Value chain · CLM-0810
In plain terms
A 2020 modelling study estimated that, across its whole operating life from 2040 to 2100, the 1978 NASA/DOE space solar power design would produce about 112 grams of CO2-equivalent per kilowatt-hour for the silicon version and about 123 grams for the gallium-arsenide version, counting emissions from the rocket launches.
The claim as recorded
Wilson et al.'s process-based LCSA of the 1978 DOE/NASA SPS Reference System, covering 60 units of 5 GW for 300 GW total capacity, implemented at 2 units per year over 2040-2070, 30-year per-unit operational lifetime, fleet operating 2040-2100, stated capacity factor 98.09 per cent and total programme output 77,388.9336 TWh, gives a modelled lifecycle greenhouse gas intensity, with launch emissions INSIDE the system boundary, of 112.27 gCO2e/kWh for the silicon option and 122.63 gCO2e/kWh for the gallium arsenide option.
Scope and limits
These are PROGRAMME-AVERAGE intensities over the entire 60-unit, 300 GW fleet across its full 2040-2100 operating history at the stated capacity factor, implementation rate and 30-year per-unit lifetime. They are NOT per-satellite figures and do not hold if scale, implementation rate or lifetime differ. The paper states on p16 that its hotspots refer specifically to the DOE/NASA Reference System and not to the SBSP concept as a whole, and these figures likewise describe that one design, so they may not be extended to SPS-ALPHA, CASSIOPeiA or any other architecture. Excludes wireless power transmission heating effects and departs from the reference scenario at end of life; see CLM-0815. Modelled, not measured.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
p12: "it was found that the silicon option produces 112.27 gCO2e/kWh whilst the gallium arsenide option produces 122.63 gCO2e/kWh".
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-008 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0810
CLM-0810, Energy Aperture, as of 2020.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-212
- CLM-0316In 2009 three researchers guessed that, once the energy to deliver and use it is counted, an oil-based fuel must return at least about 3...CLM-0811In a 2020 modelling study of the 1978 NASA/DOE space solar power design, the carbon per kilowatt-hour fell the longer the satellites were...CLM-0812A 2020 modelling study of the 1978 NASA/DOE design estimated that its ozone-depleting emissions, almost all from burning rocket fuel at...CLM-0813The paper's detailed component-by-component calculation gives a carbon figure five to six times higher than an older top-down calculation...CLM-0814A 2020 conference paper's own cost model put the whole 60-satellite programme of the 1978 US reference design at about 3.86 trillion US...CLM-0815The 2020 study of the 1978 NASA/DOE design did not count any warming from the microwave beams themselves, saying that is too hard to...CLM-0816In their 2020 study of the 1978 NASA/DOE design, the authors list their own weak points: only whole-system detail rather than part-by-part...CLM-0817The authors state openly that a space-solar-power advocacy non-profit paid for this study, that part of the reason was to test or support...More on the source page.