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  • Male Narrator: Americans used to rely on animal power

  • for transportation and to carry goods from place to place.

  • And oil from whales to light our evenings.

  • Today it's gasoline and motor vehicles, and vast amounts

  • of electricity to light our cities and power our economy.

  • But one study claims that Americans

  • spend just six minutes a year focusing on energy.

  • The American public does not like

  • to think about its energy use.

  • The one place Americans do think about energy use

  • is when they're standing at the pump.

  • Narrator: Global demand makes oil prices rise and fall

  • in response to events beyond our borders

  • and out of our control.

  • We worry about how our economy gets buffeted.

  • And the only way we do something about that

  • is to take into our own hands our destiny.

  • Narrator: In this program, we look at

  • how America uses energy.

  • And we'll meet people like you

  • who are helping their communities

  • find new sustainable resources and save energy.

  • Conservation, energy efficiency,

  • has already been something that the U.S.

  • has had tremendous achievement in.

  • And it is something, as the fifth fuel,

  • that can be very, very important for our future.

  • Narrator: Tapping that fifth fuel can be

  • as challenging as drilling for oil or gas.

  • But powering communities in these new ways

  • also empowers people.

  • We can control the things that go on in our home.

  • We can control the things that go on in our communities.

  • I'm a Republican.

  • What is more conservative than harnessing what is available

  • and around us in a long-term sustainable way?

  • Narrator: Our program's host, earth scientist Richard Alley,

  • knows the dangers of climate change.

  • But he also teaches about energy at Penn State.

  • And he's optimistic that Americans

  • can build a sustainable future.

  • Some states and cities are rolling up their sleeves

  • and moving ahead.

  • These citizens are heroes of America's new energy story

  • and show the way to a sustainable energy future.

  • The good news is we don't have to wait

  • for the national policies.

  • Narrator: Helping ourselves with clean energy

  • is also helping earth's climate.

  • The atmosphere doesn't care one whit what people think.

  • The atmosphere cares what people do.

  • Narrator: We visit five very different communities,

  • from Alaska to Texas, Portland to Baltimore plus Kansas,

  • in America's heartland, to find out how they're developing

  • new sources of energy, or cutting waste,

  • and why strategies like those make sense for all of us.

  • Female Narrator: Energy Quest USA -

  • Earth: The Operators' Manual is made possible by NSF,

  • the National Science Foundation,

  • where discoveries begin.

  • Narrator: Sometimes when Americans hear energy,

  • the next word that comes to mind is crisis.

  • It really doesn't have to be that way.

  • Shirley Jackson, former head

  • of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

  • and now president of one of America's leading

  • technical universities,

  • thinks the United States is actually well-placed.

  • Well, the U.S. is lucky because

  • we have such a diversity of climates

  • and diversity of geologies and in the end,

  • diversity of actual energy sources.

  • And that, in fact, makes us very fortunate

  • compared to other parts of the world.

  • They may have a given source of energy,

  • but they don't have the multiple sources.

  • Narrator: Alaska, like the rest of America,

  • has been addicted to oil.

  • Now, can abundant sustainable options

  • make it America's renewable state?

  • Kodiak Island, Alaska at 3,600 square miles

  • is about half the size of New Jersey.

  • Getting around almost always involves a boat, or a plane,

  • or a float-plane that's a bit of both.

  • Kodiak's population is less than 14,000,

  • leaving most of the island undeveloped and natural.

  • That beauty is one of Kodiak's economic assets,

  • bringing tourists to watch bears raising cubs

  • and catching fish.

  • Kodiak's human population also catches salmon,

  • with fish exports providing

  • another key source of jobs and income.

  • The island wants to limit imports

  • of dirty and expensive fossil fuels,

  • and tap natural resources to supply as much

  • clean and locally generated energy as possible.

  • Fuel prices, because we live on an island,

  • are very expensive.

  • You know, you learn pretty quickly

  • that you need an alternative.

  • Narrator: Kodiak was the first place in Alaska to make

  • wind power a substantial part of the energy mix,

  • with its three 1.5 megawatt turbines on Pillar Mountain.

  • So getting good quality, low-cost sustainable

  • power is really necessary for the long-term viability

  • of the economy of Alaska.

  • Narrator: Upgrades at the Terror Lake

  • hydro-electric plant, plus plans for three more turbines

  • leave the KEA co-op confident they can hit

  • 95% renewables by 2020.

  • Though Kodiak uses diesel as a backup and during repairs,

  • the wind turbines save the island 800,000 gallons

  • of expensive, imported fuel each year.

  • And this matters to the local business community.

  • This morning, we're offloading pink salmon

  • and red salmon, chum salmon and coho

  • that came from the west side of Kodiak--

  • it keeps us busy, the plants work 24 hours a day,

  • and it's a very, very big industry for Kodiak.

  • Narrator: This processing plant runs

  • 100% on renewable energy, so Kodiak's wind power

  • provides a clean, green marketing hook.

  • The package says, sustainable seafood,

  • produced in Kodiak, Alaska,

  • with wind-generated renewable energy.

  • You got some folks in the community

  • that are really concerned about price.

  • You know, they just want the lowest cost power

  • at their house or at their business.

  • The wind does that.

  • It's less than 50% of the cost of power versus diesel.

  • Then you got folks in the town that are very just,

  • environmentally concerned.

  • And they are incredibly excited,

  • because it's a whole lot cleaner than diesel is.

  • And then you've got the majority of folks who want both,

  • which is great as well.

  • Narrator: Kodiak is a genuine island, surrounded by ocean,

  • but vast areas of interior Alaska

  • are also islands of habitation, small communities

  • surrounded by open country and dense forests.

