OPEC ---> SPEC ---> HePEC

Losing their best source of income might cause some upheaval, but that might
stir local industry to fill in what colonists can't afford to import any
more.

Sometimes economic catastrophes lead to population shifts that are
beneficial. Maybe the by-then centuries old SPS colonies will decide that
when they lose their position as primary energy supplier to earth, they can
harness their energy collection apparatus in new ways. Their industries
might be able to compete effectively in manufacturing things like robotic
spacecraft, having had a couple of centuries of building spare parts from
what was at hand.

No matter how cheap energy production gets on earth, the colonies' supply of
energy for their own use is completely free. That means they can make many
things more cheaply than their earthbound competitors. And they would hold
another natural advantage over earthbound manufacturers, because of the cost
of getting things out of earth's gravity well. Anything that HePAC would
need for lunar mining could be delivered to the lunar surface more cheaply
by the colonies' industry, assuming the colonies could make it from
materials they can find in space. If for example 3He needed to be returned
to earth in compressed gas cylinders, the colonies could more cheaply make
reentry containers for the 3He. If the gas was to be returned in larger
manned tankers, any parts of those tankers that the colonies could learn to
make would save the HePAC folks money, since they wouldn't have to be lifted
out to begin with.

If HePAC refused to buy from their energy competitors in orbit, the colonies
would have to find other things to do. Maybe that would be the push they
needed to really ramp up asteroid mining, and otherwise utilize resources
from other bodies in the solar system. Mass driver on Europa to bring
themselves water, terraforming and oxygen extraction on Mars, chemical
plants on Venus, Solar Windsurfing Tourism, retirement home for aging boy
band members, tax haven, constructing the giant linear accelerator that
particle physicists have been dreaming about for years, contract weather
modifiers for earth.

Or how about building and promoting additional orbital colonies as the next
great frontier for people who want to live in the country but can't afford
the real estate on an increasingly crowded earth. What's the one thing most
Mommas teach their kids about owning land--"It'll never go down in price,
because they're not making any more of it." Pre-sell 10,000 units
consisting of a 100-acre lot and a house, and you'd already have a couple of
billion to finance construction. Just be sure not to build them a solar
collector sufficient for their needs, and you can sell them your excess
electricity for decades, or trade it for agricultural products.

Brad

>I'm sure the move will be resisted vigorously by OPEC (Oil Producing
>and Exporting Countries) and their industrial and political
>affiliates.
>
>Fast forward a few hundred years. There are Habitats in orbit. The
>industrial infrastructure is broad. The orbital economy has a large
>enough "domestic" market so as not to have to rely on SPS
>construction, maintenance, and refitting for the entirety of its
>prosperity. The Habitat's have even formed a political action
>committee SPEC (Solar Producing Energy Countries.)
>
>For years they've been shipping to Earth small samples of 3He that
>was a byproduct of their lunar operations. They needed to make money
>from any activity they could so the sold the 3He to fusion research
>projects. Well, it finally happened. They achieved a breakthrough
>with 3He fusion.
>
>Now the industrialized nations of the Earth that have space launch
>capability, and very deep pockets, are talking about mounting their
>own 3He refining operations on the moon and forming HePec (Helium 3
>Producing and Exporting Countries) and destabilizing SPEC.
>
>What will we do? On the one hand this could spell ruin for many
>sectors of the orbital economy, while on the other hand, it could
>open new vistas. Could we compete on price? How could we maintain
>our energy dominance and still benefit from 3He technology?
>
>What do you think?
>
>TangoMan
>

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