Space Policy 20 (2004) 17–24 The benefits of remote sensing for energy policy Avery Sen* Master’s candidate/Researcher, Space Policy Institute, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA Abstract A strong remote sensing regime is a necessary component of any contemporary national or international energy policy. Energy is essential to the functioning of modern industrial society, and as such it is the responsibility of governments to produce sound national energy policies in order to ensure stable economic growth, ecologically responsible use of energy resources and the health and safety of citizens. Comprehensive, accurate and timely remote sensing data can aid decision making on energy matters in several areas. This paper looks at the benefits that can be realized in resource exploration, weather forecasting and environmental monitoring. Improvements in the technology of remote sensing platforms would be of great value to buyers of energy, sellers of energy and the environment. Furthermore, the utility of such information could be enhanced by efforts of government agencies to communicate it more effectively to the end-user. National energy policies should thus include investments not only in satellite system hardware to collect data, but also in the services required to interpret and distribute the data. r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Public perception of human space activities is often focused on human space flight rather than on other areas of space science and technology. Human space missions are certainly more visible in popular culture because of their symbolic and inspirational character, which leads many to believe that the space program, at least the American space program, begins and ends with astronauts. For those who are not intimately connected to the space industry—everyday citizens, policy makers and industry leaders—questions may arise as to the utility of public funding of space programs. Should we be spending as much as we do on astronauts? Space may be a glorious endeavor, but is it useful? Indeed, one of the immediate reactions to the recent Columbia Shuttle tragedy was to question whether America should even have a space program at all. Despite what many of the lay public may believe, ambition and achievement in space are not limited to human flight. Aside from the USA and Russia, all spacefaring nations are active without human transport systems. One can argue that robotic projects have progressed the most and have been the most successful since the dawn of the space era. Earth observation satellites in particular consistently yield enormous practical benefit to those here on Earth. Whether more or less government support should be given to human versus robotic projects is a topic of much debate, but not the immediate interest here. Rather, the subject of this paper will be to illustrate the value posed by spaced- based remote sensing technology to one particularly important domain of public and private concern: energy. By analogy, one can easily see the benefits of space technology to the information technology industry—not to mention the economy and public at large—provided by the development of communication satellites. The development of this vital part of the telecommunications infrastructure could not have been achieved without government assistance and collaboration with industry at the outset with projects such as AT&T’s Telstar, launched in 1962. An industrialized society’s need for reliable, inexpensive and safe energy is at least as important as its need for services of communication. Energy is the single most important resource to industrial society simply because of its universal application. Besides economic impact, energy cost and availability also factor into quality of life issues that can directly affect the public through utility prices and power outages. The exploration for and transportation of energy resources, the production of energy and its transmission must all fit within the environmental ARTICLE IN PRESS *3220 17th Street, NW, Apartment 109, Washington, DC 20010, USA. Tel.: +1-917-767-6815. E-mail address: averysen@gwu.edu (A. Sen). 0265-9646/$-see front matter r 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.spacepol.2003.11.003