Critics' VoicesMORE POWERALL LAB BOOKSThe overwhelming objection to this idea is cost. While this technology is backed by the Pentagon's National Security Space Office — which estimates it could provide 10 percent of America's power needs by 2050 — it's very expensive. Getting to this early stage could cost almost $5 billion. It would require immense political will to pull it off. Another political problem is that it would be hard to convince the public that beaming microwaves or lasers from space is ever going to be a safe technology. This fear will only increase as designers admit they might need huge receptacles to collect the energy on Earth as the microwave beams are so wide. If this technology is ever adopted, it will, like nuclear power, be hugely controversial. This experiment would also cause an increase in the Earth's temperature — but by a tiny, almost immeasurable amount. And as for fears over the safety of the technology, low-energy microwaves seem to pose no danger to human, animal or vegetable life. Proponents argue that the point to bear in mind is the sheer scale of the possibilities this technology offers. It would eliminate the need to ever again use fossil fuels, and thus eliminate one of the major causes of global warming. Solar power is perhaps the answer to all our energy needs. In layman's terms, if just an hour's worth of solar power could be harnessed, it would meet the energy needs of the whole Earth for several months. There's no way that scientists could reproduce that on Earth, where the atmosphere diffracts the rays of the sun. |
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