Chapter Four: Solar Revolution

In Part Four of her controversial expose' from 2076, Cory shifts her focus to the massive turnaround in the world economy during the years following the Great Collapse.  A radical revamping of global energy production leads to SOLAR becoming the accepted source for powering the planet.

Developments within the “photovoltaic” industry come fast and furious from drawing board to reality, leading to an economic boom.  Millions of unemployed Europeans and North Americans desperate for steady work once again find good-paying jobs, in that what's required will be the placement of thousands of square kilometers of solar mirrors in order to establish a modernized energy grid.  

But by 2046, a new opportunity comes to light which creates an even bigger stir within the scientific community:  Scientists announce plans for mining the solar system for precious metals and minerals necessary for powering the new global economy.  It starts with the Earth’s moon and eventually expands to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  The moon provides Helium 3.  Asteroids provide platinum.  It won't be long before nuclear fusion-powered spacecraft will become a reality.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome back to Twin Paradox.  I'm King Everett Medlin and what you're hearing is a SciFi trilogy I wrote four years ago under the pseudonym Purple Hazel.  Twin Paradox follows my first podcast series entitled Deathwalker Colony, which is now a full length novel available for purchase on Amazon.  It's on sale today in E-book format for only $2.99, as well as the first two books in the Rijel 12 Series, The Rise of New Australia and Return of Anarchy.  You can check out those as well as some of my other works by going to the link provided in the transcript.

When I set out to write Twin Paradox four years ago, I wanted to create a realistic and believable world less than one hundred years in the future.  In this first book of the Twin Paradox trilogy, the reader learns of our current society's collapse.  How the major cities of Earth plunge into anarchy.  How the American credit-based economy comes crashing to the ground, bringing an abrupt end to a system that essentially goes back to 1971.  Part One is called Collapse and Aftermath and in the first five chapters you'll hear of a new world order taking shape following the debacle ... not to mention the beginning of an exciting new era in human history.   

Twin Paradox is a SciFi series encompassing three full length novels; all of which will be read in their entirety during the coming weeks.  You can go online and download the E-books by searching Twin Paradox ... Purple Hazel ... or, if you prefer, tune in each week and listen to me read them to you.  So let's continue. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Twin Paradox, Chapter Four, Solar Revolution ....

In Part 4 of her expose’ Cory shifted her focus to the rapid turnaround in the world economy in the years following the crisis.  Basically, the timing couldn’t have been better for a radical revamping of global energy production - and with the addition of a strong central government now guiding economic policy, plus an implied mandate from the people for revolutionary change, solar energy quickly supplanted fossil fuels as the main, accepted source for powering the planet.   

Amazingly it took less than two decades to make the conversion, and ultimately prove that solar power was by far the cheapest and most efficient source for electricity – as well as all other energy applications right along with it.  In fact, the transition to solar technology and sustainable energy practices was rather simple, at least on paper.  

Many a late night, Cory pored over pages on government macronet sites learning everything she could about just how they did it … those early pioneers who reinvigorated the world’s economy.  Not the glossed-over and sanitized historical accounts of course but actual news reports, environmental studies, and published whitepapers done by Americans and Europeans, as well as the growing number of scientific intelligentsia who had fled to Europe after the fall of Middle Eastern democracies.  One thing she noticed was the clear motivation to change things drastically and without hesitation.   

The public was behind it, and big business was too.  Now that all nations of the Global Union had the impetus to proceed, developments within the “photovoltaic” industry came fast and furious from drawing board to reality – despite of course reservations among some within the energy industry that photovoltaic applications on a global scale were far too tall of an order without meticulous planning and a careful, long-term integration into existing systems.  Objections like those were rare however, and quickly overruled by the now-immensely powerful GU. 

Once the government demanded global conversion to renewable energy sources for everything from power plants to motor vehicles, the development of those technologies associated with it led to a worldwide boom – and the creation of millions of new jobs.  In the meantime resistance to Karl Habsburg and his aggressive policies was sporadic and isolated at best.  To be sure, just how could anyone argue?   

