Japanese construction firm The Shimizu Corporation is proposing to build the Luna Ring - a belt of solar cells around the Moon’s equator. The solar cells would convert the sun's electricity to powerful microwaves and lasers and beam it back to Earth where it would be converted back into electricity at terrestrial power stations. Shimizu claims that the Luna Ring could meet the entire world's energy needs.
My first reaction is to say that I'll start taking this seriously when Shimizu - which according to Wikipedia "has annual sales of approximately US $14 billion and has been widely recognized as one of the top 5 contractors in Japan and among the top 20 in the world" - puts up a sizeable amount of its own cash into not just a conceptual design, but starts building something and talking to SpaceX or MoonExpress.
Technological and financial issues aside, this not completely crazy. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 wasn't just about the initial trauma. It's turning into a series of rolling traumas, as neighborhoods even as far away as the Tokyo Metropolitan area are finding radioactive hotspots in parking lots and schoolyards. The food supply is partly contaminated - for God knows how long. This was a watershed event in Japanese consciousness, and there is an unmistakeable shift in popular opinion away from nuclear power, which has been main source of electricity since the 1960s.
Post-Fukushima Japan is likely to start making large and smart investments in non-nuclear sources of energy. Whether or not the Luna Ring is something that will ever get off the ground or not is another question. Stranger things have happened, but it's premature to take this as anything more than a concept at this point. However, for many reasons - most importantly the climate change-driven imperative to move towards zero-carbon sources of energy, I do think it is wise to start looking closely at space solar power. Collaborating with Japan would be a great place to start.
More details after the jump.