global heat pump

[mellowtigger]

Insomnia.  Again.  I might as well push an idea out of my head and into the digital aether.

Is there a way to convert unwanted heat into coherent light?  Is there a way to reflect that laser light without loss?  If so, then I want underground vacuum tubes connecting equatorial regions with higher latitudes.  Use "waste" heat from one region by shipping it to another part of the planet where it could be put to good use.  Just beam the laser light through underground vacuum conduits to where heat is needed.

Alternatively, "store" the energy by building tubes that reflect the light, perpetually bouncing it from one end of the tube to the other.  In this way, you could build up "light year" (or, more specifically, one-half light year) chambers that would keep that laser light traveling for six months until cold weather has arrived in your local environment.

It seems hugely wasteful to generate heat during Minnesota winters while excess heat annoys people in other regions of the world.  I wonder if reducing temperature differences between latitudes might even reduce extreme weather events.  It's not like we have to worry about melting polar ice caps by bringing warmth to their environment.  That proverbial ship has already sailed.