  • Many have no road access, and the only way to transport

  • heavy fuel is via rivers like the Yukon.

  • Bear Ketzler is city manager of Tanana,

  • a remote and mainly native Alaskan village

  • at the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana Rivers.

  • 90% of our bulk freight

  • that comes in, comes by the barge.

  • Narrator: That includes diesel for the power plant

  • and heating oil for homes.

  • Diesel prices increased 83% between 2000 and 2005,

  • and utility costs can sometimes be more than

  • 1/3 of a household's income.

  • The increase of energy costs,

  • it jeopardizes everything.

  • It jeopardizes our school, it really jeopardizes

  • the ability for the city to function effectively.

  • Narrator: Communities like Tanana

  • rely on the river for the fish protein

  • that's a large part of a subsistence diet.

  • And the river also provides

  • a cheap and local source of energy.

  • We have abundant resources of wood, biomass.

  • Wood that floats down the river, in the spring and the fall time.

  • Narrator: Timber is increasingly replacing oil

  • and diesel in Tanana's communal buildings,

  • like the washeteria, a combination laundromat,

  • public showers and water treatment plant.

  • Right now, we don't even need oil,

  • we're just running the whole place

  • off this one wood boiler, which is just amazing.

  • Narrator: Using biomass and solar, the washeteria

  • now uses only one quarter as much heating oil.

  • Instead, the city pays residents to gather

  • sustainable timber, keeping dollars in the local community.

  • And using biomass at the washeteria has proven

  • so cost effective that the city is planning

  • to install boilers in other public buildings.

  • Bear: We're going to be one of the first communities

  • on Yukon River that is installing

  • a biomass systems on the school.

  • In October of this year we're hoping to have

  • that wood system on line, so instead of burning

  • 15,000 gallons of oil throughout this winter,

  • we're hoping to burn about 60 cords of wood.

  • And keep that money local and create

  • a little bit of an economy here.

  • Narrator: The bottom line for Tanana-- savings for the city.

  • Biomass is cheaper, local, cleaner and more sustainable.

  • Bear: Even though we are a very rich state, very blessed

  • to have the oil development that we do have,

  • those days are diminishing.

  • If we're going to make it in rural Alaska,

  • we have to move towards renewable resources.

  • I think we have, you know, less than 10 years

  • to move in that area.

  • Narrator: Winter in Alaska presents extreme challenges.

  • On this January day it was close to minus 50.

  • Gwen Holdmann is an engineer with the University of Alaska's

  • Center for Energy and Power.

  • She and her husband also raise sled dogs

  • and both are mushers who have raced in the Iditarod.

  • Today's run takes her past the Alaska pipeline,

  • which has transported more than 16 billion

  • barrels of oil since it opened in 1977.

  • Despite the fact that Alaska is rich in fossil fuels,

  • Gwen knows they're limited and expensive.

  • She wants to take advantage of every opportunity

  • to tap renewable energy.

  • Gwen: We are an isolated part of the world, and we are still

  • dependent very much on imports, and so becoming more

  • self-reliant on energy is still a real goal here.

  • Narrator: Gwen was part of the team

  • that built the first geothermal power plant in Alaska

  • at Chena hot springs.

  • Bernie Karl runs the Chena Resort

  • and came up with the idea of creating an ice museum

  • from the heat energy of the springs.

  • Bernie: Now you've heard of the great wall of China.

  • This is the great wall of Chena.

  • There's 800 tons of ice here.

  • Narrator: Bernie is a real American pioneer--

  • a showman, an entrepreneur, a tinkerer and enthusiast

  • for recycling old machinery, because it's cheaper.

  • He and Gwen successfully transformed the hot springs

  • into a geothermal resource that now generates power

  • from lower temperature water than anywhere else on earth.

  • What you're looking at is something that's impossible.

  • I went to the world's best manufacturer

  • of geothermal equipment and they said, "can't be done,

  • the word can't is not in my vocabulary."

  • It wasn't obvious at first that it could be done,

  • because these are low, really moderate

  • temperatures for geothermal.

  • The water that we're talking about here

  • is about the same as a good hot cup of coffee

  • and generating power from that isn't a trivial thing.

  • Narrator: Normal conditions for mid-winter Chena

  • are 3-4 feet of snow, subzero temperatures,

  • and only a few hours of daylight.

  • Heating and lighting costs were staggeringly high.

  • But now the resort runs year-round with over

  • 90% of its electricity coming from the hot springs.

  • Bernie's latest impossible idea is to use geothermal power

  • to make the resort self-sufficient in food

  • even when it's minus 50 outside.

  • Bernie: We have 85kw of lights in here,

  • high pressure sodium.

  • We're changing it to 8.5 kw of L.E.D.s.

  • Now, this takes 1/10th the electricity.

  • Narrator: For the past 6 years Chena has hosted

  • a renewable energy fair.

  • One keynote speaker was U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski.

  • Lisa Murkowski: I'm a Republican.

  • Republicans by definition are seemingly more conservative.

  • What is more conservative

  • than harnessing what is available

  • and around us in a long-term sustainable way?

  • We have more renewable opportunities here in Alaska

  • than any other place in the world.

  • We've got incredible river systems.

  • We have 33,000 miles of coastline, the power

  • of the tides, the power of the currents.

  • We have biomass potential that is just beyond belief.

  • As diverse and as big and remote and as costly as things are

  • in Alaska, if we can demonstrate that it can be done here,

  • think about the hope that it provides.

  • They'll look at us and say,

  • "Wow, if Alaska can do it, we can do this.

  • We can take control of our energy future."

  • Narrator: But to have a sustainable energy future,

  • we have to do things differently than in the past.

  • Richard Alley explains--

  • We've been burning whatever was at hand

  • for a long, long time.

