. A new technological study reveals that by the year 2050, there will be need a for three times as much primary power and it will have to be three times as clean. There is no earthly technology now available, or capable of becoming available by the year 2050, that can solve the energy problem.
Over one trillion dollars has already been spent on space technology and now its time to build on what was started forty years ago. Lunar Solar Power is a clean and renewable energy source and it could replace polluting fossil fuel plants. It uses collectors crafted from lunar material that would microwave power back to earth. Forty tons of Helium 3 used in fusion reactors could power the US for a year and would be worth over $320 billion dollars.
The solar energy available in space is literally billions of times greater than we use today. The lifetime of the sun is an estimated 4-5 billion years, making space solar power a truly long-term energy solution. As Earth receives only one part in 2.3 billion of the Sun’s output, space solar power is by far the largest potential energy source available, dwarfing all others combined. Solar energy is routinely used on nearly all spacecraft today. This technology on a larger scale, combined with already demonstrated wireless power transmission, can supply nearly all the electrical needs of our planet.
Another need is to move away from fossil fuels for our transportation system. While electricity powers few vehicles today, hybrids will soon evolve into plug-in hybrids which can use electric energy from the grid. As batteries, super-capacitors, and fuel cells improve, the gasoline engine will gradually play a smaller and smaller role in transportation – but only if we can generate the enormous quantities of electrical energy we need.