Lasers are expensive. Maybe I’m missing something, but why not use sunlight to power the damn thing? The advantage of ‘lifting’ at night (or, “night”) don’t outweigh the disadvantage of “high powered laser beamzss!!!”

@...Phyreblade: *snap*. There’s your answer.

@...Elepski: Not questioning your numbers, just your units. What’s that 40.7%? Is that power transfer efficiency? Yeah, I can see where lasers would be more efficient, but

I would think mostly-conventional means could get it above cloud level, either via batteries or jets. The reason I find sunlight preferable is because lasers just take so much god damn energy to be useful, that we have to produce or condense from sunlight. Whereas sunlight with some good foldable sails can produce a great deal of energy at literally no effort on our part. Maybe I’m wrong.

@...Elepski: If only more people on teh intarwebs were humble enough to end their discussion with “I could be wrong”.

Interesting note on the batteries, I was not completely aware of that. I guess the nanotubes are the first question, but I still wonder if fuel, even with its additional weight, isn’t a more efficient method than expensive lasers. I also would have to ask my rocket scientist friend (I went to GA Tech, conveniently I have one of those) at what point the outward force that counerweights will also outgrow the force of gravity on the lift going up and thus not need propulsion anymore. Sort of like beads on a string sliding up and out as the string is swung around, but with the additional complication that my hand is a very poor gravity generator.