Aucbvax.4299 fa.space utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!space Wed Oct 7 04:29:40 1981 SPACE Digest V2 #7 >From OTA@SU-AI Wed Oct 7 04:25:53 1981 SPACE Digest Volume 2 : Issue 7 Today's Topics: Energy in Space SPACE Digest V2 #6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 6 Oct 1981 0815-PDT From: DIETZ at USC-ECL Subject: Energy in Space To: space at MIT-MC It seems to be gosple that "space is filled with free unlimited energy". Is it free? Compare the cost of a (say) 50KW diesel motor/generator and a similar soloar powered unit in space. I think the capital costs for the space power unit are going to be at least an order of magnitude higher. "But we save all that oil!" Yes, we save oil, but with all the extra money we spent on the solar unit we probably could have extracted more oil than we saved. Advocates of SPS ignore the fact that it is far too capital intensive. And what is our biggest economic problem today? Lack of capital - it's all being consumed (that's wwhy interest rates are so high). Solve this problem, and the 'energy crisis' evaporates (without SPS). ------- ------------------------------ Date: 7 October 1981 04:51-EDT From: Robert Elton Maas Subject: SPACE Digest V2 #6 To: SPACE-ENTHUSIASTS at MIT-MC Attempt to undigestify gives bad digest format. ------------------------------ End of SPACE Digest ******************* ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.