About this Event
Global energy demand is rising fast, notably with the expansion of AI and data centres. At the same time, the shift to low carbon power is running into trouble. Making intermittent renewables reliable is very expensive, and there's growing public and political resistance to the land they require. The UK already has the highest industrial energy costs in the developed world, and it's pushing industry offshore.
Space-based solar power has been proposed as an answer to this for decades: solar power satellites in constant sunlight, beaming power down continuously day and night and in any weather. It has always been attractive in principle and prohibitively expensive in practice. What's changed within the last decade is the cost of launch, which has fallen by 10x thanks to partially reusable rockets, and recent studies suggest the economics will finally work, potentially making it the cheapest source of energy available, as well as one of the most capable.
Martin Soltau (CEO of Space Solar) will discuss why we need to look to space for our sustainable energy needs on Earth, he will cover the UK's leading position in this field, the international momentum now building, the real challenges still to solve, and why space-based solar power could be delivering electricity to UK homes before the first small modular reactor comes online.
Event venue & nearby stays
Dana Research Centre and Library, 165 Queen's Gate, London, United Kingdom
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