Sbsp affirmative- arl lab- ndi 2011
SBSP solves Resource Wars
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SBSP solves Resource WarsSBSP prevents resource wars- ensures global energy securityDavid ’07 (Leonard, Research Associate for Secure World Foundation and served as Director of Research for the National Commission on Space. “Article: Space Based Solar Power Fuels Vision of Global Energy Security” http://www.space.com/4371-space-based-solar-power-fuels-vision-global-energy-security.html. September 19, 2007) AP BRECKENRIDGE, Colorado – The deployment of space platforms that capture sunlight for beaming down electrical power to Earth is under review by the Pentagon, as a way to offer global energy and security benefits – including the prospect of short-circuiting future resource wars between increasingly energy-starved nations. A proposal is being vetted by U.S. military space strategists that 10 percent of the U.S. baseload of energy by 2050, perhaps sooner, could be produced by space based solar power (SBSP). Furthermore, a demonstration of the concept is being eyed to occur within the next five to seven years. A mix of advocates, technologists and scientists, as well as legal and policy experts, took part in Space Based Solar Power – Charting a Course for Sustainable Energy, a meeting held here September 6-7 and sponsored by the United States Air Force Academy?s Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies and the Pentagon?s National Security Space Office. "I truly believe that space based solar power will become the first sellable, tradable commodity that’s delivered by space that everybody on the planet can have part of," said Colonel (Select) Michael Smith, Chief, Future Concepts in the National Security Space Office and director of the SBSP study. To bolster such a vision, establishing a partnership of government, commercial and international entities is under discussion, he added, to work on infrastructure development that, ultimately, culminates in the fielding of space based solar power. The U.S. Department of Defense has an "absolute urgent need for energy," Smith said, underscoring the concern that major powers around the world – not just the United States – could end up in a major war of attrition in the 21st century. "We’ve got to make sure that we alleviate the energy concerns around the globe," he said. "Energy may well be the first tangible commodity returned from space," said Joseph Rouge, Associate Director of the National Security Space Office. "Geopolitics in general is going to be a large issue. I don?t think there?s any question 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." Rouge said that moving out on the proposed SBSP effort would be the largest space venture yet, making the Apollo Moon landing project "look like just a small little program." As a caveat, however, he noted that the U.S. Department of Defense is cash-strapped and is not the financial backer for such an endeavor. "But do look to us to help you develop the technologies and developing a lot of the other infrastructure," Rouge advised, seeing SBSP, for instance, as helping to spur a significant reduction in the cost of routine access to space for the U.S. and its allies. Trends of concern There is a compelling argument of synergy between energy security, space security and national security, observed Col. Michael Hornitschek, Co-Chair of the National Security Space Office Architecture Study on Space Based Solar Power. Hornitschek flagged "trends of concern" in dealing with the world-wide energy challenge, citing global population and escalating energy demands, as well as the portent of climate change. He also referred to U.S. loss in global market share and leadership, in addition to declines in research and development investments and a skilled workforce. Although space based solar power has been studied since the 1970s – by the Department of Energy, NASA, the European Space Agency, as well as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – Hornitschek said that the idea has generally "fallen between the cracks" because no organization is responsible for both space programs and energy security. Over the last few decades, the march of technology useful to SBSP has been significant, said Neville Marzwell, Manager of Advanced Concepts and Technology Innovation at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "We have made tremendous progress in technology from 1977 to 2007," Marzwell reported. He pointed to advances in micro and nano-electronics, lightweight inflatable composite structures, ultra-small power management devices, as well as laboratory demonstration of photovoltaic arrays that are close to 68 percent conversion efficiency. Still, there?s work to be done, Marzwell emphasized, specifically in wireless power beaming. By modularizing SBSP platforms, the work can start small and foster batch production to keep price per unit costs down while evolving a bigger energy market, he said. Home run kind of situation Overall, pushing forward on SBSP "is a complex problem and one that lends itself to a wide variety of competing solutions," said John Mankins, President of Artemis Innovation Management Solutions, LLC, in Ashburn, Virginia. "There?s a whole range of science and technology challenges to be pursued. New knowledge and new systems concepts are needed in order to enable space based solar power. But there does not appear, at least at present, that there are any fundamental physical barriers," Mankins explained. Peter Teets, Distinguished Chair of the Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies, said that SBSP must be economically viable with those economics probably not there today. "But if we can find a way with continued technology development ? and smart moves in terms of development cycles to bring clean energy from space to the