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Engineering Response to Climate Change, Second Edition, 2nd Edition
book

Engineering Response to Climate Change, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

by Robert G. Watts
March 2013
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
520 pages
18h 5m
English
CRC Press
Content preview from Engineering Response to Climate Change, Second Edition, 2nd Edition
369
10
Energy from Space for Sustainable
Commercial Power for Earth
David R. Criswell
10.1 Overview
In 2008, earth’s commercial power systems provided approximately 2250
watts of thermal power per person (2250 W
t
/person) to its 6.67 billon people.
This totals to approximately 15 terawatts of thermal power (15 TW
t
= 15 × 10
12
W
t
= 2250 W
t
/person × 6.67 × 10
9
people). However, they need the equivalent
of 6000–7500 W
t
/person of sustainable power for sustainable prosperity. So,
by 2050, 10 billion people will need approximately 75 TW
t
of thermal power.
Existing power systems are massive and move so much mass as mining wastes,
coal, oil, natural gas ...
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781439888469