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Pretend you are a European politician, and are trying to convince others that space-based solar power is worth the investment. What would you say to convince your colleagues to adopt space-based solar power to help address climate change? Use the RAD method to support your answer.
Europe is looking at space-based solar power to address energy crisis
Later this year, the European Space Agency (ESA) will ask its members to fund research into a space-based solar power program later this year. Solar power refers to electricity generated from sunlight.
Solaris is the name of the ESA's program. It would explore the possibility of space-based solar power (SBSP) generation. The goal is to provide clean energy and contribute to decarbonization. This is the process of moving away from energy sources that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or the blanket of gases that surrounds the planet. (Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat. Some of these gases include carbon dioxide and methane.)
The ESA would work with European companies. Together, they would determine the technology's benefits and risks, and its possibility of success.
Beams Of Energy
SBSP involves collecting solar energy with huge solar arrays, or panels, on satellites. (A satellite is a machine that orbits, or travels around, a planet or star.) These particular satellites would be in geostationary orbit. This means that they would appear suspended above a fixed spot on Earth at an altitude of 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers).
The satellites would beam collected energy to the ground for conversion into electricity. Without the obstruction by Earth's atmosphere, space-based solar power plants would generate energy more efficiently than Earth-based power plants.
Graphic showing how sunlight is captured by satellite solar panels and beamed down to a station on Earth.
ESA describes the Solaris program as a response to the current climate change crisis. Climate change is the significant change in the climate of Earth over a long period of time. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities. SBSP is a possible source of clean, affordable, continuous, abundant and secure energy.
Josef Aschbacher is ESA's director general. He said that two independent studies suggested investigating the feasibility of SBSP technology.
"We have the main building blocks already," Aschbacher said. He also said that further development and funding are still needed.
Net Zero
The Solaris proposal will go forward in November 2022. The ultimate goal of SBSP would be to aid Europe's transition to a net zero carbon world by 2050. Net zero refers to a balance between the amount of greenhouse gases produced and the amount taken out of the atmosphere.
In recent years, SBSP has become of great interest to a number of countries. The United Kingdom expressed its interest in an SBSP system earlier this year. China is planning tests before the end of the decade. NASA is also interested in SBSP, and a team at Caltech in California is working on equipment for harvesting solar energy collected in space.
SBSP may be a promising a source of clean energy. However, it still faces major technological, economic and legal challenges.
Pretend you are a European politician, and are trying to convince others that space-based solar power is worth the investment. What would you say to convince your colleagues to adopt space-based solar power to help address climate change? Use the RAD method to support your answer.
Europe is looking at space-based solar power to address energy crisis
Later this year, the European Space Agency (ESA) will ask its members to fund research into a space-based solar power program later this year. Solar power refers to electricity generated from sunlight.
Solaris is the name of the ESA's program. It would explore the possibility of space-based solar power (SBSP) generation. The goal is to provide clean energy and contribute to decarbonization. This is the process of moving away from energy sources that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or the blanket of gases that surrounds the planet. (Greenhouse gases are gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat. Some of these gases include carbon dioxide and methane.)
The ESA would work with European companies. Together, they would determine the technology's benefits and risks, and its possibility of success.
Beams Of Energy
SBSP involves collecting solar energy with huge solar arrays, or panels, on satellites. (A satellite is a machine that orbits, or travels around, a planet or star.) These particular satellites would be in geostationary orbit. This means that they would appear suspended above a fixed spot on Earth at an altitude of 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers).
The satellites would beam collected energy to the ground for conversion into electricity. Without the obstruction by Earth's atmosphere, space-based solar power plants would generate energy more efficiently than Earth-based power plants.
Graphic showing how sunlight is captured by satellite solar panels and beamed down to a station on Earth.
ESA describes the Solaris program as a response to the current climate change crisis. Climate change is the significant change in the climate of Earth over a long period of time. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities. SBSP is a possible source of clean, affordable, continuous, abundant and secure energy.
Josef Aschbacher is ESA's director general. He said that two independent studies suggested investigating the feasibility of SBSP technology.
"We have the main building blocks already," Aschbacher said. He also said that further development and funding are still needed.
Net Zero
The Solaris proposal will go forward in November 2022. The ultimate goal of SBSP would be to aid Europe's transition to a net zero carbon world by 2050. Net zero refers to a balance between the amount of greenhouse gases produced and the amount taken out of the atmosphere.
In recent years, SBSP has become of great interest to a number of countries. The United Kingdom expressed its interest in an SBSP system earlier this year. China is planning tests before the end of the decade. NASA is also interested in SBSP, and a team at Caltech in California is working on equipment for harvesting solar energy collected in space.
SBSP may be a promising a source of clean energy. However, it still faces major technological, economic and legal challenges.
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