Millions of unemployed Europeans and North Americans desperate for steady work viewed it as an opportunity for good-paying jobs – not the least of which requiring the placement of thousands upon thousands of square kilometers of solar mirrors to establish a modernized energy grid.  Besides that, and perhaps even more importantly, practically no one doubted the far-reaching effect it would have on world political stability.  Once this was portrayed as a global security issue, most remaining dissenters within the energy industry fell right into line.  

“Oh, they bitched and whined about it; ain't gonna lie,” said one weathered old retired solar farm worker - in that style of speech that Cory had grown up hearing in old movies from back in the 2020’s.  “But only at first…them old boys at the utility companies and the coal mines I mean…the oil companies too…they diddun wanna let go o’ that gravy train too soon you see?”  Then he laughed as he recalled those exciting times from his youth.  

“Old Karl Habsburg though ... he set ‘em straight, you know?  Gave ‘em a deadline.  Straight up told ‘em what he wanted and when.  Made it real clear.  Oh yeah, they knew he wasn’t gonna let ‘em fuck around no more.”   

Cory had to assume that government censors would eventually bleep out the old fellow’s salty language before it aired worldwide, but to her surprise they let it slide.  In other interviews she was all but certain they would make her delete whole sections, yet they didn't.  For example:   

“It was rill simple in those days,” said the old man she’d interviewed sitting with his aging wife down in New Detroit.  “Step out o’ line … you don’t get no food that day.  Run yo’ mouth ‘n some soldier gonna shoot yo’ ass dead right there in the street.”  Cory shifted uncomfortably in her chair when she heard him say that but the man continued unabated.  He knew the younger generation had no real concept of what things were like back in those days.   

“Na’ … ain’t nobody care.  That just one less mouth to feed, ya' see?  Folks be steppin’ right over yo’ ass sayin’ ‘fool, why ya’ wanna go ‘n get yo’self shot?’”  At that point his wife chuckled and nodded right along with him as she hummed “Mmm-hmm,” in apparent agreement with every single word he said. 

Even better, and all the more highly motivating to a world that had seen the rise and zenith of Islamic terrorism, was the vastly appealing idea that these new radical regimes clinging to power in the Middle East would soon have their economies dry up from a lack of oil export revenue … once “The West” had converted to solar.  They could no longer hold the world hostage to oil exports; and that alone would bring them crashing down one by one.   

No one had a monopoly on the sun’s rays after all.  That concept, and the common knowledge that the world’s fossil fuel reserves were indeed finite and likely to run out within a few generations was plenty to inspire rapid conversion.  Cory was keen to reemphasize this important point several times in Part Four. 

“Technically, solar energy should have been the best choice for an alternative,” she reported.  “It was easy to install and could bypass the old electricity grids … delivering power directly to the end user right from a permanent and infinite power source, the sun.” 

Solar Thermal Power Plants (STPP’s) did come with their inherent drawbacks of course.  Concentration Solar Collectors could only focus the sun’s direct radiation and couldn’t concentrate “diffuse skylight” (solar rays reaching the Earth’s surface after having been scattered in the atmosphere).  As a result, STPP’s would only perform well in very sunny locations, specifically the arid and semi-arid regions of the world.  There were plenty to choose from … the problem was in going to those favorable locations and building facilities sizable enough to power entire regions or countries. 

Although the tropics had high solar radiation, the long rainy seasons made these regions less desirable for Solar Thermal Power Plants.  The most appealing regions for them were clearly Southern Africa, Mediterranean countries (such as those in North Africa, Spain and Southern Europe), India, parts of South America, the Southwestern United States, the High Deserts of Nevada and Utah, Northern Mexico, and Australia.  In these regions, operating characteristics of STPP’s were relatively well-matched with intermediate and peak electricity load requirements. 