  • But as we see repeatedly with energy,

  • you can burn too much of a good thing.

  • And there are patterns in the human use of energy

  • and if we're stupid enough to repeat them,

  • burn all the fossil fuel remaining on the planet

  • and put the CO2 into the air, we will cook our future.

  • Take what we did to trees in North America, for example.

  • When the first settlers arrived on America's east coast,

  • the forests were so thick, you could barely see the sky.

  • That soon changed.

  • And the forests almost completely disappeared

  • as more and more trees were cut down to meet the heating,

  • cooking and building needs of a growing population.

  • Making iron needed lots of furnaces

  • and the furnaces ran on charcoal made from trees.

  • You can trace that history in tell-tale place names

  • from my home state of Pennsylvania.

  • So farewell virgin forests, hello Pennsylvania Furnace,

  • Lucy Furnace, Harmony Forge,

  • and Valley Forge of Revolutionary War fame.

  • Large areas of forest were soon depleted,

  • and charcoal making and iron production moved on,

  • to repeat the process elsewhere.

  • Peak Wood, meaning the time of maximum production,

  • came as early as the first decades of the 19th century

  • or even before that for some parts of the east coast.

  • The pattern of using up an energy resource

  • until it was nearly gone was repeated at sea.

  • As America's population grew, so did their need

  • for a better way to light the night.

  • So whaling crews went to sea, on the hunt

  • for the very best source of illumination...

  • whale oil.

  • At first, large numbers of whales were found nearby.

  • They could just be towed to shore.

  • But by the 1870s, we'd burned so many whales

  • to light our evenings, that all the easy whales were gone.

  • Whale-oil prices roughly doubled.

  • Now ships had to travel close to the poles

  • in search of bowhead whales.

  • Their oil wasn't as good.

  • And conditions were really dangerous.

  • In 1871, up in the arctic,

  • 33 ships were trapped in the ice and crushed.

  • Just as happened with America's forests,

  • we'd exploited the most easily accessible resources

  • and hadn't stopped until we'd almost used them up.

  • Lucky for us, in 1859 a cheaper and more abundant

  • source of energy had been discovered

  • with Edwin Drake's successful oil well,

  • drilled in Titusville, Pennsylvania.

  • And for 150 years, America ran and grew on oil and coal.

  • Narrator: Today, in some ways,

  • we're in danger of repeating the past.

  • As the easy oil was all used up,

  • we're drilling in challenging conditions up in the Arctic.

  • We're considering an increasing reliance on tar sands,

  • which are plentiful in our northern neighbor,

  • Canada, but which are dirtier to process.

  • But once more, America has been fortunate

  • to find a new, abundant, domestic

  • and potentially cleaner source of energy.

  • Several regions from North Dakota to the mid-atlantic

  • and northeastern states have large amounts

  • of natural gas deep underground in shale rock formations.

  • And the city of Fort Worth sits literally

  • on top of the Barnett Shale.

  • For the first time, a new source of energy

  • is emerging when there's an awareness

  • of the urgent need for sustainability.

  • Can Fort Worth and America figure out how to make

  • shale gas a significant part of our energy future,

  • without repeating the mistakes of our energy past?

  • Folks used to call this cowtown.

  • Today, there are more than 2,000 gas wells

  • right under the city of Fort Worth.

  • This city's grown by 200,000 people in 10 years

  • and estimate it will gain another 200,000...

  • Narrator: Rapid growth has brought congestion on the roads

  • and pressure on fresh water resources

  • at a time of record drought all across Texas.

  • That has motivated the city to be part

  • of the sustainability roundtable,

  • bringing together developers and planners,

  • energy executives, university researchers

  • and even the commander of the local naval air station.

  • Mayor Price: We have to begin to develop a master vision

  • for how do we be sustainable?

  • It has to be a concentrated effort on every department's

  • part to think about their water use, their electric use.

  • Narrator: Roundtable members realize their push

  • for sustainability is happening against the backdrop

  • of the natural gas boom.

  • It's quite remarkable how rapidly shale gas has

  • developed from being basically zero percent of our production

  • to being more than a third of our total

  • natural gas production and going up.

  • Narrator: Depending on how quickly we use it, experts say

  • America could have enough gas for several decades.

  • To some, this is a huge bonanza.

  • Larry Broaden: We've found so much gas here

  • and in other areas, that the price has been driven down.

  • Narrator: To others, shale gas

  • is an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

  • There has to be a more robust discussion

  • with the public about risk and risk benefit.

  • Very few discussions start that way.

  • Most of them start with, "here's a source we must use."

  • or "here's a source of energy we must not use."

  • The real issue is, what is our desired end state?

  • Narrator: Geologists have known about shale gas

  • for more than 20 years.

  • But that didn't mean the gas

  • was easy or economical to extract.

  • In this industry video, you can see that hydraulic fracturing

  • or fracking uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals.

  • This is injected deep underground

  • to break up the rock and let the gas flow

  • up to the surface more easily.

  • Mayor Price: We say we've been punching holes

  • in the ground in Texas for 100 years.

  • Narrator: What was new was drilling down and then out

  • horizontally, and the locations of the pad sites.

  • Mayor Price: We've been fracking wells for 50,

  • but we've not done it in your backyard.

  • Narrator: Larry Brogdon is an oil and gas man who made money

  • by acquiring and selling drilling rights.

  • Now he teaches a course that touches on energy, economics,

  • and environment at Texas Christian University.

  • The economic benefit to this area in the last

  • 10 years has been about over $65 billion.

  • Narrator: And when natural gas

  • is used to generate electricity,

  • some estimates are that it's 50% cleaner than coal.

  • The advantage that natural gas has is that it's

  • much lower carbon in terms of its footprint.

