Aerovator, Angel fleet, Polywell

[ciphergoth]

Ideas that are currently entertaining me:

• The Aerovator: a spinning wing 2,000km long whose tips rise 100km up and travel at 8 km/s which unlike the Space Elevator can be built (just) with today's materials.
• The Angel fleet: Counteracting global warming with a fleet of 16 trillon solar shades in space between the Earth and the Sun (we can use the Aerovator to put them up)
• Polywell fusion which if it turned out to be possible would save the world - plus we can power the Aerovator with it.

Comments

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

I wish I could believe in feasible fusion power, cos I don't see any other way of powering the Angel Fleet that won't cause more glabal warming...

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

The linked paper does talk about that:

The environmental impact of launch must be considered in addition to its cost. In the worst case, if electrical energy were generated with coal, {approx}30 kg would be required for each kg transported to L1. But each kilogram of the sunshade mitigates the warming effect of 30 tons of atmospheric carbon, a thousand times more. Note that if the launch were by rockets with kerosene/liquid oxygen fuel, the carbon consumed would be comparable. It takes {approx}20 kg of kerosene to place 1 kg in low-Earth orbit with an efficient two-stage rocket (9), and likely twice this to escape the Earth. On the other hand, the fuel cost for rocket launch is much higher. Kerosene costs currently $0.73/kg, compared with {approx}$0.02/kg for coal delivered to power stations. This difference underlies in part the economy of magnetic launch.

I think the Aerovator would be more efficient still, but in the baseline configuration that's powered by 747s pushing it along.

[purplerabbits.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Given that it's 16 trillion of them you might want to take account of the fuel used to make, transport and support the process from the ground, including the global warming produced by concrete for building the new launch base etc etc.

It's not impossible, but it would indeed be a bit of a last resort...

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Each one weighs just over a gram - it probably takes about as much carbon to make the fleet as it does to make, I don't know, 20 million tons worth of toys or laptops or whatever. What's the most-made thing in the world, I wonder?

[meico.livejournal.com]

Artifical diamond?

[meico.livejournal.com]

Eck! Misread your question... I interpreted it as the most carbon producing thing to make...

In answer to your actual question... I would think it would be something "disposable". Maybe plastic bags? Loo roll?