A SOLAR POWER PLANT ON THE MOON

Japan’s plan to supply all the world’s energy from a giant solar power plant on the moon

Todd Woody, November 29, 2013 (Quartz)

"Shimizu, a Japanese architectural and engineering firm, has a solution for the climate crisis: Simply build a band of solar panels 400 kilometers (249 miles) wide running all the way around the Moon’s 11,000-kilometer (6,835 mile) equator and beam the carbon-free energy back to Earth in the form of microwaves, which are converted into electricity at ground stations…That means mining construction materials on the Moon and setting up factories to make the solar panels [with robots]…The company proposes to start building the Luna Ring in 2035…[E]ven if the energy that eventually comes from a solar power plant on the the Moon justifies the costs of building one—not to mention the fossil fuel you have to burn to get the machinery up there—Shimizu’s greatest hurdle may be staking a claim on all that lunar real estate…” click here for more

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