BENGALURU: The depleting energy resources in the country can be countered by tapping into the unlimited solar power available in space, felt Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary of the Department of Space K Sivan.
Delivering the 11th Air Chief Marshal LM Katre Memorial lecture 2018 organised by the Air Force Association at the HAL Convention Centre on Saturday, Sivan said installation of a nuclear plant will not be permitted anywhere in future. Removing the nuclear waste too is a big issue, he said.
Making a strong pitch for creating a solar power satellite, Sivan said, “We need to have a solar panel on the spacecraft. It should have 30 kilometers length and 10 kilometres in width. This spacecraft needs to put into space and it will convert solar energy into electrical energy and then into microwave energy,” he explained. The microwave energy is sent to the ground and then it needs to be converted to electrical energy.
However, to do that, we need to transport thousands of tonnes of material. This is possible only if we can undertake frequent space trips with a reusable space launch vehicle. “Every day, it should make a thousand trips. Within 40 minutes, it should go and come back,” he said.
With the earth’s resources set to get scarce for the succeeding generations, it makes sense to tap and use material from other planets, he stressed. The presence of Helium was very high in the moon. “Helium will be very useful for nuclear power generation. It will be good and clean power,” he said.
There will be no nuclear waste generated and so protests like that being witnessed against the Koodankulam plant can be avoided, he added.
On a lighter note, he said,”There will no moon in future to show our grandchildren.”
Asteroids coming from space are said to be rich in minerals and materials with some of them even said to have diamonds, Sivan said. “We need to tap the asteroids and extract all their benefits when they come near to earth,” he said.