  • Narrator: Industry insiders say Americans need to recognize

  • that the power we all use has to come from somewhere.

  • Somebody goes over there and they flip on that

  • light switch and they think they're just using electricity,

  • well, natural gas is generating a whole lot of that electricity.

  • Narrator: However, public concern, here in Fort Worth

  • and nationally, has focused on worries

  • that the entire cycle of drilling, fracking, production

  • and fluid disposal can contaminate drinking water,

  • trigger earthquakes, and leak methane.

  • It is an industrial activity,

  • and that means the management of water.

  • That means air quality.

  • And the third thing is just the community impact,

  • that suddenly areas that were not being developed

  • for natural gas, now have this development coming in.

  • Narrator: Daniel Yergin was a member of a special committee

  • tasked by the U.S. Secretary of Energy

  • to study the potential environmental impacts

  • of natural gas drilling.

  • The committee came up with 20 recommendations

  • of best practices, with number one being

  • better sharing of information with the public.

  • Number 14, disclosure of fracking fluids,

  • and number 11, studies about possible

  • methane contamination of water supplies.

  • One has to do the full life cycle analysis,

  • kind of cradle to grave kind of thing,

  • to really understand where the points

  • of vulnerability are including full environmental

  • costs and to then weigh the risks and the benefits.

  • And that will help us lay out

  • what the panoply of sources would look like.

  • Narrator: Only if safeguards are in place

  • can this fossil fuel really serve as a bridge

  • to a more sustainable future.

  • Right now best practices would focus on things like

  • how do you handle the water that is produced out of the well

  • as the result of hydraulic fracturing and making sure

  • that it's disposed of in a very environmentally sound way.

  • Narrator: As the name, hydraulic fracturing, implies,

  • massive amounts of water are required for fracking

  • and in Texas where water is a precious resource,

  • this is a major concern.

  • Water is huge, facing the city.

  • And I think that water is one of those things

  • that most people don't think long term about.

  • Narrator: Although mayor price says local breweries use

  • more water than the drillers, with sustainability in mind,

  • there's no reason why fracking has to use potable water.

  • So now we're able to use reclaimed water

  • to frack these wells and thereby use less

  • of our potable water and it can take

  • 3 million gallons of water to frack one well.

  • Narrator: Once thought of as a sewage treatment plant,

  • Village Creek is now the water reclamation facility.

  • Until recently, 50% of Fort Worth's

  • potable water was used for irrigation.

  • Now the city's distributing treated grey water

  • in distinctive purple pipes to irrigate golf courses

  • and playing fields and for industrial uses

  • at the giant Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

  • Every day in the city of Fort Worth,

  • about a million people put water down the drain.

  • This is where it ends up.

  • Narrator: The water treatment process itself is becoming

  • more sustainable and less energy intensive.

  • And in a twist, this new approach relies

  • on a truly natural gas.

  • Methane is the primary component of natural gas

  • but it's also a by-product of our daily lives,

  • found in human waste.

  • One of the first steps in the process

  • is to remove solids from the waste and put it

  • into digesters where methane gas is generated.

  • Under normal circumstances you may consider

  • methane to be a greenhouse gas which would be bad

  • for the environment, but here we're using it as a renewable

  • resource to power our engines, possibly getting

  • up to as much as 90-95%, of the energy required

  • for the operation of this facility.

  • Narrator: Fort Worth is aiming for sustainable growth

  • and an energy boom without a following bust.

  • But the energy we all surely need will more easily be found

  • by tapping another resource that's found in Fort Worth,

  • and every community.

  • When we talk about energy,

  • we talk about the various major energy sources.

  • You talk about oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear.

  • Increasingly also, of course, the renewables, wind and solar.

  • But there's one fuel that gets left out of the discussion

  • and yet it's one that has enormous impact on the future.

  • That's the fifth fuel, energy efficiency, conservation.

  • Narrator: Kansas, a land of wheat, and corn, and cattle.

  • In the heart of the country, it's number 48

  • out of all 50 states in energy efficiency.

  • So this is a place where energy conservation

  • can really make a difference.

  • Come on, girls.

  • Our region is a region of farmers.

  • We are famously conservative and we have talked

  • from the beginning about putting the conserve

  • back in conservative.

  • Narrator: According to a study by the Natural Resources

  • Defense Council, improvements in energy efficiency

  • have the potential to deliver more than $700 billion

  • in cost savings in the U.S. alone.

  • But, they say motivating consumers to take action

  • is the key to unlocking this potential

  • and that was the aim of Nancy Jackson's

  • Climate and Energy project,

  • with its Take Charge! Challenge.

  • Kansans are patriotic, Kansans are hardworking,

  • Kansans are humble.

  • Narrator: And Kansans are competitive.

  • You all are competing against Ottawa,

  • Baldwin City, and Paola, so really,

  • you gotta beat those guys, yes?

  • Do you want to help us beat Manhattan?

  • Narrator: 2011 was the second year

  • for the Take Charge! Challenge, a friendly competition

  • among 16 communities arranged in four regional groups

  • aiming to reduce their local energy use.

  • Some of the lowest cost, most effective ways

  • that you can take ownership of your energy future

  • is taking ownership of the efficiency

  • and the conservation of your house or your business.

  • Narrator: Ray Hammarlund's office used

  • federal stimulus dollars to fund four prizes of $100,000

  • for each of the four regions in the competition.

  • Just as important as the grand prize,

  • $25,000 went to each community

  • to fund local coordinators who took the lead

  • in galvanizing grassroots efforts.

  • Here's how the challenge worked in Iola.

  • The challenge started in January of this year

  • and ends October 1st.

  • You're required to have three community events.

