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Not_as_witty_as_u t1_ixj2pkx wrote

Reply to comment by imbiat in China says it will use the Tiangong Space Station to test the transmission of space-based solar power to Earth. by lughnasadh

I was going to ask this but I thought it was a dumb question, but isn’t this bringing in extra energy that would’ve passed by earth otherwise? And what happens to that extra energy, like you said, does it just make the earth hotter? Or does it just radiate back out to space?

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ItsAConspiracy t1_ixjgdpb wrote

It'd be replacing the waste heat from burning fossil fuels, which is a tiny percentage of the impact of their greenhouse effect.

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imbiat t1_ixj33lm wrote

I think the hope to capture most of it as energy but there is bound to be loss on the way down as it bleeds into the atmosphere. I don’t see how we can do this without warning the planet somewhat. I just don’t know if it is significant.

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