Main report
In preparing my 2019 book, Astroelectricity: Why American Engineers Should Advocate for GEO Space Solar Power to End America’s CO2 Emissions, Make America Energy Secure, and Prepare America for the 22nd Century, I updated my analytical models of America’s sustainable energy needs I first developed in 2008.
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In early 2025, with the re-election of President Donald J. Trump, the opportunity for America to chart an orderly path to transitioning to practicable sustainable energy emerged. I spent much of the first half of 2025 updating and expanding my 2019 models. The 203-page report has been published on ResearchGate for a free download: Assessment of U.S. Sustainable Energy Needs and Transition Options.
Here is the report’s abstract:
Despite the current abundance of domestic oil and natural gas obtained through “fracking”, America’s long-term energy security is uncertain because America’s attempts to replace fossil carbon fuels with sustainable energy are failing. America needs a clear national sustainable energy security plan that undertakes an orderly transition to practicable sources of sustainable energy sufficient to keep America prosperous. This paper estimates the U.S. sustainable energy needs and assesses the practicability of its transition options. This paper develops an analytical sustainable energy transition model using sustainable electrical power as the primary source of energy. It then analyzes America’s per person energy use by converting the energy currently being used into an equivalent continuous amount of primary sustainable electrical power needed per person to provide all dispatchable electricity and sustainable fuels. Next, using the U.S. resident population, the total equivalent continuous sustainable electrical power needed for America to meet all energy needs is estimated. This is done for two cases where the primary sustainable electrical power comes from either baseload or intermittent sources and for two cases where combustible fuels needs are met by either sustainable hydrogen or synthetic sustainable methane. Comparisons to the European Union are made to provide perspective. Finally, using the estimated national sustainable energy need, the ability of America to use wind power, ground solar power, nuclear fission power, and space solar power-generated astroelectricity is assessed to determine which of these is best suited—and which may be unsuitable—for America to use to undertake an orderly transition to sustainable energy. Only space solar power-supplied astroelectricity provides America with an orderly path for transitioning to the abundant sustainable energy needed to replace fossil carbon fuels.
Summary & Conclusions
Given the length of the report, I thought it best to provide a summary. I separately published, The Assessment of U.S. Sustainable Energy Needs and Transition Options Summary & Conclusions. It can also be downloaded for free from ResearchGate.
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James Michael (Mike) Snead is an aerospace Professional Engineer in the United States, an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and a past chair of the AIAA’s Space Logistics Technical Committee. He is the founder and president of the Spacefaring Institute LLC (spacefaringinstitute.net) which is focused on space solar power-generated astroelectricity and the astrologistics infrastructure necessary to enable the spacefaring industrial revolution that will build space solar power energy systems. Mike Snead has been involved in space development since the mid-1980s when he supported the U.S. Air Force Transatmospheric Vehicle (TAV) studies, the National Aerospace Plane program, and the Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) project. In 2007, after retiring from civilian employment with the Air Force, he began to study the need for (and politics associated with) undertaking space solar power. Beginning in the late 1980s, he has published numerous papers and articles on various aspects of manned spaceflight, astrologistics, and energy. His technical papers are located at https://www.mikesnead.com and https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mike-Snead/research. His eBook, Astroelectricity, can be downloaded for free here. He can be contacted through LinkedIn or through email sent to spacefaringinstitute@gmail.com. Mike Snead also publishes two newsletters on LinkedIn called “U.S. Astroelectricity” and “U.S. Astrologistics”. This is located on the Spacefaring Institute page.
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