Jon Freise sends us the following question.
“Have you come across any designs for solar ceramic kilns that might be able to manufacture glass mirrors? If a solar kiln was powered by mirrors, and if it could make a mirror, then it would be possible to have a self replicating solar economy. If the supporting frame was wood instead of steel, it would be possible to assemble anywhere. My college had several wood parabolic dishes used to transmit sounds over long distance. They were built as a toy.”
“I am not certain this concept is even possible. I don’t yet know enough about glass making. But if it was possible to get a net energy gain using a mirror kiln, then solar powered ceramic kilns, solar ovens, and solar brick works, and possibly solar cement works could spread across the world in a self replicating fashion. Your Nubian Vault article shows just what could be done if solar brick works and cement kilns were possible.”
Jon: the Helioforge project is an open source effort to create accessible designs for self-replicating solar kilns and hydrogen crackers that utilize readily available resources. Similar technology was also featured in the article on solar powered factories.
If anyone has more information, comments are open.
