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Conservation of natural resources Economic aspects Energy consumption Energy development Environmental geography Environmental protection Human ecology Human geography Environmental aspects Natural resources Management Nature Effect of human beings on Power resources Environmental aspectsSummary: Radical changes in building design are needed to protect our fragile planet. This program studies the work of leading architects around the globe, all of whom employ green concepts and eco-friendly materials. Through extensive interviews and detailed visuals, the film provides insight into a wide range of residential and office design innovations-such as green roof technology, geothermal and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Hydrogen may be the fuel of the future, but what would it take to safely and efficiently make the transition from fossil fuels? In this program from the Scientific American Frontiers series, host Alan Alda takes a look at two ways to use the Sun's energy to extract hydrogen; meets with Stan and Iris Ovshinsky, inventors of a hydrogen storage method involving a solid metal alloy; and makes a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: As the world’s top two carbon emitters, China and the U.S. face significant challenges reducing emissions while keeping up with a growing demand for more energy. Is there potential for cooperation between both Pacific Rim nations on this important issue, or is each country seeking its own distinct solutions? This program explores the collaborative efforts of American and Chinese academics and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The tropical rain forests of the world are home to nearly half the animal species on earth and contain some of the most fascinating examples of natural adaptation ever seen. This classic program takes viewers into the rain forests of Costa Rica to witness a richly varied habitat under threat from human encroachment. Here, a basilisk lizard walks on water, howler monkeys bask in the sun, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Despite the extraordinary engineering of Brazil's Porto Primavera Dam, many scientists and environmentalists view its ecological effects as catastrophic. This program offers a sobering look at a nation's effort to balance its growing energy needs against the long-term benefits of preserving unique and irreplaceable ecosystems. Produced prior to the completion of Porto Primavera and the creation...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Is it too late to rethink our relationship with the automobile? Hosted by University of Alberta professor Brian Fleck, this program investigates recent developments in alternative fuels and car design. In Italy, MIT students Robyn Allen and Anna Jaffe, cofounders of the Vehicle Design Summit, present their prototype-a plug-in hybrid designed for the congested streets of India. Then, Jeremy...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Nothing is so familiar, and yet so elusive, as water. A running faucet would require 136 trillion years to discharge the Earth's 326 million cubic miles of water, but only fresh water-less than three percent of the global supply-can sustain life. As we transport, utilize, and consume water, we are tempted to view it as eternally plentiful. But its protracted cycle of falling from the sky,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Rocky Mountain Institute founder Amory Lovins, ranked as one of the 2009 Time 100, believes in the plausibility of a U.S. that harnesses automotive and architectural efficiencies to free itself from the tyranny of oil-and, while the country is at it, from the dirty yoke of coal, as well. In this program, Lovins and his enthusiastic supporters square off against Robert Bryce, editor of Energy...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Some experts believe that up to 25 percent of the world's electricity could eventually be generated by wind power. This program presents the viewpoints of wind energy's supporters and opponents, and explains recent developments in wind power technology. Challengers to the proliferation of wind farms, including conservationists and citizens' groups, argue that wind turbines destroy the landscape...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge-also known as ANWR or the "Alaskan Serengeti"-is a vast wilderness near the top of the world. From here, thousands of caribou begin a pilgrimage to the ocean every summer, and for that reason alone the place is a national treasure. This program examines another treasure hidden beneath ANWR's coastal plain: oil. Since oil virtually runs the planet and is used...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Revolutionary technologies now make it possible to harness a completely renewable energy resource-the natural power of the sea. This program explores ways that electric power can be drawn from tidal forces or from fluctuations in ocean currents. Traveling the globe, the film highlights several innovations, including a tide-driven rotor off the coast of Cornwall in the U.K., a multi-rotor locks...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Powering houses and heating water in more energy efficient, sustainable ways is an important component of many remodeling projects. Whether it's through the use of passive or active solar technologies, wind, or other renewable power sources, today's remodelers need to understand the basics of green power so they can guide their clients toward smarter choices and then integrate these...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The UAE's oil is plentiful and readily consumed by an energy-thirsty world; meanwhile, the nation struggles with its own thirst for water. This program documents the history of the wealthy Arab nation and how it deals with water scarcity and an abundance of petroleum. Detailed discussions of the oil drilling and seawater desalinization processes, conversations with young UAE citizens, and a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: It's easy to talk about environmental stewardship, but quite another matter to practice it. This compilation of 12 ABC News stories shows how governments, businesses, and individuals around the world are taking concrete, eco-friendly action. Each engaging example of "going green" offers an opportunity for class discussion, further study, and perhaps even genuine change.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: As the industrialized world's desire for oil grows larger, so does the opposition from environmental groups intent on protecting the land. As demand increases, what restraints should be put on where oil companies drill? This documentary journey heads to the farthest reaches of Alaska and Canada, with a side trip to Washington, D.C. As the pressure for oil-and "energy security"-increases,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The discovery of oil is often celebrated as a one-way ticket to wealth and economic growth. But in some developing countries, striking it rich has had the opposite effect-making oil more of a bane than a blessing for the poorest inhabitants. This program contrasts two cases: Ecuador, where the toxic environmental legacy of oil has sparked a landmark lawsuit over international corporate...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Besides the well-documented ecological harm that fossil fuels inflict, they have another drawback: our planet is running out of them. What will we use in their place to heat our homes, power our vehicles, and light our cities? This program studies the problem of energy resource depletion and explores potential solutions appearing around the world. Graphically illustrating the "deadlines" at...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Transporting viewers to the year 2016, this program paints a disturbing picture of an oil-starved America and the socioeconomic upheaval that may accompany the death of the Oil Age. The film follows a middle-aged, Midwestern couple through violence at gas stations, conflicts with neighbors, and the loss of their livelihood; it also focuses on their daughter, an oil prospector determined to find...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Electricity and heat-two forms of energy that American households and businesses can't do without. More and more consumers and companies are realizing that we can't rely on fossil fuels for these necessities and must switch to renewable sources. This program investigates three main ways in which solar energy is used around the world: solar hot water, photovoltaic solar panels that generate...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Peak oil: the point at which oil-producing countries, faced with diminishing crude reserves, can no longer keep pace with growing demand. Has the world already reached it, or is the point of irrevocable decline still decades away? That is the slippery question that frames the narrative of this program as experts from around the world give their views on factors associated with escalating oil...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: This ambitious documentary follows the circuitous route of the 1,100-mile BTC Pipeline, a string of 150,000 steel pipes that links the cities of Baku, in Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, in Georgia; and Ceyhan, in Turkey. The pipeline will transport the rich, previously untapped energy reserves of the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean, from where it will flow into the global market, but its route makes many...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Combining aesthetics, sustainability, and function is the challenge of green architecture-and 20 teams of college students from North America and Europe brilliantly rise to that challenge as they compete to design, build, and demonstrate the operation of the most attractive and energy-efficient house at the 2007 Solar Decathlon held in Washington, D.C. This program tracks the teams from the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: America hasn’t built a nuclear power plant in thirty years. Is that due to a right-headed concern over health and environmental dangers, or an unfounded timidity that puts us behind the rest of the world? This CNBC Original documentary explores the issue, which, despite rising support for nuclear energy, remains divisive. Guiding viewers through the basic workings of a nuclear facility, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Once widely considered a sustainable energy source, some forms of biofuel are now seen as exploitative and environmentally harmful. This program examines the global dilemma over palm oil-a fuel source championed by the European Union before the effects of its cultivation became apparent in the developing world. Viewers meet members of Indonesia's Orang Rimba tribe who have drawn sustenance from...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010