Learners Live

Space-Based Solar Power Promises Constant Energy Delivery

Space-based solar power is transitioning from concept to reality, with recent advancements demonstrating the feasibility of transmitting solar energy from orbit to Earth. This technology, which could provide continuous, reliable electricity that isn’t interrupted by weather or geography, is being developed through initiatives such as Japan’s OHISAMA project and Caltech’s Space Solar Power Project. However, the implementation of space-based solar power will require international coordination on orbits, frequencies and safety protocols. The Washington Post

Now Tech Moguls Want to Build Data Centers in Outer Space by Tim Higgins

Energy constraints in the artificial-intelligence race are causing tech companies to think out of this world. The world’s richest men are earnestly talking about traveling to outer space to build gigantic data centers to run artificial-intelligence models among the stars. They argue such missions make the most sense for powering energy-hungry operations. Such talk comes as Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket companies are working to make space travel cheaper and routine. It isn’t clear what’s closer to being real: Moon bases or superintelligent AI?  The argument essentially boils down to the belief that AI’s needs are eventually going to grow so great that we need to move to outer space. There the sun’s power can be more efficiently harvested. To be clear, the current economics of space-based data centers don’t make sense. But they could in the future, perhaps as soon as a decade or so from now. Now Tech Moguls Want to Build Data Centers in Outer Space – WSJ

RESEARCH: Tracking the Sun by Berkeley Lab

Berkeley Lab’s annual Tracking the Sun report describes trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) and paired PV+storage systems in the United States. For the purpose of this report, distributed solar includes residential systems, roof-mounted non-residential systems, and ground-mounted systems up to 5 MW-AC.  Ground-mounted systems larger than 5 MW-AC are covered in Berkeley Lab’s companion annual report, Utility-Scale Solar.  The latest edition of the report is based on 3.7 million systems installed through year-end 2023, representing roughly 80% of systems installed to date. Tracking the Sun | Energy Markets & Policy (lbl.gov)

Interesting: The Three Pillars of Independence of an Organization

The 3 Pillars of Independence most commonly refers to a framework from the UK voluntary sector (specifically promoted by organizations like Bond and the Directory of Social Change). It is a toolkit for assessing and maintaining the independence of charities, NGOs, or civil society organizations.

The Three Pillars are:

  1. Independent of Party Politics – The organization (or regulator) must remain free from bias or influence by any political party or the government of the day. Decisions should be impartial, not favoring one political side.
  2. Independent of Populism – It should not be swayed by popular public opinion, media-driven campaigns, or transient public pressure, especially on controversial or unpopular causes.
  3. Independent of the Press – Freedom from media influence or pressure, ensuring decisions are based on evidence and law rather than headlines or public narratives.

This toolkit was created to monitor potential political encroachment on charitable regulation and to ensure charities can operate without undue external interference.

 

Check out the learning sessions we posted…

August Blog: Learning to Get Better by Bill Attardi

WE ARE NOW LIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@BillAttardi