Space-elevator-based power plant by trialballoon

Current energy solutions are extremely costly. Aside from energy/safety/monetary we must consider human lives. Current energy solutions are changing the climate. Do we have a cost figure for that? While other proposed solutions might be less costly initially per kilowatt hour, space elevator technology also scales for types of pollution other than heat and carbon dioxide. In the long run we may be faced with a need for "out-sourcing" our polluting industries to space unless we can reduce population growth. Even some "renewable" energy sources can cause unforeseen problems. Carpeting the planet with solar panels (currently coming in only one color: black) may result in the absorption of more solar heat as the reflective average of the earth's surface proceeds to black. Indeed someone ought to calculate the curves of population growth/power needs versus arable land and also population growth/power needs versus non-arable land suitable for solar panels. At some point we might have to decide whether a piece of land is allocated to food or power.

We must also assume that climate change may result in more unexpected catastrophic events. Changes in ice fields and sea levels may, for example, produce an increase in seismic activity due to shifting weight on tectonic plates. I'm not sure how hardened we can make nuclear power plants/wind towers/solar panels to seismic activity. There are no tectonic plates in space.

Solar panels might be the lowest tech for power source options however they do come with some problems. I don't know what they use on the space station but normal panels probably can't handle the extreme conditions of space. Assembly is another problem as I don't imagine tethered orbits to favor human intervention. Robots might be required. Robots might also be useful in cleaning and repairing panels. I'm not sure how often maintenance is required for panels at the space station. A direct solar absorption or nuclear plant could be more easily shielded from debris etc. I did see a suggestion once that growing crystals in space is easier. Perhaps a mini-solar panel factory could be included in the satellite.

Sending nuclear waste into the sun from the earth's surface has a few problems. Nuclear waste is heavy since most fission reactors require extremely dense nuclear material. Lifting that mass might be expensive. It would be interesting to see an analysis of energy derived from nuclear material versus the energy required to send it to escape velocity. One option might be to design a rocket using the nuclear material as fuel by using water heated to vapor by the nuclear material, essentially a bottle rocket. Another option might be to use nuclear waste's weight itself and go in the other direction, into the earth's core (see other proposal Sun Beneath Our Feet).

Many of the technologies required for space elevators are being developed independently. I am not sure any large effort is directed specifically toward space elevators but the concept has been around for some time (see Wikipedia).

P.P.S.

It has been shown that crystal growth is enhanced in low gravity. It is possible that not only solar panel crystals might be created onboard but also the carbon nanotube used for the tether. One problem found with nanotube creation is imperfections that lower strength but might be significantly minimized by manufacture in orbit. The first tethered object in space might be devoted to manufacturing the nanotubes for other space elevators.

A tether may solve the problem of power transmission. Carbon nanotube tethers could conduct electricity back to earth. California Governor Jerry Brown was dubbed Governor Moonbeam for suggesting microwave energy could be send wirelessly back to earth and collected by a wire networs in less populted areas. A tether has a much smaller footprint. There are lots of ideas about generating power in space but a space-elevator based power plant is a good first step.

P.S., that's not called a proposal creator. It is called a Synopsis Creator. The suckers that propose for the Synopsis, is called the "Proposal Creator.".