Power Surge
Are we finally on the brink of a clean energy revolution? Aired April 20, 2011 on PBS
- Posted 02.24.11
- NOVA
Program Description
Can emerging technology defeat global warming? The United States has invested tens of billions of dollars in clean energy projects as our leaders try to save our crumbling economy and our poisoned planet in one bold, green stroke. Are we finally on the brink of a green-energy "power surge," or is it all a case of too little, too late?
From solar panel factories in China to a carbon capture-and-storage facility in the Sahara desert to massive wind and solar installations in the United States, NOVA travels the globe to reveal the surprising technologies that just might turn back the clock on climate change. NOVA will focus on the latest and greatest innovations, including everything from artificial trees to green reboots of familiar technologies like coal and nuclear energy. Can our technology, which helped create this problem, now solve it?
Learn more about the "carbon calculator" discussed in the program at this site from the Cool Climate Network.
Broadcast Credits
Power Surge
- Produced by
- Doug Hamilton
- Co-Produced by
- Alexis Bloom
- Written by
- Doug Hamilton
- Edited by
- Rob Tinworth
- Associate Producer
- Jessica Harrop
- Camera
- Brad Dillon
Rob Tinworth
Dan Krauss
Erich Roland
Richard Ranken
Greg Andracke
Howard Shack
Jon Else
Rich White
Doug Hamilton - Sound Recordists
- Lee Keen Foong
Doug Dunderdale
Len Schmitz
Kuz Randhawa
Everett Wong
Elijah Lawson
Rick Albright
Paul Rusnak - Narrated by
- Ted Marcoux
- Assistant Camera
- Rylan Morris
- Music
- Tay Chee Wei
- Music Mix
- Lee Wei
- Animation Design
- Mitch Butler Explain-O-Graphics, LLC
- Additional Animation
- Pixeldust Studios, LLC
- Additional Editing
- Jessica Harrop
Naftali Beane Rutter - Colorist
- Michael H. Amundson
- Audio Mix
- Greg McCleary
- Research
- Sharon Kay
- Production Assistants
- Fu Qing
Clare Major - Archival Material
- ABCNEWS VideoSource
AP Archive
Archive Films/Getty Images
Bloomberg/Getty Images
BP Alternative Energy
CA Energy Commission
Consol Energy Inc.
Corbis
Discovery Access
Image Bank Film: Signature/Getty Images
iStock Footage/Getty Images
Jeff Grewe
Jerry Mason/Photo Researchers, Inc.
Jimmy Carter Library
NASA
Streamline Films, Inc.
Suntech Power
WireImage Video/Getty Images - Special Thanks
- Ali Alaoui, Algerian Embassy Washington DC
American Soil & Stone Products Inc.
Dr. Heidi Cullen, Climate Central
Jason Felts, Virgin Produced
Marian Koshland Science Museum
National Archives - NOVA Series Graphics
- yU + co.
- NOVA Theme Music
- Walter Werzowa
John Luker
Musikvergnuegen, Inc. - Additional NOVA Theme Music
- Ray Loring
Rob Morsberger - Closed Captioning
- The Caption Center
- Publicity
- Eileen Campion
Victoria Louie
Karen Laverty - Marketing
- Steve Sears
- Researcher
- Kate Becker
- NOVA Administrator
- Kristen Sommerhalter
- Production Coordinator
- Linda Callahan
- Paralegal
- Sarah Erlandson
- Talent Relations
- Scott Kardel, Esq.
Janice Flood - Legal Counsel
- Susan Rosen
- Associate Producer Post Production
- Patrick Carey
- Post Production Supervisor
- Regina O'Toole
- Post Production Editor
- Rebecca Nieto
- Post Production Manager
- Nathan Gunner
- Compliance Manager
- Linzy Emery
- Development Producers
- Pamela Rosenstein
David Condon - Supervising Producer
- Stephen Sweigart
- Business and Production Manager
- Jonathan Loewald
- Senior Producer and Project Director, Margret & Hans Rey / Curious George Producer
- Lisa Mirowitz
- Coordinating Producer
- Laurie Cahalane
- Senior Science Editor
- Evan Hadingham
- Senior Series Producer
- Melanie Wallace
- Executive Producer
- Howard Swartz
- Managing Director
- Alan Ritsko
- Senior Executive Producer
- Paula S. Apsell
A NOVA Production by Hamilton Land & Cattle, Inc. for WGBH-Boston
© 2011 WGBH Educational Foundation
All rights reserved
Participants
- Sir Richard Branson
- Virgin Group
- Steven Chu
- U.S. Secretary of Energy www.osti.gov/accomplishments/chu.html
- Al Gore
- Judge, Earth Challenge
- John Holdren
- President Obama’s Science Advisor
- Daniel Kammen
- University of California, Berkeley
- Jay Keasling
- Joint BioEnergy Institute
- Klaus Lackner
- Columbia University
- John Midgley
- BP Alternative Energy
- Huang Ming
- Himin Solar Energy Group
- Stephen Pacala
- Princeton University
- Jim Rogers
- Duke Energy
- Orville Schell
- Asia Society
- Zhengrong Shi
- Suntech Power
- Stuart Wenham
- U. of New South Wales
Related Links
-
Green Energy in China
China is ramping up production of solar technology and smart electric grids, but coal power remains king.
-
A Strict Carbon Diet
Inventor and engineer Saul Griffith has put himself and his family on a strict regime to reduce their carbon footprint.
-
Smart Grid
Our electric grid is a marvel of 20th-century engineering, but it's showing signs of strain. Can a "smart grid" help?
-
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu
The Energy Secretary in the Obama administration offers his take on California's policies and the nation's options.
