Today's News, Tomorrow's Lesson - December 3, 2013

Adi Bloom

You could blame it on the sunshine. You could blame it on the
moonlight. Either way, enough energy could be generated to light up the
world’s dance floors, according to a Japanese company.

Tokyo-based Shimizu is planning to set up a giant belt of solar
panels around the moon’s equator, creating what it claims will be a
“virtually inexhaustible, non-polluting source of energy”.

This is not solar lunacy, the company insists. The Luna Ring would
run around the moon’s 6,800-mile equator. Initially, it would be only a
few miles wide, but it could expand to a width of 250 miles.

The belt would be constructed by robots that would be operated by
workers based on Earth. To reduce construction costs, Shimizu aims to
manufacture the belt primarily using lunar resources. Moon soil would
be mixed with imported gravel to create cement.

The solar energy collected would be sent back to earth as
microwaves, which would then be converted into electricity. The lack of
cloud cover would mean that the solar panels were constantly exposed to
the sun, creating enough energy for all of Japan – and potentially the
whole planet – to bask in moonlight.

Shimizu believes that the Luna Ring could generate 13,000 terawatts
of energy. By contrast, the US generated only 4,100 terawatts of power
during 2011.

“Virtually inexhaustible, non-polluting solar energy is the ultimate
source of green energy, that brings prosperity to nature as well as our
lives,” Shimizu said of the proposal on its website.

Japan has developed a recent enthusiasm for renewable energy. The
country shut down its 50 nuclear reactors following an earthquake and
tsunami in March 2011. The natural disaster triggered a meltdown at the
Fukushima Daiichi power plant: the worst nuclear incident since the
Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

Before the earthquake, nuclear reactors had been the source of
almost a third of Japan’s electricity. Since 2011, the country has
become increasingly interested in finding alternative sources of
energy. Its last functioning nuclear reactor was shut down in September
this year.

“A shift from economical use of limited resources to the unlimited
use of clean energy is the ultimate dream of all mankind,” Shimizu said.

The company plans to have a pilot demonstration in place by 2020,
and for construction of the belt to begin in 2035. NASA, the US space
agency, has been investigating space-based solar systems for decades.