  • We're going to have a lot more than that.

  • Today, we are at the Fight The Energy Hog Festival.

  • Becky Nilges: I love the hog.

  • He was just so ugly that he is cute.

  • He represents energy hogs in your home.

  • You would probably let him in but you don't know

  • the damage he's going to do.

  • Narrator: Competing towns scored points by counting how

  • many cfl bulbs and programmable thermostats were installed

  • and how many professional home energy audits were done.

  • Our job as energy auditors, both for commercial

  • buildings as well as residential buildings is,

  • we're essentially detectives.

  • What's happening here?

  • Is there a great deal of air leakage?

  • And we're finding that the majority of the houses

  • that we're dealing with actually use a lot more energy

  • than they need to.

  • Narrator: In Lawrence, a house of worship

  • did an energy audit, made changes,

  • and got a pretty nice donation in its collection plate.

  • David Owen: One part of the audit was

  • to contact the power company.

  • Well, during that process we discovered

  • they had been overcharging us.

  • And so we got a check, a rebate check from them for $4,456.

  • Narrator: Other changes start small, but add up.

  • We were a little bit worried at one point

  • that the congregation would not accept

  • the very bright, white type lights.

  • So as an experiment, we took one of these chandeliers

  • and changed all the bulbs in it to the cfls.

  • And then we took the priest over here and we said,

  • "which one did we do?" and he could not tell us.

  • So that told us it was ok to do them all.

  • Narrator: Changing lights, adding insulation,

  • and upgrading windows paid off.

  • Even though it's an old building,

  • we saved 64% on the consumption of energy in this room.

  • Narrator: Lighting makes up about 15%

  • of a typical home's electricity bill,

  • and lighting all of our residential

  • and commercial buildings uses about 13%

  • of the nation's total electricity.

  • But changing out old bulbs is a lot easier than paying

  • for audits and the energy enhancements they recommend.

  • Here's where the 2011 Take Charge! Challenge

  • promised material assistance using stimulus funds.

  • Ken Wagner: It's a $500 audit that costs you $100.

  • The rest of that $500 is covered under the Take Charge Challenge

  • program through the Kansas Energy Office.

  • We really love the competitive spirit of the program

  • and I think it's really raised a whole awareness

  • of energy efficiency and the importance of energy

  • efficiency to a lot of segments in our community here.

  • Narrator: Even Baldwin City bankers were grateful

  • for financial assistance from state and federal governments.

  • Dave Hill: Nine months ago, we installed

  • a 14 KW solar power system.

  • I believe the initial cost of the system was basically

  • $65,000 and then we got

  • a substantial grant from USDA, I believe it was $20,000.

  • We have about $18,000 of our own money invested in the system,

  • after all the deductions.

  • We think it will pay out in about 7-8 years.

  • Narrator: David Crane of NRG Energy

  • thinks that kind of approach makes good business sense.

  • Crane: What I say to every businessman who has

  • a customer-facing business, think of a solar panel not only

  • as a source of electricity, think of it as a billboard.

  • You don't even have to write your name on it.

  • Just put it on the top of your store and it will be sending

  • a message to your customers that you're doing

  • the right thing when it comes to sustainable energy.

  • Narrator: Surveys of why conservation is hard to achieve

  • have found that people want one-stop shopping,

  • a place where they can find out what to do

  • and get practical recommendations

  • about who to hire and what it all might cost,

  • just what this new facility was to offer.

  • Now it's mid-October, time for the results

  • of the 2011 Take Charge! Challenge.

  • MC: Fort Scott.

  • MC: And the winner is Baldwin City.

  • Nancy Jackson: Over 100 billion BTUs were saved as a result

  • of this Challenge, and millions and millions

  • of dollars in each community.

  • Those savings come from measures that have been installed

  • that will guarantee those savings for years to come.

  • So the savings are enormous over time.

  • $100,000 has a nice ring to it

  • and it's a nice cash award for a community of our size.

  • Our challenge now is to continue on with energy efficiency

  • and encourage our community to save.

  • Nancy: One of our real goals was to help people to stop thinking

  • about energy efficiency as the things they shouldn't do,

  • as what not to do, and think about it instead

  • as a tremendous opportunity to both

  • save money in the near term, and to make

  • our electric system more resilient in the long term.

  • So it's about what we can do, both individually and together,

  • and for us that feels like the real win.

  • The United States today is twice

  • as energy efficient as it was in the 1970s.

  • And I think we have the capability in the decades

  • ahead to become twice as energy efficient again.

  • We believe this is something that can be done

  • really anywhere with great success.

  • Narrator: Baltimore, Maryland.

  • According to one study, the air in Maryland

  • is the 5th dirtiest in the nation.

  • Are there ways for America's 21st largest city

  • to cut emissions and save energy and money?

  • Baltimore is unique in that it has

  • over 225 neighborhoods within the city limits.

  • Narrator: Like Kansas, it's been using competition

  • to jump start the process of sustainability.

  • Narrator: BNEC, the Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge

  • used existing events like this anti-crime rally

  • in the Park Heights neighborhood

  • to let city residents know about opportunities

  • to save energy and to share the top ten things to do.

  • You signing people up?

  • We are willing to go and talk to anybody, anywhere,

  • where we can get some face time with people

  • to talk about energy savings and conservation.

  • And if it means going to an event talking about crime,

  • we will go to an event talking about crime.

  • If it's about a neighborhood block party,

  • we will go to a neighborhood block party.

  • We find people where we can get them.

  • And the toilet tank bank

  • and draft stopper gaskets as well.

  • You're welcome.

  • Narrator: In addition to sharing information,

  • the Baltimore Challenge enlisted energy captains

  • to canvass their own neighborhoods

  • taking the conservation message directly to homeowners.

