the times | Saturday November 14 2020 2GM 31News
How a solar power station in space
could help Britain to meet its carbon
emissions pledge is to be the subject of
a government review.
The project would involve a mile-
wide solar power satellite (SPS) weigh-
ing several thousand tonnes being as-
sembled in orbit by robots. Engineers
believe that it could supply as much
electricity as a nuclear power station.
If the idea sounds like something
from science fiction, that is probably
because it is. The author Isaac Asimov
published a short story set on such a
satellite in 1941.
Experts believe that private contrac-
tors, such as Elon Musk’s Space X, could
cut the cost of transporting the struc-
ture into space to a level where it makes
economic sense. British officials have
suggested that the technology could be
ready in time to make a “substantial
contribution” to the government’s
pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions
to net zero by 2050.
Amanda Solloway, science minister,
said: “Solar space stations may sound
like science fiction, but they could be a
game-changing new source of energy
for the UK and the rest of the world.”
The review will study three plans:
Nasa’s SPS Alpha proposal; Cassiopeia,
from the International Electric Com-
pany, and China’s MR-SPS project.
Broadly speaking the projects in-
volve a satellite more than a mile long
being placed in a geostationary Earth
orbit, meaning that it would follow the
direction of the Earth’s rotation.
Lightweight solar panels would gen-
erate about 3.4 gigawatts (GW) of elec-
tricity onboard the satellite. This would
be converted into high-frequency radio
waves. Nearly 3GW of power would be
beamed via these waves to an antenna
at a fixed point, probably at sea.
The electromagnetic energy would
be converted to direct current electri-
city. An inverter would then deliver
2GW of AC power into the grid.
Estimates for SPS-Alpha 2 and Cassi-opeia have suggested that they could
deliver electricity at less than $5 (£3.80)
per megawatt-hour, including building
and operating costs. “This would be a
competitive energy cost, if it can be re-
alised,” Martin Soltau, of the Frazer-
Nash Consultancy, which will lead the
review, said. “A UK space-based solar
power system might comprise five sat-
ellites, producing 10GW, as part of a
mix of clean energy technologies.”
Intercepting light in space and beam-
ing solar energy to Earth means it can
be captured day and night, making the
sun an inexhaustible source.
Graham Turnock, chief executive of
UK Space Agency, said the UK was
growing as a “global player” in space.
“Space solar could be another string to
our bow, and this study will help estab-
lish whether it is right for the UK.”
The report, which will consider feasi-
bility, costs and benefits, was commis-
sioned by the UK Space Agency and the
Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy. It will report for the
COP26 climate summit next year.Solar power space
station to fuel
carbon ambitions
Rhys Blakely Science CorrespondentG
ood news:
you’ve
probably
already got
fashion’s
latest must-have
(Hannah Rogers
writes). Puffer jackets
and duvet coats are
back (yet again). The
bad news? Not any old
style can run with the
fashion crowd. This
winter, theirs have
been tweaked — and
so have the price tags.
At Fendi they cost
£2,100; Prada’s plain
black duvet coat is
£3,350. Dior’s £3,600
puffer comes cropped
and stamped with
logos and at the French
It-label Jacquemus
padded jackets come in
shades of cream only.You wouldn’t
catch an influencer
posing in anything
else — these
puffers are power
padding and come
with high-fashion
status. This winter
they are taking over
Instagram as well as
the streets of Milan
and Paris.
We’ve been here
before. Power padding
has been on the rise
since 2018. When the
Beast from the East hit
Paris Fashion Week
that year, the front row
had no choice but to
swap their stalwart
trench coats for
something warmer.
Then, it was
Balenciaga’s £1,995
khaki knee-lengthLive the dream...
grab a duvet coat
Perfect Moment,
whose star-printed
salopettes are a
favourite among
fashion editors, says
sales of its £435 puffer
jackets rose 130 per
cent in October.
Lyst, the retail data
analyst, reports that
searches for duvet
coats are up 34 per
cent this month. At
John Lewis, online
searches for puffers
have risen 148 per cent
compared with 2019.
Theirs are just as
warm as one with a
designer label — just
don’t expect as many
likes on your selfies.Puffer jackets and
duvet coats,
including by Dior,
centre, are all the
rage on the
streets of Paris
and Berlinlow key would do for
the look-at-me set in- Their favourite
power padding comes
from Dior. The French
house made famous for
harnessing the
hourglass silhouette
with its New Look in
1947 sent three
Bibendum-shaped
padded jackets down
its autumn/winter
2020 catwalk. Its
cropped, reversible,
logo-plastered iteration
costs £3,800 and is
sold out.
But power padding is
also stepping into your
local park. The British
luxury skiwear brand
duvet style coat.
Ever since,
yummy
mummies have
lined up at
school gates in
Sweaty Betty’s
£345 iteration.
The plain
cocoon coat is
still a bestseller,
says the British
brand.
Nothing soNew frontier
Microbial mining The University of
Edinburgh is developing a way of
mining metals in space using
microbes. It could extract raw
materials on the moon and Mars.Litter picking The Remove Debris
mission, led by the University of
Surrey, has launched a spacecraft
that caught a piece of junk in a net.Sun pictures The British-built Solar
Orbiter spacecraft is on course to
take the closest pictures of the Sun.
The data will help forecast “space
weather” and geomagnetic storms.Web satellites The government has
bought a £400 million stake in One
Web, which plans to launch internet
satellites into a low orbit.