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Technology for the future

Technology for the future must take into account a number of factors, the most important of which is low impact on the environment. It must incorporate into its design the ability as of the recent past, the interchangeability of its parts. It must be durable for not other reason than sustainability in a fragile ecosystem. If we can build space probes that still work after 40 years in a harsh environment, should we not use the same concept on Earth? It needs to be designed to consume small quantities of power. We have in our midst, examples of all of these. We also have ideas of what we'd like to see in the future. Some of our future dreams have been recently manifested and the prime example in most of our minds is the flat screened, thin, lightweight television that actually had its forerunner in laptop computer displays. Today flat screen TVs have grown to proportions and luminosity that huge ones are mounted on the side of buildings and can be seen in full sunlight. We now have solar cells that deliver high output and can be rolled up like a piece of paper without damage. But what of the future? There are several technologies under development that show promise for the future.

Power generation should tend to be less reliant on nuclear and fossil fuels. Space born solar cell farms located at Lagrange point 4 and Lagrange point 5 in the moon's orbit could be built and beam power to locations like deserts on Earth via masers. Receiving rectennas in the desert can then turn the microwaves back into electrical power with virtually no impact on the ecosystems of the Earth. The system has been tried on Earth and has 80 percent efficiency. Another alternative and perhaps more accessible in the near future is the Solar Updraft Tower. Some experimental models have already been built and tried. One ran starting in 1982 in Spain and produced about 50 kilowatts. Spain is planning a second larger version and Australia is planning one for the desert outback. Many of these would produce large amounts of power as they would create their own wind to drive internal turbines. They could be located where there is year round sun like the Sahara Desert, Bolivia, Death Valley, the Sonora Desert and other such places. They would replace all nuclear, diesel, coal and hydro power plants. Wind power has already proven itself. The Dutch were the first masters of wind power, clearing below sea-level low lands with wind power alone from 1634. They later

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