• The Energy Context of the Solar Power Satellite. SPS will succeed or fail in competition with the many other energy supply options and in the context of national and global demand for electricity. This workshop developed criteria for choosing between energy technologies and compared the major future alternative renewable or inexhaustible sources of baseload electrical power. Participants assessed the many factors which would affect future electricity demand and compared breeder reactors, fusion, terrestrial solar thermal, and solar photovoltaic baseload options. They also discussed the potential role of dispersed photovoltaic systems in meeting part of our country's electrical needs. Because the SPS concept would employ several complex future technologies about which there are many uncertainties, the assessment of SPS is fundamentally different from the assessment of current technology. While some kind of SPS system appears to be technically feasible, many of the details cannot presently be determined, and economic projections or possible environmental effects based on them are very uncertain. Hence, the OTA report identifies the key uncertainties of the concept and, where applicable, suggests alternate strategies for resolving them. It also analyzes the major institutional and international issues which accompany decisions about SPS, i.e., how it may affect national security, the international energy market, and the utilities industry, and how an SPS project might be financed and managed. Definitive treatment of any of these issues must await future SPS-related research. In the meantime, the OTA assessment attempts to lay the foundation for further consideration of SPS. OTA does not make recommendations to the Congress. The aim of an OTA assessment is to present the Congress with a range of policy options and their probable consequences. The following summarizes the major findings of the OTA report. Supporting material for this summary can be found in the full report, which may be obtained from the Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. CURRENT STATUS OF SPS Too little is currently known about the technical, economic, and environmental aspects of SPS to make a sound decision to proceed with its development and deployment. In addition, without further research an SPS demonstration or systems-engineering verification program would be a high risk venture. An SPS research program could ultimately assure an adequate information base for these decisions. The urgency of any proposed research effort, however, depends strongly on our perception of future electricity demand, the variety and cost of supply, and the estimated speed with which the major technical and environmental uncertainties associated with the SPS concept can be resolved. For instance, if future demand for electricity is expected to be low it may not be necessary to initiate a specific SPS research program at this time, especially if more conventional electric generating technologies remain acceptable. If this is not the case or if demand for electricity is expected to be high, SPS might be needed early in the 21st century, and an early start of a research effort would be justified. If it is decided not to start a dedicated SPS research effort now, it may be desirable to designate an agency to track generic research which is applicable to SPS, to review trends in electricity demand, and to monitor the progress of other electric supply technologies. Such a mechanism could provide the basis for periodic assessment of whether to begin an SPS research program. Information relevant to SPS
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