Abstract

Much of the atmospheric pollution (CO₂ and nitrous oxides) results from the burning of fossil fuels. The world?s worst case of atmos-pheric pollution is from the United States due to the millions of automobiles and trucks burning gasoline and diesel fuel. Some at-tempt is being made to reduce atmospheric pollution by the use of hybrid vehicles using small engines to charge batteries. This ap-proach is being highly favored by many buyers. A better approach is to use the vast energy of space to provide electrical energy for the operation of a variety of types of vehicles from lawn mowers to highway trucks. Efforts to measure the available energy from space is presented with citations of some of the patents that have issued (e.g. U.S. Patent 5,018,180). Laboratory work for the development of devices and systems for tapping into the vast energy of space is presented with operational data. The problems of commercializing this type of new-energy sources are presented. Part of the problem lies in lack of understanding of the magnitude of space energy. (Example: there is enough energy in a one-liter volume to boil the Atlantic Ocean, if the energy could be converted to thermal energy.) The long-term advantages and expectations of the use of this new-energy technology are discussed. References and Laboratory data are presented. It is important to realize that this type of new-energy technology (together with similar technologies) is expected to result in a trillion-dollar-per-year business within the next ten years. The fossil fuels should be reserved to use as chemical feedstocks.