When I was a nerdy little boy-infidel I devoured sci-fi novels like petrol-eating microbes in a oil-sands pit! Those novels were full of awe-inspiring technologies like a world-wide satellite network, hand-held information devices and autonomous robots. Flash-forward to the 21st century and now these technologies exist, and they are used in ways even Issac Asimov couldn’t have imagined!
And it’s happening again.
Mitsubishi and IHI Corp are working with the Japanese government to develop a massive 1Gigawatt Solar collector … in space. The idea is simple. Collect solar energy that is unobstructed by our atmosphere and then beam it down to the surface as concentrated micro-waves. If it sounds a lot like a Death Ray you’re not alone, but those involved assure us that the energy would be even less harmful than regular old solar radiation.
Plans are to have the solar station up and running in 3 decades … which will give them time to save up the estimated $21 Billion cost of the project.
The future’s so bright!
