Sbsp affirmative- arl lab- ndi 2011
***2AC*** ***Politics***
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- 2AC Plan popular- Defense Industry
- And, the military’s key to the agenda— Defense spending overcomes Congress’ opposition to renewables
- Ext-Military loves the plan
- Existing efforts prove
***2AC******Politics***Plan pop- BipartPlan is popular-SBSP has bipartisan supportSinger 7 (Jeremy Singer, Staff Writer at Space in MSNBC, “Pentagon may study space-based solar power”, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18056610/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/pentagon-may-study-space-based-solar-power/, 4/11/07) SV Jeff Kueter, president of the Marshall Institute, a Washington think tank, said it is too early to determine if space-based solar power is viable, but said that if the concept is successful, it could be a potential “game changer” for energy use. The concept could find broad bipartisan support as it could meet the desires both of conservatives seeking to end dependence on foreign energy sources, as well as liberals who are looking for an environmentally friendly source of energy, Kueter said. While space-based solar power may sound like a high-risk proposal, it is worth investing several million dollars in the near term to study the concept because of the potential high payoff, Kueter said. If the studies indicated that the concept might be feasible, it would be worthwhile for the Pentagon to conduct flight demonstrations to prove out the technology in space, he said. If the Pentagon chose to pursue flight demonstrations or deployment of a space-based solar power system, it could share costs by partnering with NASA, the Department of Energy and other government agencies, Kueter said. 2AC Plan popular- Defense IndustryDefense sector loves the plan – business interestsNSSO, ‘7 – National Security Space Office [10/10/07, “Space-Based Solar Power as an Opportunity for Strategic Security: Report to the Director, National Security Space office Interim Assessment Release 0.1,” http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/library/final-sbsp-interim-assessment-release-01.pdf, DS] There was clear interest from potential military ground customers—the Army, Marines, and USAF Security Forces, and installations personnel, all of which have an interest in clean, low environmental‐impact energy sources, and especially sources that are agile without a long, vulnerable, and continuing logistics chain. There was clear interest from both traditional “big aerospace,” and the entrepreneurial space community. Individuals from each of the major American aerospace companies participated and contributed. The subject was an agenda item for the Space Resources Roundtable, a dedicated industry group. And, the military’s key to the agenda— Defense spending overcomes Congress’ opposition to renewablesKaplan, ’10 – Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation [Fred, 10/6/2010, Slate Magazine, “The Marines Go Green,” http://www.slate.com/id/2270165/pagenum/all/#p2, DS] Two other factors increase the chances that the military's renewable-energy projects might have commercial spinoffs. First, as with the microchip and the computer, these projects are adapting products that private companies have already developed and built. In other words, the military is bypassing its normal procurement process, with its bureaucratic hassles and excessive "requirements," which have resulted in the unwieldy designs and exorbitant costs of so many U.S. weapons systems. Second, Congress is more likely to fund these projects precisely because they're related to the national defense. The United States has an elaborate nationwide highway system today because, back in 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower sold the program to Congress by calling it the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act (italics added). The Army, Eisenhower said, would need solid highways to move troops or evacuate citizens in the event of a foreign invasion or a nuclear war. Similarly, after the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, state governments across the United States spent scads of money to create, or improve, high-school science and math programs in order to "catch up" with the Russians. (This impulse wasn't limited to science and math. At the high school I attended in Kansas, money was even appropriated to buy books for a course on the modern novel. The course was still around in the early 1970s, and thus was I exposed at an early age to Conrad, Crane, Hawthorne, and Hemingway.) Congress today has little appetite for spending billions of dollars on solar power generators or biofuel labs under the rubric of energy independence or "going green." But to serve the war mission, and especially to protect the troops, no sum is too lavish—and that's why the road to going green, and to achieving energy independence, might very well be paved through the fighting fields and villages of Afghanistan. Ext-Military loves the planMilitary loves the plan – They want the powerBoyle, ‘7 – science editor at MSNBC [Alan, MSNBC, “Power from space? Pentagon likes the idea,” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21253268/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/power-space-pentagon-likes-idea/, DS] A new Pentagon study lays out the roadmap for a multibillion-dollar push to the final frontier of energy: a satellite system that collects gigawatts’ worth of solar power and beams it down to Earth. The military itself could become the “anchor tenant” for such a power source, due to the current high cost of fueling combat operations abroad, the study says. The 75-page report, released Wednesday, says new economic incentives would have to be put in place to “close the business case” for space-based solar power systems — but it suggests that the technology could be tested in orbit by as early as 2012. "I think we have found the killer application that we have been looking for to tie everything together that we're doing in space," Air Force Col. Michael V. "Coyote" Smith, who initiated the study for the Defense Department's National Security Space Office, told msnbc.com on Thursday. Space advocacy groups immediately seized on the idea and formed a new alliance to push the plan. But a representative of the solar-power industry was doubtful that space solar power would move from the realm of science fiction into reality anytime soon. "You've got a lot of technology breakthroughs that you have to make," Mike Taylor, technical services manager for the Solar Electric Power Association, told msnbc.com. Charles Miller, president of Space Policy Consulting as well as president and chief executive officer of Constellation Services International, said the key to the plan's success has more to do with economics than physics. "The issue here is not technology, OK?" said Miller, who was a contributor to the study. "You could figure out how to do space solar power