Population pressure, global living standards, and the promise of space solar power.doc

Solar aspects of papers
IAC-02-
POPULATION PRESSURE, GLOBAL LIVING STANDARDS,
AND THE PROMISE OF SPACE SOLAR POWER
John K. Strickland, Jr.
Sunsat Energy Council
Austin, Texas, USA
jkstrick@
Abstract. This paper covers the relationship between personal energy use and population growth and how clean, high capacity energy sources such as Space Solar Power may reduce loss of habitat by raising living standards and thus slowing population growth. Imposition of severe restrictions on energy use (to reduce global warming) may actually end up being very harmful to the environment by contributing to continued population growth. This causes loss of habitat, which then causes loss of species. There is an existing way to reduce population growth called “raising the standard of living”. However, personal energy use is also closely correlated with living standards. Providing high living standards for the whole world safely requires the use of very high capacity sources of economical non-fossil energy that do not significantly damage the environment. Are there such sources? Costs of the ground based energy sources currently proposed as replacement sources are examined. If they do not have sufficient capacity, the economic and social effects of sudden forced curtailments of fossil energy use could be drastic. Space Solar Power has the potential to provide one such clean, abundant, and economical energy source. Developing Space Solar Power could also help force large reductions in launch costs.
The Fight Over Energy Policy – I: The Opponents
The global reach and accuracy of remote sensing space technology puter based climate modeling, has revealed hitherto unanticipated issues. The global “energy and the environment” debate, emerging in the wake of the continuing flood of climate data, has e very politicized and ideological. Partly as a result, many forces have conspired (often unknowingly), to slow the development of energy production systems, causing much social