Earth, it?s a home run kind of situation," he told attendees of the meeting. "It?s a noble effort," Teets told Space News. There remain uncertainties in SBSP, including closure on a business case for the idea, he added. "I think the Air Force has a legitimate stake in starting it. But the scale of this project is going to be enormous. This could create a new agency ? who knows? It?s going to take the President and a lot of political will to go forward with this," Teets said. Demonstration via satellite As current director of the SBSP study for the National Security Space Office, Smith said that demonstrations of beamed energy from space – utilizing both breadboard lab tests and by using space assets – are vital. One possibility is to extrapolate meaningful lessons from signal transmissions by already orbiting communication satellites, he said, be they U.S. assets or experiments done with partners elsewhere around the world. An orbiting SBSP demonstration spacecraft must be a useful tool, Smith added, to deliver energy while retiring science questions and identifying risk areas for next phase SBSP development. Conceptually, a locale to receive test broadcasts of beamed energy from space could be Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada, he noted. Mankins told Space News that the International Space Station could also be a venue from which to conduct a whole range of in-space SBSP-related experiments on relevant component technologies or subsystem technologies. "The space station is perfect for that," he said, perhaps making use of Japan?s still-to-be-lofted experiment module, Kibo, and its Exposed Facility located outside of the pressurized module. SBSP solves resource wars Popular Mechanics 9 (“Space-Based Solar Power Beams Become Next Energy Frontier”, 10-1-09, http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/space/4230315) OPThe idea of using satellites to beam solar power down from space is nothing new--the Department of Energy first studied it in the 1970s, and NASA took another look in the '90s. The stumbling block has been less the engineering challenge than the cost. A Pentagon report released in October could mean the stars are finally aligning for space-based solar power, or SBSP. According to the report, SBSP is becoming more feasible, and eventually could help head off crises such as climate change and wars over diminishing energy supplies. "The challenge is one of perception," says John Mankins, president of the Space Power Association and the leader of NASA's mid-1990s SBSP study. "There are people in senior leadership positions who believe everything in space has to cost trillions." The new report imagines a market-based approach. Eventually, SBSP may become enormously profitable--and the Pentagon hopes it will lure the growing private space industry. The government would fund launches to place initial arrays in orbit by 2016, with private firms taking over operations from there. This plan could limit government costs to about $10 billion. As envisioned, massive orbiting solar arrays, situated to remain in sunlight nearly continuously, will beam multiple megawatts of energy to Earth via microwave beams. The energy will be transmitted to mesh receivers placed over open farmland and in strategic remote locations, then fed into the nation's electrical grid. The goal: To provide 10 percent of the United States' base-load power supply by 2050. Ultimately, the report estimates, a single kilometer-wide array could collect enough power in one year to rival the energy locked in the world's oil reserves. Space Energy modified 11 (the leading commercial enterprise in the field of renewable energy, “Why Space Energy”, modified 7-15-11, http://spaceenergy.com/About/WhySpaceEnergy.htm) OPIt is an indisputable fact that global energy usage is at record high and continuing to rise fast. Demand in several areas of the global economy is already outpacing supply. Traditional hydrocarbon energy reserves are depleting at an ever increasing rate and most experts agree that there is only enough proven uranium reserves to last one more generation. In addition, the use of hydrocarbon and nuclear fuels are widely acknowledged to be leading contributors to significant environmental and health problems. As developing countries continue to grow and embank on major electrification efforts, energy shortages will become one of the most serious challenges facing governments this century. China and India alone will need to raise energy generating capacity by a staggering 4 to 5 times over the next 20 years in order to meet demand – an equivalent of bringing on-line two large coal-fired power stations per week, every week. The risk of energy shortages could mean more than high prices. In the 20th century, many wars were motivated in part by the need to secure future energy supplies - and, according to the U.S. Pentagon, the risk of such conflict remains high in the 21st century. (See the paper "War Without Oil.") Safe, reliable, renewable, base-load power that is affordable and widely available has long been the ‘holy grail’ of researchers and scientists in the energy industry. Aside from averting conflict associated with resource wars, abundant clean energy has the potential to truly improve life around the world in many ways. Rural electrification can offer one of the fastest ways out of poverty for developing areas. It can ensure that food and medicines are preserved and made available where they are needed the most. It can provide power for water purification and desalination and light so that children can study and develop their potential. This is why Space Energy is committed to harnessing existing and new methods for clean energy generation and transmission, such as from ground-based solar power and space-based solar power. 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