Space Energy Interview
Mark Stephens interview with Peter Sage and Amaresh Kollipara from Space Energy
Energy shortages and Climate Change:
Is the answer to the 2 biggest commercial challenges facing humanity today, really going to come from Space? Read this interview and you might be surprised to find out how close we are to a solution …… but at what cost?
Gentlemen, please summarise for us, who you are and what your role is in Space Energy?
Peter Sage – Principal and Global Director Of Marketing & Communications. Built 23 companies in my career in various industries across 4 continents including 6 qualifying companies for the global Entrepreneurs Organization, EO. Nominated for the extraordinary lives award for 2008 by the largest group of social entrepreneurs in the world, XL. First global ambassador for C.E.O. and currently sit on the advisory board of INSEAD, one of the worlds top business schools in entrepreneurship. My role is to secure the funding and make Space Energy a reality.
Amaresh Kollipara – Principle Space Energy Advisor. Previously, I have successfully planned and produced the Space Venturing Forum, a conference series devoted to space entrepreneur and investor interaction. Founded and currently operate two successful companies in the aerospace sector. My core skills are with business case analysis, strategic planning, operations & technology mapping, M&A brokering and commercial aerospace industry analysis. Previously worked with nine successful entrepreneurial ventures in various industries. In addition, worked at the Strategy group of Accenture. Performed management consulting activities for companies around the world.
Tell us a little bit about the company?
Amaresh - Space Energy is a company that is aiming to commercialize Space Based Solar Power (SBSP). Space Energy intends to become the world's leading commercial enterprise in the field of SBSP that will improve the lives of millions of people by bringing a source of safe, clean energy to the planet. Its mission is to develop, own, and operate the first SBSP satellites to provide base-load and emergency electrical power to customers around the globe at affordable, fair market prices.
When did you first get involved?
Peter Sage – I went to Canada several years ago and come across SBSP when I met an engineer working in the technology trying to raise capital.
I started looking into the reality of whether this could really work and I realized that in my lifetime, the 2 largest commercial trends are likely to be climate change and Energy. In terms of importance, immediacy and size, Space Energy addresses both and that exited me.
I spoke to senior people at Boing, NASA and Raytheon and quickly came to the conclusion that there was no roadblock to prevent SBSP becoming an industrial reality, other than the economics.
I realized that if we could close the business case, then Space Energy would become a commercial reality.
What is your product called? -
Amaresh - Space Based Solar Power, or SBSP
Describe your product and what it does?
Amaresh - The concept of Space Based Solar Power was theorized over 40 years ago by renowned scientist, Peter Glaser. Solar power satellites are large arrays assembled in orbit which use radio wave transmissions to transmit solar power to large receiving antennas on Earth. The power can either supplement or replace conventional electricity sources. The advantage of placing solar collectors in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), about 36,000 kilometers above Earth, is that it utilizes the constant and unobstructed output of the Sun, unaffected by the Earth’s day/night cycle. Ground based solar power is limited by weather, variable seasons, atmospheric blocking of sunlight, and poor direct sunlight at higher and lower latitudes. All of these obstacles are overcome by SBSP. These advantages allow an SBSP cell to be 6-8 times more efficient than a comparable solar cell on the Earth’s surface. Regarding base-load power, experienced scientists in the SBSP field indicate that the substantial backup and battery costs required for a comparable terrestrial solar array increase the comparative cost efficiency of SBSP by an additional 1-2x.
What is the technology? - Give me the technical rundown. What does it do etc?
Amaresh - The radio waves that will be sent down from the orbiting satellite are similar in frequency to cell phone signals, wireless internet signals, and cordless phone signals. The frequency of the waves will be approximately 2.4 GHz and, based on several studies done by NASA, this transmission is safe to human, animal, and plant life near the receiving antenna area. The receiving antennas are large structures that will convert or rectify the radio waves into usable electricity.
So it works in the same frequency range as mobile phones then?
Peter – Exactly
So why is this technology so unique?
Amaresh - This is the only technology that can generate clean, renewable energy that is applicable for base-load power 24 hours a day. Nuclear power is not considered clean, due to the spent fuel disposal. Hydro electricity and geothermal are the only two other options, but both are limited to specific geographic areas only.
Peter, what is the WOW factor for you?
It is quite simply the life saving, life giving potential to millions of people and the realisation that this is actually going to happen. That it is an inevitable technology and not science fiction and that through the development of this technology, we will leave a legacy to be proud of!
That is a big wow and if you are right this could change the course of humanity and will have an enormous impact on the global landscape?
Peter – Absolutely, the promise this offers is mind blowing. Here are some of the benefits that this technology can offer:
- An infinite source of clean energy, that can be broadcast anytime, on demand, to anywhere in the world.
- Emergency power distribution to disaster recovery relief (Tsunami’s, earth quakes, humanitarian disasters)
- Humanitarian impact through rural electrification and through regeneration of remote rural unsustainable areas.
- Provide clean water to millions around the world
- Increases food production and availability by reducing food deterioration through the increased availability of refrigeration.
- In a recent US, NSSO report, the primary risk identified to US security and as having the potential for future military conflict, was the inevitability of Global energy shortages, thus adding war mitigation into the list of potential benefits that SBSP offers.
So the NSSO believes that there is a Pre determined Energy resource war on the horizon and the potential for a global scrap for resources in 15 years time unless we do something now? That is actually a pretty scary thought and not far detached from what many people believe has been behind recent conflicts?
That is a very powerful and impressive list of benefits, but I bet you still have your skeptics and the anti squad who will want to put down its potential? Tell me what you have come up against so far?
