X-Message-Number: 29445 References: <> From: David Stodolsky <> Subject: Re: Small musing about global oil reserves Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:33:00 +0200 On 18 Apr 2007, at 02:17, Francois wrote: > It is not, however, impossible to achieve. After all, this is a > square of > about 836 x 836 kilometers, and our deserts are much larger than > that, so we > have plenty of room to build it. But, assuming we still have a > century's > worth of usable fossil fuel reserves, it means we would have to > bring online > 7000 square kilometers of solar gathering area per year, starting > right now, > in order to make the transition. And lets not forget all the energy > distribution infrastructure that goes with it. Within this time frame space-based solar power will be cheaper, due to robot construction techniques, etc. Those stations can just be moved to where they are need, so no distribution problems. Check out the video from the European Space Agency on iTunes. dss David Stodolsky Skype: davidstodolsky Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29445