Not surprisingly, Cory had a hard time detailing all this in her broadcast, but no question about it, the boom this caused in employment opportunities led to the creation of millions of new jobs for weary communities suffering for so long without solid, consistent income to support families.  Laboring in the intense climates of some of these regions was no small task.  But tough men and women – literally millions of them – gladly jumped at the chance and endured immense hardships just to be able to send much-needed Euros to their families back home.   

“God it was somethin’ else, let me tell ya’,” commented the old man who was a retired solar farm worker.  “Eleven months on.  One month off.  12 hour shifts.  Four days a week.  Haulin’ and installin’ ‘til we covered up damn-near half o’ Nevada.” 

He then went on to describe having to live in stuffy army-style barracks at night after broiling in the hot sun all day on the job site.  It was much like being in the military, as he portrayed it.  “Or a POW Camp,” he said jokingly.  “We were miles and miles from anywhere … and they diddun allow no alcohol in them shacks neither.  They was just modular buildings hauled out into the desert on flatbed trucks and dropped onto a pad by a crane, ya’ see?  Wuddun much to 'em.” 

He said construction crews would assemble the components on site and connect endless rows of them to create an entire community practically overnight.  Males and females had segregated quarters, including separate showers and bathrooms.  But there was plenty of fraternization on their days off, as Cory soon found out.   

“Oh yeah, everybody fucked.  Was pretty much all we had to do really.  Play cards and go get laid,” he said chuckling.  “Company got on us about it occasionally … tried shuttin’ it down … tried discouraging all the sex goin' on.  Finally just started puttin’ condom dispensers in all the washrooms.  Next thing you know, folks started breakin’ ‘em open so often that ... well, they eventually just gave ‘em out for free.  Government didn’t want no new pregnancies ... figured we was gonna do it anyway, you know?” 

But by 2046, a new opportunity came to light which offered an even bigger stir within the scientific community:  Scientists announced plans for mining the solar system for precious metals and minerals necessary for powering the new global economy.  It started with the Earth’s moon and developed rapidly from there. 

The moon, scientists had determined decades before, had millions of tons of near-pure water ice, actually about 6.6 trillion kilograms of it, buried beneath as much as 40 centimeters of dry regolith.  The moon has no atmosphere, and for water ice especially, it will turn into water vapor and dissipate into space as the moon’s low gravity will not hold gases for any length of time.  In any given lunar day (29 earth days) the entire surface of the moon is exposed to sunlight and surface temperatures reach 121 degrees Celsius.  That said, Cory learned, approximately 15,000 square kilometers of area around the moon’s south pole is permanently shadowed.   

It was water easy to access and relatively pure for industrial use, she went on to read, mainly separating constituent hydrogen and oxygen to manufacture rocket fuel by inserting electrodes made from a cobalt-phosphate mixture into water which acted as a catalyst for splitting water molecules into their components.  In recent times, she knew, such systems had already become utilized on Earth to power commercial vehicles and even large office buildings using solar panels to store up chemical energy.  Domestic vehicles operating on hydrogen fuel cells powered by solar energy gradually replaced clunky old “automobiles” that still ran on now-antiquated internal combustion engines.   

But scientists claimed and then later proved that propellant could indeed be produced from Moon water and then distributed at refueling stations in low-Earth orbit, enabling manned exploration ships to refuel while still in space.  Besides that, launching from the moon into deeper space made much more practical sense because its gravity is one-sixth that of the Earth.  Robotic lunar mining operations were thus designed and implemented; with human operators controlling mining robots in real time from back on Earth, sitting in comfortable office buildings in front of computers working 12 hour shifts, four days a week. 

Cory tried but could never find anyone from that profession to interview for her expose’ unfortunately – mostly former computer programmers and online game designers who flocked in droves to these new jobs as they opened up.  Word was many of these carefree nocturnal types had long since passed away.  What’s more she never could locate any retired lunar mining engineers or maintenance crews, as well as support staff and transport unit operators.   These brave souls lived in dormitories located inside lunar bases constructed on the surface, rotating staff in and out every six months.  They would have made for rather lively interviews, she could only imagine. 

