot of power usage might be
eliminated. Unfortunately, being able to shade or light a large area
from space would have some military potential as well, so it's
probably against some treaty to possess such capability.

-- David