Xref: utzoo talk.politics.misc:8656 sci.misc:1187
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!bbn.com!eli
From: eli@bbn.com (Steve Elias)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,sci.misc
Subject: Re: greenhouse effect
Message-ID: <22663@bbn.COM>
Date: 26 Mar 88 16:27:35 GMT
References: <34557@kestrel.ARPA> <2430@umd5.umd.edu> <2116@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <22089@bbn.COM> <35092@kestrel.ARPA> <22285@bbn.COM> <4056@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>
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In article <4056@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> jfc@athena.mit.edu (John F Carr) writes:
:In article <22285@bbn.COM: eli@BBN.COM (Steve Elias) writes:
::In article <35092@kestrel.ARPA: king@kestrel.ARPA (Dick King) writes:
:::In article <22089@bbn.COM:, eli@bbn.com (Steve Elias) writes:
:
::: :  	and solar power satellites would be even bigger thermal
::: :  	offenders than solar cells on the ground.  
:
::: Actually no becuase the waste heat would be dissipated in space.
:
::	actually yes:  waste heat would be dissipated both 
::	in the atmosphere and on the ground.  (microwave transmission).
:
:But the initial thermodynamic inefficiencies would be in space; there
:would be inefficiencies on the ground, but these would be far less than 
:the 60-70% waste of thermal plants now (and large solar power generators
:are thermal, not photoelectric).

	microwave solar power transmitters would indeed waste 50% of the
	power they collected...  much of it by heating the atmosphere, and
	much of it by heating the power receivers and surrounding area	
	on the ground.  i'll try to find Drake's calculations which show
	this...  i may have lots of free time soon.  (i've already found
	another method of net access, thanks to a super-nice sysop).