A Pentagon-chartered Report Urges U.S. to Pursue Space-Based Solar Power for the dubious reason that it could help “avoid future conflicts over oil” — and for a much more credible reason:
Aside from its potential to defuse future energy wars and mitigate global warming, Damphousse said beaming power down from space could also enable the U.S. military to operate forward bases in far flung, hostile regions such as Iraq without relying on vulnerable convoys to truck in fossil fuels to run the electrical generators needed to keep the lights on.As the report puts it, “beamed energy from space in quantities greater than 5 megawatts has the potential to be a disruptive game changer on the battlefield. [Space-based solar power] and its enabling wireless power transmission technology could facilitate extremely flexible ‘energy on demand’ for combat units and installations across and entire theater, while significantly reducing dependence on over-land fuel deliveries.”
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Military officials involved in the report calculate that the United States is paying $1 per kilowatt hour or more to supply power to its forward operating bases in Iraq.“The biggest issue with previous studies is they were trying to get five or ten cents per kilowatt hour, so when you have a near term customer whose potentially willing to pay much more for power, its much easier to close the business case,” Miller said.
Let’s hope the Chinese don’t start selling those anti-satellite missiles to our enemies.