The world’s energy consumption is increasing and will continue to grow. According to a report by the University of Oxford, current global energy consumption is more than 160 billion megawatt hours per year, of which solar energy today contributes only 0.58 billion megawatt hours.
Despite increases investment in renewable energy solutions, more than 80 percent of global energy is fueled by hydrocarbons. Solar energy today generates less than 0.4 percent.
Current predictions indicate that global population, currently 7.9 billion, will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. As a result of both demographics and rising living standards in developing nations, the world’s energy consumption is predicted to grow by 50 percent by 2050.
Reliance on fossil fuel usage for most of the world’s energy generation contributes significantly to accelerating climate change and the resulting impacts for life on Earth. With such pressure to increase energy generation, while minimizing climate change, can what might appear to be the radical concept of solar power from space be an additional alternative to fossil fuels?
Commitments to Net Zero
The U.K. government is legally committed to net zero by the Climate Change Act 2008, which set a binding goal of 100 percent reduction in emissions by 2050.
As part of this ambition, the U.K. government is supporting a pioneering plan to beam energy down from solar panels in space. This could deliver affordable clean energy, at all times, throughout the year and independent of the weather to populations on Earth.
Space-based solar power is a decades-old concept for very large solar power satellites, typically in a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) where they are exposed to the sun for almost 100 percent of the time. These satellites harvest solar energy, which is converted to microwaves, using solid state power conversion, and beamed to ground-based rectennas. A typical system would deliver 2 gigawatts, enough to power 1 million homes.
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, recently stated that space-based solar power “presents an exciting opportunity for the U.K. to lead in a new market, enhance our energy security, and contribute to U.K. net zero.”
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Source: https://interactive.satellitetoday.com/via/june-2022/solar-power-from-space-a-solution-to-net-zero/