Energy in space?

[jadejadejade]

Hi I was just wondering what types of energy are there in space and if there is any way that we could harness these for use here on Earth? I read that there are electromagnetic waves in outer space and these could provide us with huge amounts of power here on Earth. Sorry if any of this dosn't make sense this is my first time on this site.

[Silvestru]

Well the most realistic way to harness energy right now is solar power.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space-based_solar_power

 

But there are also potential resources found in asteroids/planets for future ideas.

 

There is also vacuum energy in space but we cannot tap into that.

Also:

An isotope of the element helium, helium-3 has two prot­ons but only one neutron. When it's heated to very high temperatures and combined with deuterium, the reaction releases incredible amounts of energy. Just 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) of helium-3 combined with 1.5 pounds (0.67 kilograms) of deuterium produces 19 megawatt-years of energy . Roughly 25 tons of the stuff could power the United States for an entire year.

The only problem is we don't have 25 tons of helium-3 just lying around. But conveniently, the moon does. In fact, scientists estimate our lunar rock contains more than 1 million tons of the element. The energy stored in that much helium is 10 times the amount of energy you'd find in all the fossil fuels on Earth [source: Artemis]. If you put a cash value on it, helium-3 would be worth $4 billion a ton in terms of its energy equivalent in oil.

[swansont]

Hi I was just wondering what types of energy are there in space and if there is any way that we could harness these for use here on Earth? I read that there are electromagnetic waves in outer space and these could provide us with huge amounts of power here on Earth. Sorry if any of this dosn't make sense this is my first time on this site.

 

 

EM waves are light. Sunlight, light from other stars — that all travels through space. The cosmic microwave background, which is left over from the big bang, is out there too, but not with much intensity. Best to go with the most energetic source, which for us here on earth, is the sun.