Convergence08: Keith Henson, "An Uncertain Future and Dollar a Gallon Gasoline"

How do you get to cheap energy? If you can get a penny per kilowatt hour you can get a dollar a gallon gasoline. The only way to get this is to draw solar power from space.

How do you get this energy back to Earth? The space elevator would make this easy. The key load is to get down to 100/kilogram to orbit.

There are a number of ways to make this happen:

The space elevator, which we can't make yet.

Extracting energy from space-based solar panels and mirrors: using pop-up and push (slow, low energy ascent) to bring objects into orbit, and drawing the energy from mirrors in geosynchronous orbit; technique would use ablation propulsion. This would provide enough energy to replace all fossil fuel. The energy is sent via microwaves to massive dishes on the planet (dishes that are miles across).

Henson claims the U.S. military has shown an interest in this, not just to deal with energy issues, but to provide energy to the entire planet so that motives for war are drastically reduced.

This solution would deliver power to the grid by adding 1 gigawatt of new power to the world's supply of power every day by 2015; at a cumulative cost of $800/kilowatt, or about $800 billion/year. Considering the amount of energy we're talking about here, this is more than worth it.

You could use this energy, for example, to create synthetic oil. Getting energy in this way would suddenly make it worth it. We're still going to need fuel for quite some time. You'll never be able to run planes on batteries, for example.

Unfortunately, this same technology could make for a nasty weapon (using the microwaves), but something that's relatively easy to counter.

Henson claims you can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere and make it into oil.

A key challenge is to get this project started and to fund it. The first watt will be the most expensive.

That said, some commentators believe this is a done deal, that a) it's a no brainer and b) other groups and countries are actively pursuing this.

Scientology critic back in jail

Keith Henson, an outspoken critic of Scientology, is back in jail. Updates to his situation can be found here.

More Henson notes

Okay, Keith is out of jail. He has been released from the Prescott jail on bond, pending his March 5 court date. A summary of events can be found here.

Disturbingly, it appears that he was mistreated by police and his jailers. He was told during the arrest that he had no right to an attorney and was put into solitary confinement in a poorly heated cell without adequate bedding. According to his laywer, Michael Kielsky, something "very political" is going on. "They gave him an extra blanket but then an hour later they took it away," he said, "this is a 66-year-old man with a heart problem."

Unreal. I haven't been this angry in a while. Thankfully this case is getting a fair amount of attention, including the C|Net news article (cited above) getting cross-posted to the New York Times.

Also, R. U. Sirius has posted an interview he did with Henson back in 2003. Which reminds me, we also did an interview with Henson back in 2003 for Betterhumans.

Keith Henson update

The Keith Henson story broke through big-time today into the alternative media. Here's what went down:

My coverage of Henson's recent arrest is garnering a fair amount of attention and is being linked to from a number of sites; it was also cross-posted at the IEET site and given a ride on Reddit.

R.U. Sirius wrote an excellent article at 10ZenMonkeys. It was subsequently Slashdotted. Huge.

Another great article at Daily Kos: Keith Henson and the Great Miscarriage of Justice.

Philosopher and neuroscientist Anders Sandberg chimes in: Fighting Bad Enlightenment Business Practices.

P2Pnet has also posted an article

Now an update: Henson is currently at the Yavapai Detention Center in Prescott, Arizona, awaiting possible extradition to Riverside County, California. Henson has previously received death threats to the effect that he would be killed while serving his sentence. At the "initial appearance" hearing today, Henson stated through counsel that he is fighting extradition and requested release. The court set a future court date for March 5, 2007 at 1:30 pm in the Prescott Justice Court, and fixed the security for his release at $7,500 cash or bond, with standard conditions.

Please consider a donation to Keith and his family. He has been made bankrupt by this entire ordeal and can use all the help he can get.

Anti-Scientology activist Keith Henson taken into custody

Keith Henson, an outspoken anti-Scientology activist, was arrested last night and is currently being held at the Prescott Detention Center in Arizona. His wife, Arel Lucas, says he was taken into custody on a 6-year old bench warrant issued by a Riverside County judge.

Henson's troubles began in 2001 when he was convicted of "interfering with a religion", a misdemeanor under California law, for picketing outside Scientology's facility in Hemet, CA. He eventually fled to Canada after receiving a number of death threats. He was deported in 2005 after his asylum bid was rejected.

Lucas strongly suspects that the Church of Scientology is involved in Henson's current incarceration and fears for both his life and her own. The death threats have been constant since 2001. Scientology's power and reach has become considerable in recent years, leading to accusations that it is not so much a cult as it is an organized crime outfit that disguises itself as a religious organization.

In addition to his anti-Scientology activism, Henson is a pioneer in the transhumanist and cryonics movements. After receiving word of Henson's incarceration, the transhumanist community quickly mobilized. The Prescott Detention Center has been inundated with calls from concerned supporters. Various media outlets have been alerted (including BoingBoing [who have to date failed to acknowledge the case]), and a number of Websites have already been set up to raise awareness in support of Henson's cause (including Free Keith Henson). The Extropy Institute has set up fund to help Henson with mounting costs.

Learn more about Keith Henson and his plight here, here, and here.