...hey phil.

I agree with you, though with a twist.

Firstly, the Moon is a better location for a Space Elevator than even the Earth. Hence SPS components can be "sent by rail" rather than blasted off by rocket.

And a Lunar SE is surprisingly easy to do. One of the original SE developers was Jerome Pearson who has proposed a very light-weight SE (8 tons!) made of Kevlar that can deliver ~ 200 kg payloads to L1/2. A bigger SE can of course deliver bigger payloads. If the 40:1 ratio holds then a 40,000 ton SE can haul 1000-ton loads. A comparable SE made of CNTs would be far, far lighter - but not an absolute must.

So you can see why lunar hydrogen (and CO2 or even kerogens) is vital - not to piss away as rocket exhaust, but to make SEs and provide hydrogen for making PV grade silicon.

But that's all "in the future". There are no demonstrated low-gee PV factories yet - but there are plenty mid-gee ones here on Earth. I'd like to see the Moon covered in PVs, but it ain't gonna happen soon.

And the Oil Peak won't wait for it either.

Adam