Space aid for energy, environment and economics

This paper will describe the results of a team project on the subject of ´Space Aid for Energy, Environment and Economics´ being carried out by students in the current Master´s program (2004-05) at the International Space University (ISU). The goal of the project described in this paper is to make a contribution to the world´s effort to cope with the interrelated problems of energy supply, resource depletion, economic threats and environmental degradation. Space systems have already contributed a great deal to human understanding of this interlocking set of problems. However, much more needs to be done before the threshold of real, worldwide, high-priority public action is crossed. In the first phase of their work on this project, the students carried out a broad review of the ´energy problem´ in terms of the current status and future - projections for supply and demand. In the second phase, they are working full-time for two-months on a more focused area -Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) and the potential role of a space reflector in future enhancement of the efficiency of power production. At the time of submitting this paper, this second phase is only half completed. An indication of the current direction of the work is given here. At RAST 2005, final results of the students´ project will be presented.