Power loss is the main issue; I think there’s an inverse square law in there somewhere. But there has been progress in improving that; every do often you hear about some research that’s improved the efficiency of transmission.
Nicola Tesla really believed in this, and pushed it hard. He envisioned giant towers broadcasting out power to communities.
But, to continue with my (again, newly invented head canon): it works in Federation starships because there’s no loss. It’s an closed environment, and they obviously have advanced field technology if they have energy shields, tractor beams, scanners, and transporters. They broadcast power throughout the ship, and as long as you’re in it, you’ve got an essentially infinite supply (on the human scale). No energy is lost, because the ship structure/hull itself re-absorbs any energy not harvested by a receiver, so inefficiency loss is negligible. Leave the ship, whatever tech you have has to have its own power supply, and that can run out.
Power loss is the main issue; I think there’s an inverse square law in there somewhere. But there has been progress in improving that; every do often you hear about some research that’s improved the efficiency of transmission.
Nicola Tesla really believed in this, and pushed it hard. He envisioned giant towers broadcasting out power to communities.
But, to continue with my (again, newly invented head canon): it works in Federation starships because there’s no loss. It’s an closed environment, and they obviously have advanced field technology if they have energy shields, tractor beams, scanners, and transporters. They broadcast power throughout the ship, and as long as you’re in it, you’ve got an essentially infinite supply (on the human scale). No energy is lost, because the ship structure/hull itself re-absorbs any energy not harvested by a receiver, so inefficiency loss is negligible. Leave the ship, whatever tech you have has to have its own power supply, and that can run out.