Pep Canadell
Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project and Senior Research Fellow at the CSIRO Climate Science Centre in Canberra, Australia
Transmitting energy from solar panels in space could be a great solution in our quest to achieve zero emissions. The study presents a strong case for why we should consider supporting the development of these technologies to explore their future viability.
However, the technologies needed to transmit energy from space are far from operational and require a very large investment in research and development, with no guarantee that they will ultimately work. The costs of these technologies in the study are still very theoretical and there is a high risk that they will never be economically competitive with other clean energy sources.
Thus, while it is important to invest in these new energy sources, which will benefit from what is already rapid development in aerospace technologies, we also need to accelerate the deployment of clean energies — solar and wind — that are already available here on Earth today. We know how to cover the millions of roofs that exist in industrial estates and homes, and we know how to build highly efficient wind, solar and battery farms. What we should not do is wait for a possible future technology to solve today's problems.