  • Ok, on this side as well, right?

  • Narrator: That's something the challenge's

  • utility partners knew they couldn't do.

  • I'm on the BNEC challenge pledge.

  • Ruth Kiselewich: If somebody just comes to your door

  • and asks you to sign a petition to help the environment,

  • to reduce your energy use, or if you see a message

  • even from the local utility about all these

  • great things you can do, it's not enough.

  • My sister Tracy, Alice Kennedy

  • from the Baltimore City Sustainability Commission.

  • Thomas Stosur: Unique thing about BNEC is the fact

  • that it builds on this neighbor-to-neighbor advocacy

  • and communication for energy conservation.

  • It goes right down to the household level, you know,

  • neighbors talking to each other across the yard.

  • What do you guys do to save energy at home?

  • Leave the lights off.

  • During the day we turn the lights off.

  • When we're not looking at TV, we turn the TV off.

  • So the TV cannot watch itself.

  • That's basically what we do.

  • Narrator: To jump start energy savings, the challenge

  • has a bag of free stuff including indoor/outdoor cfls,

  • just right for the porch lights

  • so characteristic of Baltimore.

  • Would you be interested in trying that?

  • You can get up there--

  • He will!

  • Everyone's household budgets

  • are shrinking right now too, so I think

  • that if we all just can be wise about what were doing,

  • we're all going save a little bit of money.

  • Robbyn: So, you're all signed up?

  • I think I have to give you my account number.

  • Narrator: The challenge found that neighbor-to-neighbor

  • sharing could be even more effective

  • when the energy captains went inside homes

  • to demonstrate quick and effective steps

  • in a simplified peer-to-peer energy audit.

  • Then when you're not here or you're not using it,

  • turn the power strip off.

  • Narrator: For Baltimore residents, saving water

  • also saves substantial dollars and this simple bladder

  • reduces the amount used in each and every flush.

  • What impressed the organizers of the first year's challenge

  • was that Park Heights, home to the Pimlico racetrack

  • and one of the most underserved neighborhoods

  • saved the most energy, nearly 13%.

  • The organizers said the main reason was the energy

  • and enthusiasm of the Park Heights energy captains.

  • They actually saw, those residents who participated

  • there, the largest benefit of any of the neighborhoods.

  • To see this very grassroots effort

  • take off and outperform

  • any other neighborhood was really impressive.

  • Narrator: The Park Heights captains were also successful

  • in applying for follow-on funding

  • to continue their conservation efforts.

  • The announcement of the 2011 community energy saving grants

  • brought out U.S. Senator Ben Cardin

  • and Baltimore mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

  • Mayor Blake: Saving energy means lower utility costs

  • and after the heat wave we've had, I'm sure everyone

  • is interested in lower utility costs

  • and the knowledge about energy savings is contagious.

  • Narrator: Baltimore city itself took lessons

  • from the challenge and started pitting city departments

  • against each other in a competition to catch

  • energy vampires around city buildings.

  • Using their new grant, the Park Heights captains

  • started planning a new outreach campaign,

  • using junior energy ambassadors

  • to reach out to schools and others.

  • With homeowners' permission, challenge staff

  • could access utility bills and so track energy savings,

  • neighborhood by neighborhood.

  • So, we actually are able to show that we have

  • proven savings by looking at utility usage data

  • and showing that some of these little actions

  • in the home can help save money and save energy.

  • Narrator: Bottom line, thanks in part to the challenge,

  • Baltimore is on track to meet its goal

  • of reducing carbon emissions

  • and energy use 15% by 2015

  • and the utilities can cut back too.

  • As we reduce energy use and energy demand

  • what we're doing is we're eliminating the need

  • for a new medium-size power plant.

  • Particularly in hard economic times,

  • this challenge helps build a sense

  • of, "I can accomplish something individually.

  • I can impact my life in a very positive way."

  • Saving energy means a reduced strain

  • on our power grid, lower utility costs

  • as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions,

  • which means, for generations to come, we will have better

  • air quality and a cleaner and more sustainable Baltimore.

  • Narrator: Can what cities do locally really move

  • the dial toward national sustainability?

  • Portland, Oregon, shows what's possible.

  • 70% of all the oil consumed in America

  • is used for transportation.

  • But congestion wastes a huge amount,

  • perhaps 16% of all the oil imported from the Persian Gulf.

  • Despite our best efforts, we are still

  • taking 10% of the world's petroleum supply

  • just to get back and forth to work every day.

  • Narrator: Congressman Earl Blumenauer

  • represents Oregon's third district, including Portland.

  • He heads up the Congressional bike caucus.

  • And his city started finding solutions some 30 years back.

  • You know, one of the things we did was,

  • we have an urban growth boundary, and what that is,

  • is a ring around the city of Portland

  • and its surrounding suburbs, so that we cannot

  • kind of sprawl out and we can't become Los Angeles.

  • Narrator: Between 1950 and 1990,

  • America's urban population grew by 90%.

  • But cities' land area grew more than 250%.

  • Remarkably, Portland bucked that trend of urban sprawl.

  • Key decisions made include a move from investment

  • in freeways into transit and also to integrate

  • transit planning with land use planning.

  • Narrator: Along with region-wide thinking,

  • Portland now has an infrastructure

  • that emphasizes mass transit, along with something

  • this city pioneered in the 19th century...

  • bicycles.

  • It may be easy to parody Portland's love affair

  • with all things green including the cycling community.

  • But putting bikes to work has practical advantages

  • if they can be made into something used

  • for more than pure recreation.

  • That's the purpose of what's called the Oregon Manifest,

  • a design challenge to come up with clever and practical ways

  • to transport packages as well as people.