in the '70s. [But] you couldn't close the business case in the '70s. You couldn't close it in the '90s. How do you close the business case? That is the No. 1 question to be answered." Economic equation is changing The report — which was done on an unfunded basis and took advantage of online collaboration with outside contributors — notes that several factors have changed in the decade since NASA took its most recent in-depth look at the space power concept (PDF file). Today's best solar cells are about three times as efficient as they were in 1997, while crude-oil prices are roughly three times as high. And in the post-9/11 era, energy security has taken on far more importance. "The technology has advanced vastly, and the security situation has changed quite a bit, as well as the economic situation," Marine Lt. Col. Paul Damphousse, who took over the study from Smith last month, told msnbc.com. "Those things warranted another look." Those factors still don't make space solar power attractive for commercial users, but a better case could be made for the Defense Department. The U.S. military pays a premium for its power in the battlefield, when you consider the cost of shipping oil out of the Middle East, refining it, then shipping the fuel back to the combat zone and burning it in electrical generators, Miller said. All that brings the current power price tag to $1 or more per killowatt-hour, compared with 5 to 10 cents on the domestic market, the report says. Even then, the economic equation still doesn't add up, due primarily to the high cost of launching payloads to orbit. But in the near future, the U.S. military could become a potential "anchor tenant customer" for space-generated power, the report says. "The business case may close in the near future with appropriate technology investment and risk-reduction efforts by the U.S. government, and with appropriate financial incentives to industry," the report says. Smith said the military would prefer to buy its power from a commercial space provider, rather than operating the system itself. "It is our goal to move this entire project out of DOD [the Department of Defense] as quickly as possible," he said. "Energy is not our business. We want to be a customer." How it could work The report sketches out how a space-based solar power system could work: A network of satellites would be constructed in space with arrays of lightweight mirrors extending for several miles (kilometers) on each side. Those mirrors would focus sunlight on solar cells, generating electrical power. The electricity would be converted into microwaves suitable for transmitting through Earth's atmosphere, at frequencies of 2.45 or 5.8 GHz. The microwaves would be directed down to antenna arrays on Earth, as a beam of radiation about one-sixth as intense as noon sunlight. The antennas would convert the radiation back into electricity for distribution via conventional grids. The commercial systems discussed in the past would deliver 5 to 10 gigawatts of power. In contrast, the Pentagon study calls for military systems providing 5 to 50 megawatts of continuous power — roughly a thousandth as much. The report's roadmap calls for ground-based technology development over the next few years, leading up to a demonstration in low Earth orbit in the 2012-2013 time frame, and in geosynchronous orbit by 2017. However, the report makes no commitment for funding such a demonstration. Smith said that would be up to other agencies — such as the Pentagon's own Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or NASA, or the proposed Advanced Research Projects Energy. Damphousse said the program could use an "incremental approach," starting with experiments to transmit power wirelessly between ground stations placed miles apart. "If you can do that, then you're well on your way to proving you can do it from space," he said. A follow-up experiment could try transmitting power from the international space station to Earth. "I actually met with a bunch of folks at NASA Ames last week ... and they warmed to the idea immediately," Damphousse said. Damphousse said the geosynchronous system would require an investment on the order of $10 billion, but would serve as a proof of concept for commercial space power systems. Smith said such systems could eventually deliver electricity to places that lack the infrastructure for traditional power transmission grids, and turn the decades-old dream of wireless power into reality. "It's using space for an actual tradeable commodity — not for a rover on Mars, which is also necessary — but actually delivering a commodity that can be given to anybody in the world," he said. Time for a reality check In conjunction with the Pentagon report's release, 13 space advocacy and research organizations announced the formation of the Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy, which pledged to push for implementation of the space power plan. "While the technical challenges are real, significant investment now can build space solar Power into the ultimate energy source: clean, green, renewable, and capable of providing the vast amounts of power that the world will need. Congress, federal agencies and the business community should begin that investment immediately,” Mark Hopkins, senior vice president of the National Space Society, said in a written statement. Existing efforts proveIannotta, ‘9 - Space News Staff Writer [Becky, 2/25/2009, Space, “Space Solar Power Crowd Bets on Obama,” http://www.space.com/3317-space-solar-power-crowd-bets-obama.html, DS] Alternative energy advocates are not the only ones interested in space solar power beaming; the U.S. military is also eying the technology as a possible means of delivering power to remote areas of the globe. The Air Force Academy, for example, has begun building two small satellites to test the concept of transmitting solar power from space via laser technology. That demonstration is expected to produce enough power to illuminate a single one-tenth-of-a-watt light emitting diode, or LED. Meanwhile, the space station power beaming experiment has won support from Gary Payton, undersecretary of the Air Force for space. Following a briefing on the proposed demonstration, Payton wrote Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA?s space operations chief, to say the space agency and Pentagon should begin exploring ways to collaborate on solar power beaming experiments. ?I believe it is time for NASA and [the Defense Department] to collaborate on a project to demonstrate safe space-to-earth transmission of solar energy is possible, and scalable to a magnitude that can enhance national security interests,? Payton said in the Sept. 30 letter. Directory: files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Integer programming and game theory files -> 4 Integer Programming files -> Bpa vehicle Window Repair Scenario #1 task: Procure vehicle window relacement. 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