Cards.

Shields, Craig. "Hermann Scheer: Great Vision Put Into Practice | CraigShields."Renewable Energy World - Renewable Energy News, Jobs, Events, Companies, and More. RenewableEnergyWorld.com, 16 Oct. 2011. Web. <http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/10/hermann-scheer-great-vision-put-into-practice>. The power of the oil companies lies in their ability to control Congress with their enormous contributions, buying whatever votes and favors they need to continue to dominate the energy industry. But, although this is a sad truth, its not a death sentence for renewable energy. In particular, the will of the people is still paramount, as our senators and representatives still require the support of the electorate and if that electorate is sufficiently well informed, Big Oil will ultimately be powerless to control Congress and manipulate the world to their favor. Thus we have the imperative to do what you folks at Renewable Energy World do so well: get out there and tell the story. 2) That the US, the worlds largest political and military power, needs to approach the king of Saudi Arabia like a beggar defies all rationality. That we move through time, decade after decade, completely beholden to regimes of dubious values and intent, spending fortunes to prosecute wars to protect the supply of oil in the Middle East, makes no sense intellectually or morally. George, Peter. [Nottingham Trent University. The Solar Economy: Renewable energy for a sustainable global future by Hermann Scheer Review: Geography , Vol. 88, No. 4 (October 2003), p. 362] Hermann Scheer is a member of the German Bundestag, President of the European Association for Renewable Energies and General Chairman for the World Council for Renewable Energy and therefore writes with some authority. The Forword sets the book's tone with rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, on the grounds that it does not go far enough. It has given western governments the opportunity to negotiate, delay and compromise and presupposes that change need be only incremental - making the current system more efficient, so keeping vested interests onboard. Scheer makes a persuasive case for a new energy regime, based entirely on renewable, localised energy systems, 'The Solar Economy'. The book was originally published in 1999 and has not been updated for publication in English, as it is not dependent on quantitative data, but uses argument and conviction to make a relevant and substantial case for radical changes in energy provision and use. The case is made in four parts (each divided into several chapters) plus a lengthy introduction/summary. Part 1 compares the supply chains of fossil fuels and nuclear energy unfavourably with solar/renewable energy sources. Part 2 explores the politics of fossil resources and Part 3 suggests ways of moving away from fossil fuels. Part 4 indulges in building a picture of a future solar economy. At the beginning of the twenty- first century it is imperative that geographers re-engage with energy studies and take a broader perspective than traditional approaches such as resources, production, consumption and policy. We need to reflect the increasing concern over global warming, the threat of a looming terminal global oil crises and the technological and spatial revolution associated with renewable resources. Since the original publication of this book, the February 2003 White Paper, 'Our Energy Future: Creating a low carbon economy', has appeared in the UK and the 'liberation' of oil-rich Iraq has taken place, both substantiate the arguments explored in this book. ss Major, Jason. "Beaming Down Earth's Energy From Space." Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, History, Adventure, Human, Autos. 20 Dec. 2011. Web. <http://news.discovery.com/space/beaming-down-earths-energy111220.html>. It's always sunny in low-Earth orbit, so what better place to look for a source of solar energy? With the end of "cheap oil" rumored to be rapidly approaching (if not already upon us), not to mention the effects of fossil fuel use upon the environment and climate, sources of alternate, clean and renewable energy appear to be the unavoidable wave of the future. But the key factor in all these ventures is efficiency -- how to get the most "bang for the buck" in the harnessing, creation and distribution of energy. Oil and coal must be extracted, shipped, refined and burnt, contributing greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Wind needs to be 1) present, and 2) converted to energy with turbines, and water requires the construction of dams, which are not only expensive but also radically change the ecosystem of the river they are built upon. Even groundbased solar panels are subject to weather and the Earth's day/night schedule. Enter the concept of space solar power -- using orbiting solar panels that constantly collect energy from the sun, unfiltered and uninterrupted, and "beam" it back down to Earth where it can be sent along the grid for use by communities. The sun is constantly putting out incredibly vast amounts of radiant energy in all directions. (About the equivalent of 2 billion power plants' worth of yearly energy every second!) Earth receives only a fraction of this output, yet capturing it has the potential of providing renewable and virtually pollutionfree energy -- especially in places where access to conventional power grids is limited or impossible. Examiner, 10, December 11th, 2010, (Troy Pearce, Solar powered micro-satellite will clean space debris, http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-tucson/solar-powered-micro-satellite-will-clean-space-debris)

We are constantly sending satellites, experimental space planes, and privately owned space crafts into orbit. With all of the hype around these new projects the debris orbiting Earth is regularly overlooked. NASA, on the other hand, is working on a way to eliminate the thousands of unused satellites currently floating around us. NASA has recently launched the NanoSailD from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite (FASTSAT). This makes them the first agency to eject a micro-satellite from a larger, solar powered satellite. This proves that NASA has the capability to deploy a small cubesat payload from an autonomous micro-satellite in space. The NanoSail-D satellite, which is not much bigger than a loaf of bread, was deployed into space by the Poly Pico-Satellite Orbital Deployer. After three days in orbit the NanoSail-D will release a gossamer-thin solar sail that will stretch out to 100 square feet. It will then test the practicality of solar travel. Once it has completed its mission it will burn up in the atmosphere, keeping it from adding to the debris. NASA hopes this system will allow them to either bring decommissioned satellites back to Earth, or burn them up in the atmosphere.

David Boswell 4, speaker at the 1991 ISDC, International Space Development Conference, August 30, 2004, (The Space Review, Whatever happened to solar power satellites?, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/214/1) At the end of June, a conference about space based solar power generation was held in Granada, Spain. The conference provided progress reports from groups in Europe, the US, and Japan who are working on concepts and plans for building solar power plants in orbit that would beam electricity down for use on Earth. It sounds like the perfect solution for our future energy needs. The Sun is constantly sending energy to the Earth and all we need to do is catch it and then use it. Unlike current energy sources, we are not going to run out of sunlight anytime soon, it wouldnt contribute to global warming, and it is available everywhere (or to put it another way, we dont need to get most of our sunlight from a politically unstable region).