A new study has concluded that space solar power is feasible, but leaves unanswered who should proceed and how. Taylor Dinerman argues that China, with its voracious appetite for energy, can play a role as both a customer and co-developer.
China has big plans for nuclear power, hoping to build 27 new reactors at a cost of $1 billion each in order to quadruple capacity by 2020.
A top official in China's blossoming space program has detailed that nation's plans for lunar exploration including plans to expoit lunar resources, such as Helium-3, as a power source for Earth.
China has revealed further details of its plans to explore the Moon - the first unmanned probe could be launched by 2005, say officials. They also hinted that the motivation for the missions is to mine the Moon's resources.
China and the US are officially joining the International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor project, the largest international science project of the next decade - excepting the International Space Station.
The author evaluates the possibility that China might pursue a hydrogen energy and fuel cell based economy.