June 3, 2010 - Ridiculous! Transforming The Moon Into a Solar Plant.

It's barely June of 2010 and we here at Green Guide Network already feel confident issuing our award for the most ridiculous green idea of the year. The designers at Japan's Shimizu Corporation have proposed the Luna Ring, a concept solar power plant on the moon.

The plan involves building a 6,800 mile "solar belt" around the moon, beaming electricity to earth with microwaves and lasers, and setting up receiving stations on Earth where the power can then be used.

Shimizu even has a grand plan for bringing the resources for the solar plant to the moon. Humans will barely be involved as all construction will be taken care of by robots with oversight from astronauts. The company explains that, "Water can be produced by reducing lunar soil with hydrogen that is imported from the Earth. Cementing material can also be extracted from lunar resources. These materials will be mixed with lunar soil and gravel to make concrete. Bricks, glass fibers and other structural materials can also be produced by solar-heat treatments."

While these are very compelling ideas, we'd like to see evidence that any of this is actually possible. My own personal doubts stem from the fact that we can't even get robots to fix an oil spill 5,000 feet below the ocean's surface - how can we possibly expect them to build a gigantic solar power plant on the moon? Even if this whole scheme was proven possible, the costs would be equally as ridiculous as the idea itself. Congratulations Shimizu for being ambitious and ridiculous all at the same time.