Narthana Arumugam’s successful entry in [X]ceptional, an opportunity for students in College of Social Sciences to present their own original research on any element of climate change.

I’ve always been interested in space based solar power from reading sci-fi and watching many scientists advocate for funding research into the technology. When I was researching about climate change and the energy sector I saw that China has plans for launching space solar power plants and concluded that it must be a feasible renewable energy option, but I found that all the conversation surrounding the topic was isolated to a small group of experts.

The COP26 challenge gave me the motivation to put all the data that I had found into structured format and in the process of creating the paper I understood more thoroughly how the energy industry works and how this technology can help in the transition to renewable energy. I’m delighted that I’m able to share it with a wider audience.

The Economics of Space Based Solar Power and its Relevance to Climate Change

Narthana Arumugam’s article has now been published in volume 6 of [X]position, the University of Glasgow’s undergraduate research journal.

Abstract: The energy sector contributes 73.2% to carbon dioxide emissions and is highly dependent on fossil fuels without a sustainable alternative that could be supplied globally. Current renewable energy alternatives are highly variable depending on location. Space based solar power is a technologically feasible alternative to both of these problems. This article looks at the economic feasibility of this technology.

Read the article on the [X]position website

Image credit: Chris Hadfield, NASA | Copyright NASA