  • A decade ago it was hard to find

  • a bike that was not a racing bike

  • or a mountain bike or a touring bike.

  • Now any bike shop that you walk into,

  • in the city of Portland anyway, you'll find city bikes,

  • bikes that are really made for commuting to and from work,

  • from riding to the park to the grocery store.

  • Narrator: Half of U.S. car trips

  • cover less than 10 miles, and short trips

  • where engines make a cold start

  • are the most gasoline intensive and polluting.

  • So if city bikes like these became mass-produced

  • and popular and if every one of the nation's

  • more than 100,000,000 households

  • substituted one 5-mile trip each day,

  • the nation would save $36.5 billion on gasoline.

  • Already one young entrepreneur has put Portland's

  • non-polluting pedal power to work

  • and made a business of it.

  • We use these large tricycle trucks to deliver

  • products into a two mile radius of the urban core for Portland.

  • We deliver everything from bread and produce

  • to office products to water to cycle parts.

  • Each trike can carry about 800 pounds.

  • They're all electric-assisted.

  • So it's a hybrid human and electric power.

  • The less congestion we have,

  • our goods and services move faster.

  • We're an international global city.

  • We have to be scrappy, so bicyclists

  • are about reducing congestion.

  • Over the past 2 1/2 years we've helped

  • displace over 25,000 truck or van-based deliveries.

  • And when you start to look at the overall greenhouse gas

  • reduction and avoidance, day by day it's not very much,

  • but cumulatively it really starts to stack up.

  • Narrator: Cycling may be an outward and very visible sign

  • of a transition away from cars, but the region's

  • mass transit network also has serious numbers.

  • We have been electrifying

  • our transportation for 30 years here.

  • And today there's literally about 150,000 boardings per day.

  • And that means that people who otherwise might be traveling

  • around in cars are traveling around in electrons.

  • As a result of how we put the pieces together

  • in Portland over the last 1/3 of a century, Portlanders

  • voluntarily drive 20% less than the national average.

  • This translates into a dollar savings

  • for the typical household

  • of more than $2,500 a year.

  • And that's money that stays in our community.

  • It is not going to Houston or Saudi Arabia, Japan or Germany.

  • Narrator: Portland's leaders talk about the trip not taken

  • as something that saves money and benefits the environment.

  • Currently more than a quarter of Portland's workforce

  • commutes by bike, carpool or mass transit.

  • But planners are working on the next giant step

  • in low carbon transportation, electric vehicles.

  • I think we get to the point where electric

  • vehicles will be able to do, you know, 98% of the personal

  • transportation needs, and of course that's mainly

  • in the cities and the suburbs.

  • Narrator: An average Portlander's daily commute

  • of 20 miles could easily be powered

  • by a single battery charge.

  • So Electric Avenue is a test site to get ground truth

  • on how people might use e-vehicles.

  • We think the next 10 to 30 years is going to be

  • focusing on individual passenger vehicles like the ones behind me

  • and also on urban freight and service vehicles,

  • those parcel delivery trucks, the post office.

  • Narrator: Those vehicles also make lots of short trips

  • with starts and stops, producing emissions

  • and using up a lot of fuel.

  • Nationally, companies like Frito Lay are competing

  • with others like Federal Express to see

  • who can deploy the most low emission delivery vehicles.

  • Tailpipe emissions are the single

  • greatest source of emissions in our major cities.

  • So I think probably every mayor,

  • everywhere, supports the idea

  • of getting more vehicles on their local roads

  • that don't have tailpipes.

  • Narrator: Portland's original plans concentrated

  • on land use and transportation.

  • The focus for the future is the neighborhood.

  • The goal is what's called a 20 minute neighborhood

  • with most everything a family needs

  • in easy walking or biking distance,

  • where kids can learn how to ride safely to and from school.

  • Earl: This effort of integrating the pedestrian,

  • streetcar, bike, along with mixed use development,

  • it is enriching the experience of going

  • to the store, going to visit a neighbor

  • and makes us a more sustainable, cost-effective community.

  • Narrator: Portland's transportation innovations

  • have direct economic benefits.

  • By actually doing the right things here,

  • we've built this base of great export.

  • We've got solar firms, wind firms.

  • We have firms focused on energy efficiency

  • with hundreds and hundreds of employees.

  • And they're locating here or they grew up here because

  • we were trying to do something and we built demand here.

  • We're one of the cheapest cities

  • on the west coast, because we offer options other than

  • having to own a car to live and work and have a good life.

  • I think just like anything you're trying to do,

  • whether it's a business or a government or a city,

  • good things don't happen by accident.

  • You need to have some good plans.

  • We can reduce that carbon footprint while we provide

  • economic opportunities for our citizens and others.

  • Narrator: Richard Alley agrees--

  • science and sustainability both come together

  • in an Operators' Manual for America.

  • Like thousands of Portlanders, I commute by bike.

  • Like many in Fort Worth, I've worked for an energy company.

  • My university runs a herd of cows,

  • so I connect with Kansans.

  • I've spent time in some pretty cold places,

  • so I know some of the challenges Alaska faces

  • and I appreciate the importance of affordable energy

  • to everyone including the citizens of Baltimore.

  • So as we look around our planet with eyes informed

  • by climate science and with an appreciation

  • of the vast potential for clean, low-carbon sources of energy,

  • I think we can be optimistic about our prospects

  • while being realistic about how humans

  • are affecting the planet.

  • Our world is complex, like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

  • But earth science gives us an Operators' Manual

  • to help us see where most of the pieces go.

  • Some things we know with really high confidence.

  • Carbon dioxide levels are increasing in earth's atmosphere

  • and basic physics and objective research show

  • that CO2 warms things up.

