Climate scientist and Netflix 'Don't Look Up' director talk comet metaphors and global warming (exclusive)

Nov 16, 2019
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I want to see more coverage on space solar power.
These can reduce CO2…get space into energy sector profits, and act as sunshades to reduce temps without causing acid rain like sulfur dioxide injections that may make us too cold if a volcano bigger than Tonga went up.

Space Solar Power could beam magsails…and with xenon end up as Solar Electric tugs.

Large platforms high up are immune from most ASATS and it is better to have few multi-use orbital antenna farms than many cube sats in LEO that get in astronomers way. Dyson Harrop cables might even protect the grid and weaken Carrington type events and Van Allen belts.

Rogan needs to have Mankins on his program…and the problem solvers caucus could use this to get red space states and blue states to agree on things. Contact Gene Meyers…he has done good work.
 
I want to see more coverage on space solar power.
These can reduce CO2…get space into energy sector profits, and act as sunshades to reduce temps without causing acid rain like sulfur dioxide injections that may make us too cold if a volcano bigger than Tonga went up.

Space Solar Power could beam magsails…and with xenon end up as Solar Electric tugs.

Large platforms high up are immune from most ASATS and it is better to have few multi-use orbital antenna farms than many cube sats in LEO that get in astronomers way. Dyson Harrop cables might even protect the grid and weaken Carrington type events and Van Allen belts.

Rogan needs to have Mankins on his program…and the problem solvers caucus could use this to get red space states and blue states to agree on things. Contact Gene Meyers…he has done good work.

Space solar power needs to be assessed relative to other climate policy and clean energy options - as something purely hypothetical it will be at an immediate disadvantage for getting clean energy funding competing against available working technologies. It looks expensive and difficult and - given a very large expansion of space launch capability has to come first - too late.

It doesn't look like something that can be done at small scale at modest cost, prove profitable and incrementally increased; it needs more like a big scale from the start approach, meaning very large preinvestments that have no interim means of earning a return on investment. The divisive politics on climate and clean energy works against such big scale approaches. Solar and Wind (and increasingly) Storage have been able to thrive despite the divisiveness, in large part because they can grow one quick to build project at a time - sometimes the default choice because there is no overarching plan and commitment and they can be earning a return whilst other options are still being worked out. I haven't seen "Don't Look Up" but sounds like that divisive politics and inability to commit to a difficult but essential course of action is what it is about.

Whilst in space uses for space solar power might be possible including them needs to lower the costs of delivering clean energy for Earth rather than investment in energy for Earth subsidizing space ambitions; they may be able to aid each other and reduce costs for each but misusing the very serious concerns about global warming to advance entirely different goals will not be well received.

I would note that not much outside of near Earth satellites for communications and Earth observation - servicing Earth customers - has given any commercial return on investment.
 
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