[ExI] More lasers/power sats

[Keith Henson]

http://www.economist.com/comment/1665409#comment-1665409

Imagine the economic boom Europe would have if a way was discovered to
drill anywhere and get liquid fuels that didn't build up the carbon
dioxide.

That seems to be possible (though it will take more work to be sure).

Lasers, remotely related to the tiny ones in CD players, can power
rockets at great distances by heating hydrogen. The performance is far
better than the best chemical fuels, increasing payload and lowering
cost to the point solar power satellites could produce energy for half
the price of the least expensive fossil fuel, coal.

The infrastructure investment is not certain, but probably comparable
to the cost of the ISS.

Europe, particularly the UK, has a head start because Reaction
Engines, designer of Skylon, the critically important space plane, is
located there.

I will be talking about this Nov. 7 at the Space World conference in
Frankfurt. The paper, which includes a rough business plan, has been
submitted to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.

If you want to know more, the previous iteration is here:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7898

Keith