Peter – You are right. There will always be skeptics and we have to satisfy them.
There have been 4 primary questions that we are continually asked by investors and skeptics
1. Is it real? - The answer is most definitely Yes. The science is supported by the major scientific bodies and has total credibility.
2. Is it safe? What are the intensity and potential negative effects of the microwaves? Will it heat the atmosphere, fry birds, send out dangerous levels of radiation etc? - There is no credible scientific evidence that supports this theory. In fact quite the opposite. Naturally we will have to satisfy very stringent safety standards to even get this off the ground and the scientific reports will show exactly what the effects are and will have to stand up to all the scrutiny necessary to ensure that it is safe.
3. Can it be converted into a weapon? – Impossible. As the energy is transmitted at 2.4ghz, the same frequency as a mobile telephone signal, then I would say 100% NO, just as you could not convert an orbiting Comsat to a weapon.
4. Is this a personal crusade or can the technology prove to be profitable too? There are significant projected long-term benefits, including high profitability, so yes, of course; otherwise we would not be attracting so much interest or pass so much scrutiny from potential investors.
Amaresh, can you tell who or what you think will be most effected by SBSP? What will the impact of this new technology be? to society and to industry in your opinion?
Amaresh - While global conditions in an energy hungry market guarantee waiting customers, the real benefits of this project go far beyond those of traditional energy supply. The world’s geo-political agenda is desperate to find solutions that will reduce carbon emissions. Space Energy offers a major solution via its power generation capability. In addition to addressing the immediate geo-political problem, Space Energy will also enable rural and poverty stricken parts of the third world to safely receive electricity for the first time. The power supplied will enable more than just lighting villages. It will provide the ability to refrigerate crops and medicines, build schools, and allow millions of people to generate clean water. The successful implementation of SBSP will considerably transform the energy generation paradigm on our planet. It could potentially be the first time in history in which a clean, environmentally friendly, renewable energy source provides primary electric power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What stage in its development have you reached? Are you BETA testing ?
Amaresh - We are still in the Early development phase. The plan is to build a demonstration unit by the end of 2010.
When can we expect to see this operational in every day life? Where will we see it first?
Amaresh - The first fully operational units should be ready by 2016.
When can we buy it? How will it be packaged? Tell me about the business plan.
Peter – In brief, there are 4 stages to our business plan.
- Ensure that the Business Plan makes sense to investors
- Raise $300 million to complete our LEO demonstration satellite by 2010
- Upon successful delivery of the LEO demonstrator we confidently expect to secure a power agreement for in excess of 1 trillion KW hours
- Start the commercial build of our 1GW Satellites in order to supply in excess of 1 trillion KW hours by 2016
That seems like a very ambitious and aggressive programme for a Satellite project of this size ?
Peter – The reasons that other Satellite builds are so slow, is often down to the political infrastructure surrounding them. We plan to fund and run this as a commercial operation and contracts will be awarded against delivery capability.
Does the promise of space power and all the benefits that it can provide justify an investment of $300 million dollars for a prototype, to unlock that potential?
Peter - Absolutely 100%. The US government and governments all around the world plan (and will be forced to) spend $trillions of dollars in order to develop alternative energy resources to meet the future demand. The future that we are facing without a solution of this kind is unimaginable and the benefits are immeasurable.
What price will you sell your energy for?
Peter – At the moment we estimate that the energy price will be in the region of 16 cents per kilowatt
How does that compare with current coal, gas and Nuclear prices?
Peter - Estimated prices for Coal, Gas and Nuclear are around 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Current renewable energy prices average 20 cents per KWh and our prices are fixed for several years and so we are very competitive even with current prices.
Are you still looking for investment?
Peter – Yes definitely, but we are already in communication with a number of serious investors. We have a very strong commercial team and we are in advanced discussions that will secure investments with consortiums, from private funds and governments all over the world.
How can people find out more about this technology and subject? Can you provide any articles, papers or books that we can link to?
Peter – Visit the Space Energy website: www.spaceenergy.com and watch the videos and visit the links. I can recommend a book called, The Next 100 years – forecast of the 21st century by George Friedman
Its been a mind bending discussion and I feel slightly overwhelmed with what we have discussed. I will be watching this space (excuse the pun) with great interest. Can you summarise for me please Peter?
Peter - The key metric in all of this is Kilowatts per kilogram. For every kilogram you send to orbit, how many kilowatts can you produce? The mathematics proves that for every m2 of Solar Power in space you would need approximately 47m2 on earth. Remember, sunlight is up to 8 x more powerful in space, factor in cloud intermittency, weather, the night/day cycle and you have your basis of your argument for doing this. We like to think of ourselves as the Roger Bannister of the space race, with Space Energy on a mission to break the metaphorical 4 minute barrier, from which others will follow. It has been an interesting journey so far and we are close to securing the funding in order to get the first prototype built and into Space.
How can people find out more about this technology and subject? Can you provide any articles, papers or books that we can link to?
Peter – Our discovery presentation on our website at : www.spaceenergy.com contains some excellent information that your F10 community will find fascinating, along with our ‘additional resources’ page.
It’s a mind blowing topic and the scope of what this technology is capable of is huge. I can’t help thinking that whoever develops this technology first will have a strategic advantage over the rest of the world?
Thank you Peter and thank you Amaresh, for your time, it was great speaking with you. I will look forward to what the F10 community thinks……
Recommended reading: The Next 100 years – forecast of the 21st century by George Friedman.
Over to our panel of experts …..