Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has proposed a solution to preventing future catastrophic oil spills: solar energy harvested in space, known in the space community as space solar power. “The timing of the oil catastrophe,” says Aldrin, “is a great opportunity for re-evaluating solar energy from space.”

The idea is starting to catch on. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has committed $27 million to space solar power and has plans for a satellite capable of powering 300,000 homes. JAXA says it has the backing of 15 other nations in its effort. And Russia, China, and India are all working on space solar power development.

“Space solar power means no more Louisiana oil spills,” says author Howard Bloom, founder of the Space Development Steering Committee. “No more carbon in the atmosphere. No more nuclear waste. No more energy wars. No more nations hogging resources and driving up prices. And no more villages in the hinterlands of Africa and Asia kept in poverty by the cost of running landlines hundreds of miles to reach them.”

There are currently four American commercial companies seeking capital to make space solar a reality: the Space Island Group, Space Energy Inc., Managed Energy Technologies LLC, and Solaren, which has a power purchase agreement with the California’s Pacific Gas and Electric and anticipates being able to begin delivery of solar power from space by 2016.

More info: National Space Society

Full disclosure: KurzweilAI.net editor Amara D. Angelica is a member of the Space Development Steering Committee and is on the board of directors of the National Space Society.