Xref: utzoo talk.politics.misc:8754 sci.misc:1253
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!yale!husc6!spdcc!eli
From: eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,sci.misc
Subject: efficiency / greenhouse effect / solar power satellites
Message-ID: <768@spdcc.COM>
Date: 2 Apr 88 15:02:15 GMT
References: <22678@bbn.COM> <5564@well.UUCP> <761@spdcc.COM> <4195@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> <763@spdcc.COM> <2997@sfsup.UUCP>
Reply-To: eli@spdcc.COM (Steve Elias)
Distribution: na
Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
Lines: 14

sheesh.  you guys are missing my point regarding efficiency and solar
power satellites.  pardon me for not being precise enough, and for 
missing John's point regarding 'fixed power consumption.'  

the point is that every joule sent down from the satellite will end
up as waste heat on earth -- the efficiency of the ground based part
of the system does not matter!  

this is true not for 'fixed power consumption', of course.
it is true for 'fixed power transmission from the satellite'.

at least one reader would like to see Drake's notes on the subject; 
i'll be picking them up this weekend.  if anyone wants to send him
curses and slurs, i'll post his email address.  (fat chance!).