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Host Lisa Van Pay meets with NSF-funded scientists Yang-Shao Horn and Yogi Surendranath at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as they take on the hydrogen energy challenge.
(Source: DCMP)
Scientists at MIT's D-Lab are turning trash into treasure. They are using trash to heat homes and cook in developing countries. Part of the "Science Out Loud" series.
Environmental scientist Tamar Losleben explains how environmental engineers research and plan the best ways to use resources to satisfy both human and environmental needs.
Figuring ways to clean up contaminated waters is a huge challenge. But luckily, a simple piece of plastic that mimics fish fat can help. Part of the "Science Out Loud" series.
Arizona gets plenty of sunlight, and researchers there are working hard to turn that energy into electricity. At Arizona State University, graduate student Brad Brennan makes and tests new materials that will allow industry to build smaller, cheaper, flexible photovoltaic solar cells that can go almost anywhere.
Can people in remote rural areas who are far from electric generating plants get power for their lights and appliances? Solar cells make it possible. Mechanical and electrical engineers at the US Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories take viewers through the process of designing and installing solar cell panels in remote locations.
A few years ago, the city of Seattle faced an overwhelming garbage crisis. City planners and engineers describe how they created a recycling program that has become a model for the nation. Shows from beginning to end how the recycling process gets done.
Wyoming has long been known as an energy exporter, from oil to natural gas to coal. The state is now booming with two other resources: wind energy and qualified technicians trained to build, install, and service the growth in wind turbine technology. With National Science Foundation funding, Laramie County Community College in Wyoming is becoming a national leader in training.
Part of the "Green Careers" series. Explores the exciting contest underway to design greener products of all sorts. Explains the job responsibilities of an architect, interior designer, industrial engineer, and product designer within a myriad of businesses and fields. This contest will reward those who can envision or help create the "greenest" inventions to use tomorrow. Jobs profiled include the following: architect, interior designer, consultant, and landscape designer
Wind is a natural resource that is readily available and virtually everywhere. Humans have been harnessing the power of the wind for around 2,000 years. The Dutch made the windmill famous. Defines the process of turning the kinetic energy of the wind into electrical energy. Shows how the large wind turbines are built using a simplistic design and modern technology. Explores how the use of wind power is growing and becoming widely used throughout the world.
Architect Maria Paz Gutierrez is a woman on a mission to end water scarcity. Together with environmental engineer Slav Hermanowicz and bioengineer Luke Lee, she is hoping to take the recycling of wastewater from sinks, baths, and laundry to a completely new level. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the multidisciplinary team is engineering solar panel technology that makes greywater reusable while creating thermal energy in the process. Part of the "Science Nation" series.
A new generation of smaller, highly capable radar systems in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is able to track with more accuracy the location of tornadoes and other severe weather conditions. These new systems are spaced much closer together than current radar sensors, and the closer proximity is part of the reason the new systems can catch a tornado that could be missed by current radar. Part of the National Science Foundation Series “Science Nation.”
A green roof can certainly make a building look nicer, but can it lower energy requirements and improve water management? Engineer Jelena Srebric and horticulturist Rob Berghage are working on a project to measure and model how a green roof affects the way buildings use energy and water. The researchers hope that architects will someday use their model to make building designs even greener.
Solar power is defined as the energy produced by converting sunlight into heat or electricity. It is one of the most abundant and affordable sources of energy available. However, it is difficult to harness (and even impractical) in some parts of the world, so it is important to explore the process of converting sunlight to power. Shows three primary ways to produce solar power on a large scale: solar power–generating plants, photovoltaic cells, and solar thermal heaters.
In Bruce Logan's lab at Penn State University, researchers are working on developing microbial fuel cells (MFC) that can generate electricity while accomplishing wastewater treatment. In a project supported by NSF, they are researching methods to increase power generation from MFCs while at the same time recovering more of the energy as electricity. Through their research projects, Logan’s team has already proven that they can produce electricity from ordinary domestic wastewater.
Access to safe drinking water is a global problem for nearly a billion people. For approximately 200 million people, many in Africa, high levels of naturally occurring fluoride in the water cause disfiguring and debilitating dental and skeletal disease. University of Oklahoma environmental scientist Laura Brunson is back from Ethiopia where, with support from the National Science Foundation, she’s developing fluoride filtering devices that use inexpensive materials readily available right there in the villages.
Host Lisa Van Pay visits the scientists and engineers working to make the electric car of the future a reality today. One of the toughest parts is storing enough potential energy in the battery. Graduate student Katharine Stroukoff from the University of Texas-Austin explains how her research may help build a better battery, while Mike Nawrot and Dan Lauber, members of the MIT electric vehicle team, describe the advantages of their fully electric Porsche 914.
Access to affordable, sustainable energy supplies is a growing concern around the world. Looks at successful enterprises that are providing some renewable energy solutions. In Scotland, small-scale turbines put wind power within the reach of domestic users. In Sweden, the world's first train to be run solely on biogas has been developed. In Nepal, biogas stoves are improving the quality of life in many ways. And in India, agricultural-plant waste is being turned into solid fuel briquettes for use in industrial stoves and boilers, while a solar-energy company has developed environmentally friendly lighting technology that disadvantaged communities can afford.
Kathryn Johnson, an electrical engineer at the Colorado School of Mines, studies large utility-scale wind turbines. Kathryn’s research aims to make the turbines more efficient in order to capture as much of the wind’s energy as possible. Viewers also visit NSF’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, where scientists are working with local utility companies to create an advanced wind energy prediction system. Using data from sensors mounted on each turbine, the system generates a forecast specific to each turbine on a wind farm. This helps the utility company provide as much energy as possible from clean sources.
Typically, diesel fuel is made from crude oil, but scientists can make high-grade diesel from coal, natural gas, plants, or even agricultural waste, using a process called Fischer–Tropsch (FT). FT Diesel is the ideal liquid transportation fuel for automobiles, trucks, and jets. It’s much cleaner burning than conventional diesel, and much more energy-efficient than gasoline. But, FT Diesel is expensive to make and generates lots of waste. With support from the National Science Foundation and its Center for Enabling New Technologies through Catalysis (CENTC), chemists around the United States are working together to improve the cost and energy efficiency of alternative fuels. Part of the National Science Foundation Series “Science Nation.”
