Earths Frontier
Earth’s Frontiers (airs Thurs 25/02/2010)
SHOW #1
Wind, Water and Sun
Hawaii's legendary waves have long attracted surfers. Now they're also attracting engineers. The next wave of alternative energy may come from the ocean. Chuck Dunleavy is CEO of Ocean Power Technologies. He says by the end of the year, the massive PowerBuoys, which are in the water now, will be connected to a grid and will be used to help power the Marine Corps base on the island of Oahu. We'll talk to Dunleavy about the project, how the system works, the future of wave power and the various other international locations where these projects are in place.
We'll also talk with officials in the Navy, why they're making a switch to renewable energies to power their operations. In Oregon, home to the Department of Energy-funded Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center, scientists at Oregon State University's energy lab are working with several companies on wave-power technology. We'll visit their state-of-the-art lab, to see how a model is tested in their massive wave pool. We'll also tour the Oregon Iron Works, the facility where the full-scale buoys are being fabricated, and travel to the coast, where the next installment of PowerBuoys is set to take place. Coastal communities, including environmentalists and dungeness crab fisherman, have expressed vocal concern about what the power systems may do to the ocean ecosystem and their livelihoods.
GUESTS
Chuck Dunleavy, CEO of Ocean Power Technologies
Ray Mabus, Secretary of the U.S. Navy
Brian Cable, U.S. Navy's Wave Power project manager
Phil Pellegrino, Project Leader, Ocean Power Technologies
Bob Paschh, Executive Director, Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center
Nick Furman, the head of Southern Oregon Ocean Resource Cooaltion (SOORC)
EMPIRE OF THE SUN
Solar power holds the promise of delivering clean, affordable, climate-friendly energy for billions. But what form will any Emprie of the Sun take: sprawling solar farms covering the globe’s deserts, harvesting energy for distribution via vast supergrids that traverse continents, or a solar panel on every roof?
Spain is one of the world’s hottest markets for solar energy. Encouraged by generous government subsidies, Spain is also host to the world’s largest solar power tower. PS20 came online in 2009 and, according to Abengoa Solar, which operates the facility, it is already exceeding its predicted power output.
But there is more than one model for the solar revolution: while developments like PS20 are designed to harness the power of scale, the other model is based on micro-power, where every building powers itself. Advocates of this model say that even cloudy countries like the UK are capable of drawing energy from the sun. Earth Frontiers explores both models and gives you a glimpse of a solar future.
GUESTS:
Valerio Fernandez, Director of Operations, Solúcar
Jeremy Leggett, chairman, Solarcentury
Professor Ali Sayigh, professor at the University of Hertfordshire and Chairman of the World Renewable Energy Congress and Network
Solar family in Wimbledon
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