[ExI] Power satellites are being developed now

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat
Sent: Saturday, 20 December, 2025 10:30 AM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Cc: Adrian Tymes <atymes at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ExI] Power satellites are being developed now

On Sat, Dec 20, 2025 at 1:04 PM <spike at rainier66.com> wrote:
>>... The SPEED act is likely to go into effect in the USA soon, which will fast track traditional power generation over the slower cleaner pricier approaches such as satellite, solar, wind and nuclear.  The price of coal and natural gas is down.

>...Contrast this with solar getting ever cheaper (to the point that continued subsidies no longer have as strong a case).  Unlike with coal or gas, once you install the generators, the cost of generation doesn't go up.  Granted, solar panels have a limited lifespan - but so do coal and gas plants, only around double.  (My first solar install lasted 20 years, which I hear is typical, and I'm told a typical coal plant has a design lifetime of 40-50 years.)

>...The case for primarily fossil fuel as the primary means to serve new power demands appears rather weak.  Of course, the actual solution will involve contributions from many sources: it's not "no new coal"
or "no new solar", but rather, which one makes more sense in most cases?

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Ja to all.  A balanced approach is good: develop everything simultaneously.

An important consideration is a contribution to power generation from end-user financed rooftop solar.  There is no carbon-burning counterpart to that, not even having one's own carbon-fueled generator (I do (not the same.))  The most effective use of rooftop solar is to charge one's own PowerWall during the day, then dump the accumulated power into one's Tesla at night.  That reduces peak load demand on the power station, and contributes directly into supplying ammo in the form of available electric power for the AI arms race.  Moral: if you have the bucks, by all means, install rooftop solar forthwith, along with a PowerWall.  150k should get you there, with change left over.  The Tesla will cost extra.

In the meantime... coal and natural gas power plants, full speed ahead, may the smartest microprocessor win.

spike