  • Analyzing the chemistry of the CO2, shows that

  • most of the carbon is coming from our use of fossil fuel.

  • Satellites looking down from space show

  • that the atmosphere is warming down here,

  • but cooling up here, high in the stratosphere,

  • showing the warmth isn't from the sun.

  • And we've got lots more solid knowledge

  • that just about every climate scientist agrees on.

  • Of course, there are some things we still don't know.

  • We'd like to know more about clouds.

  • On balance, do they work to make climate changes

  • bigger, or smaller?

  • And we'd like to know how weather extremes will change

  • and how fast.

  • Some things we simply can't know.

  • When will the next big volcanic eruption spread cooling clouds

  • of ash around the planet for a year or two?

  • But even with these uncertainties,

  • the big picture is pretty clear.

  • But in a very real sense, the most important questions

  • aren't about science and engineering,

  • but society and policies.

  • What do we want to do?

  • And on that, surprisingly, there's a growing consensus,

  • across political parties, businesses and community groups

  • who are listening to the science and looking to the future.

  • Obviously in some ways,

  • there is a diversity of opinion about the degree

  • to which man-made activities affect the climate.

  • Now I happen to be on the side of those who believe

  • there is an effect.

  • But suppose one were not.

  • Whether one's focus is on national security,

  • geopolitical effect or the environment--

  • in the end all of these things track in the same direction.

  • Everyone's always talking

  • about the exceptionalism of the United States

  • and global leadership and clear thought leadership

  • culturally, socially, and I believe in all that.

  • But if you believe in all that, you then can't turn around

  • and say, "Well, we're helpless and we're just

  • a little bit of the problem and no matter what we do,

  • China and India will go their own way."

  • There's just no evidence that that's the case.

  • If the United States leads in this way, others will follow.

  • I mean, that's what leadership is about.

  • At the end of the day the atmosphere doesn't care

  • one whit what people think.

  • The atmosphere cares what people do.

  • We can reduce emissions in real time.

  • Why people do it?

  • As long as they do it, doesn't matter to us.

  • Richard Alley: For all we know about the climate,

  • for all the promise of renewables,

  • perhaps even more important is figuring out

  • how to unleash people power to energize our nation.

  • That's what an Operators' Manual is all about.

  • It tells us how something works and how to get

  • the very best performance out of it.

  • And I also have faith in how America's democracy works.

  • We can make positive changes if we think clearly,

  • and move forward together.

  • That's my hope.

  • That's my faith.

  • For Earth: The Operators' Manual, I'm Richard Alley.

  • Female Narrator: Energy Quest USA -

  • Earth: The Operators' Manual is made possible by NSF,

  • the National Science Foundation,

  • where discoveries begin.

  • For the annotated script

  • with links to information on climate change

  • and sustainability, online tools to help you

  • save money and energy, educator resources

  • and much more, visit pbs.org/etom.

  • Energy Quest USA is available

  • on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

  • The companion book is also available.

  • To order visit shop PBS.org or call us at 1800 PLAY PBS

  • Narrator: Part of Portland's 20 minute neighborhood plan

  • is supporting communities where people can bike to stores,

  • instead of driving, and kids can ride to school, in safety.

  • Instructor: Left turn--

  • Narrator: That's the mission of the community cycling

  • center and its We All Can Ride program.

  • We All Can Ride

  • is a bicycling and active living organization

  • rooted in the community of North Portland

  • to encourage and educate low income communities of color that

  • riding bicycles are not only for hobby, but is also a mode

  • of transportation and also exercising,

  • you know prevent childhood obesity

  • and just to support the health of the community.

  • Great bike ride-- thank you so much.

  • We'll do this next time.

  • Any kind of behavior change is

  • about finding a few champions, getting a few people out there,

  • and having them basically spread the story.

  • It's not a top-down thing.

  • Narrator: Village Creek, Fort Worth's water treatment plant

  • and BRIT, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas

  • look very different, but both are working

  • to cut back on energy and conserve water.

  • In Texas and in most of the Southwest,

  • we've gotten both heat and drought.

  • What we wanted this building to demonstrate was our mission.

  • And our mission is conservation and sustainability.

  • And it's green from the bottom to the top.

  • This summer with the sweltering heat that we had here in Texas,

  • all of the air conditioning was basically supplied

  • by geothermal power.

  • Narrator: One roof is covered in solar collectors

  • and another with native vegetation.

  • All the rain, if we ever get any, eventually winds

  • up in a retention pond we have in the back of the property.

  • And all of our irrigation comes out of that retention pond.

  • We are not on the grid for city water for our irrigation.

  • Narrator: Sy Sohmer hopes BRIT serves as an inspiration

  • and that many more leed-certified buildings

  • will follow.

  • Narrator: Fairbanks, Alaska.

  • It's so cold here in winter that car exhaust makes ice fog

  • at intersections and the city's air

  • is often dirty with wood smoke and fumes from heating oil.

  • Enter a pellet factory near the town of North Pole, Alaska.

  • What comes in is sawdust and wood waste.

  • We take the lowest grade materials

  • available in the forest.

  • Narrator: Intense heat drives out moisture.

  • Chad: This burner is a 24 million btu burner.

  • It operates on 97% wood fuel and we can dry

  • between 14 and 16 tons

  • of raw material every hour.

  • The pellets come out looking very similar to rabbit food.

  • Narrator: But these pellets burn cleaner

  • and cost 40% less, than other heating fuels.

  • And this is a perfect opportunity for Alaska

  • to utilize a locally manufactured product that

  • really makes a difference in the air quality around here.

Male Narrator: Americans used to rely on animal power

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美國能源探究協會(完整方案) (ENERGY QUEST USA (full program))

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    songwen8778 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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