A Modest Proposal

I have to give these guys plenty of credit for being bold.

As part of an effort to come up with a series of futuristic projects that could remake the world of tomorrow, researchers at the Japanese tech company Shimuzu Corp. have suggested turning the surface of the moon into a massive solar power plant.

Wow. That’s really all I have to say about that.

The idea behind the Luna Belt, as they call it, is to build a series of enormous solar arrays all the way around the moon’s equator, nearly 7,000 miles. It would initially be a few miles thick, and would eventually grow to as wide as 250 miles.

The power would be beamed back to Earth via lasers or microwave, and then converted into electricity.

And how would this enormous project be built, you might ask. Good question. Shimuzu says that much of it could be constructed using the rocks and dust found on the moon, including cement, bricks and glass fibers, and most of the work could be handled by robots. Shimuzu even says it can combine hydrogen with moon dust to generate water (but it’s BYOH from home, unfortunately).

Modestly, the company says the idea will lead to “the infinite coexistence of mankind and the Earth.”