However, lunar water mining was only the first step, she learned.  After lunar mining operations created rocket fuel for transporting shuttle crafts back and forth to Earth, methane and ammonia (also contained in “cold” craters) were tapped into for their carbon and nitrogen which became necessary ingredients for long-term lunar settlement.  Thus, the development of massive lunar colonies capable of partially sustaining themselves grew into existence.  This gave the Moon’s mining operations an almost permanent labor source by the end of the 2050’s.  They could actually grow their own food using hydroponic gardening systems, and produce drinking water from the moon’s water ice.  Cory was never able to find any veteran miners from those early days of colonization either.  Many, she’d heard, had succumbed to illnesses like emphysema or acquired lung or breast cancer later in life. 

With time, the sacrifices of the few, paid off for the masses.  This served to expand lunar mining operations into the even more lucrative acquisition of Helium-3, a prime fuel for nuclear fusion.  It enabled the moon to become a low-cost launching pad for further space exploration (and with it the eventual exploitation of the vast mineral wealth found in space).  There was plenty to be found there, having been embedded in the upper layer of the moon’s regolith over billions of years.  This part fascinated Cory the most in her research about commercial exploitation of the Moon. 

Unprotected by any global magnetic field, like in the case of Earth, the Moon is repeatedly bombarded by massive quantities of He3 by solar wind (a continuous flow of charged particles from the sun that permeates the entire solar system).  It has happened throughout the millennia.  Scientists had theorized for decades that this isotope would offer safer nuclear energy in fusion reactors because it is not radioactive.  Best of all it would not produce dangerous waste, which had always been the biggest drawback to old-fashioned nuclear fission power plants.  This factor alone was probably the biggest benefit to mankind. 

Up to that point in history, usable amounts of thermonuclear energy, released in a controlled manner that is, had yet to be achieved.  Acquiring Helium-3 from lunar mining operations changed all that.  The physics behind a fusion-driven rocket (with solar panels on the sides collecting energy to initiate the process) were now attainable, and by the end of the 2050’s the initial problems of manned deep-space travel finally seemed to be resolved.   

But that was not all, Cory was delighted to learn.  There were far more fascinating developments to follow.   

Asteroids, it was commonly believed in the scientific community, possessed iron and other valuable materials.  Above all, platinum could be found in great quantities.  Platinum was used in electrical contacts and electrodes (as well as laboratory equipment and resistance thermometers).  It will not corrode.  It’s stable at high temperatures, and is more precious than either gold or silver.  Basically, one fifth of everything used or manufactured on Earth either contains it or requires it in its manufacture.  Platinum is also used in the fabrication of silicones for the aerospace and construction sector, thereby making it possible – with the acquisition of millions of tons of it – to some day conquer space.  

Nuclear fusion-powered spacecraft could in all likelihood fly to the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and bring back just what Earth needed in order to develop a ship fully capable of going even further … further into space than humans could have ever imagined going only a century before.

This concludes tonight's podcast of Twin Paradox Book One, Chapter Four:  Solar Revolution.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Watch for episode five; which I'll be posting very soon.  

I wrote Twin Paradox books one, two, and three, four years ago under the pseudonym Purple Hazel and it is still available for purchase on Amazon.  You can download and read all three books if you like; or if you prefer, simply listen in as I read them in their entirety; all sixty chapters.  

Also, and don't forget, my latest full-length novel ... Deathwalker Colony ... is available right now in E-book format and can be downloaded today on Amazon.com, along with the first two books in the Rijel 12 Series, The Rise of New Australia and Return of Anarchy.  A link to these as well as some of my other works can be found in the transcript for this episode.

I'm King Everett Medlin.  Thanks for tuning in.

https://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Store-King-Medlin/s?rh=n%3A133140011%2Cp_27%3AKing+Medlin

https://www.facebook.com/KingEverettMedlinAuthor/?modal=admin_todo_tour

https://twitter.com/KingEMedlin