¿Cómo será el mundo en 2050? ¿Cómo afectarán los descubrimientos de hoy a la vida del mañana? ¿Cuáles son los proyectos y tendencias que darán forma al futuro? ¿Qué respuestas daremos a los retos económicos, ecológicos y culturales? Científicos y pensadores de todo el mundo se reúnen para mostrarnos sus sueños del futuro, gracias a efectos especiales de última generación. En cada episodio abordan distintos aspectos de la vida, desde la energía y la medicina, hasta los deportes, la moda y el sexo. El futuro ya no es ciencia ficción; descubre el mundo de la próxima generación.
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00:00At the beginning of the 21st century, our planet is more illuminated than ever.
00:16About 85% of our energy comes from fossil fuels, supplies our homes, transports and factories.
00:24In 2050, when the world population exceeds 9 billion, our energy needs will double.
00:35The global energy consumption is equivalent to 17 terawatts, that is, 17 billion watts per day.
00:44Every 15 seconds we extract oil equivalent to an Olympic pool, and the reserves run out.
00:52It's like a human being in a bathtub with droplets.
00:57Instead of pressing the escape button, you open the tap to fill the bathtub.
01:03It's completely absurd.
01:06Gas and coal are also limited.
01:09I just want to understand how the economy will develop in the long term,
01:14how many resources we will have available in the future.
01:19How can we protect the planet while keeping the machine running?
01:23We need clean and renewable energy.
01:26We receive 6,000 times more energy from the sun than we consume annually.
01:36The energy transition is an urgent task and one of the greatest challenges that humanity has undoubtedly faced.
01:44But I think we have reasons to be optimistic.
01:47The total solution is in our hands.
01:49Dominate energy.
01:51This issue has been discussed in countless films for years,
01:54and all options have been considered, even the wildest.
02:03Although the most recurrent fantasy is to look in space for what we would no longer find on Earth,
02:08as in the movies Alien or Moon.
02:1410th, 14th, Pacific time.
02:17I got a full container of helium-3 ready to roll.
02:21By the time this message reaches you, it should be in transit.
02:24Otherwise, everything running smoothly.
02:26Crazy projects are being considered to take advantage of the enormous mineral wealth that comes from asteroids.
02:33In order to extract platinum, titanium and even gold,
02:36the Deep Space Industries company in California has dreamed of mining stations
02:41and the way to dock asteroids within the orbit of the Earth,
02:45with the intention of exploiting its mineral resources.
02:53But all this is still science fiction.
02:55It is on Earth where we must dream of our future.
03:02The key to be able to enhance the conversion systems
03:09is to concentrate the force of the sun.
03:14Petroleum is the heart of the petrochemical industry.
03:17It has to be transformed into something that can be used.
03:20And wind turbines are the best example I can give.
03:27You can only collect energy during the day when it is sunny.
03:30You can collect energy during a windy day,
03:32but people need electricity during the 24 hours of the day.
03:38Having energy in abundance continuously
03:40is the issue that has obsessed us since the beginning of time.
03:48With the discovery of fire 500,000 years ago,
03:51our first ancestors found a new source of energy,
03:55different from that of their own muscles.
03:57Now they could generate light and heat.
03:59Since then, humans have never stopped looking for new fuels.
04:04Always looking for a way to save our own energy,
04:08we have even used the power of animals and the natural environment.
04:12Around 300 BC, we built the first water mills
04:17and began to dream of dominating the inexhaustible source of energy, which is the sun.
04:22Legend has it that in 213 BC,
04:25Archimedes tried to concentrate the sun's rays
04:28using mirrors to ignite the enemy fleet in Syracuse.
04:34In the 7th century, the Persians built windmills
04:37with the intention of grinding the grain.
04:40Over thousands of years, mills, water and wheels
04:43have been the main form of mechanical energy
04:46until James Watt invented the steam engine in 1769.
04:52This innovation caused a strong need for fossil fuels,
04:56mainly coal.
04:59The numerous technological innovations of the Industrial Revolution,
05:03combustion engines and the means to produce gas, liquefied and electricity
05:07did nothing more than reinforce this trend during the 19th century.
05:11When Edwin Drake drained the first modern oil well in the United States,
05:16he caused the Black Hole fever of 1859.
05:20In the first half of the 20th century,
05:22scientists tried to conquer the atom
05:24and in 1954 the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity was built in Russia.
05:32On a global scale, oil has maintained the economy since the 1960s
05:37and we have become addicted to fossil fuels.
05:44We really have all the symptoms of drug addiction.
05:48They are dangerous products, they are becoming more and more expensive,
05:52and we are more and more dependent on them
05:54and we are able to do anything to get them.
05:57Once this is understood, it is clear that we need to find substitutes
06:01and undergo therapy.
06:03This is where my experience as a psychiatrist is very useful.
06:07It is no longer about treating patients one-on-one,
06:10but about finding a solution for the whole of society.
06:14To cure us, perhaps there is a miraculous remedy,
06:17nuclear fusion.
06:20One of the greatest challenges in history has been to achieve nuclear fusion,
06:25a process that we can use to save the planet.
06:31I'm Steve Cowley and I'm 55 years old.
06:36And I've spent my life trying to make nuclear fusion a reality.
06:42The stars make energy.
06:44They take the nuclei of the atoms
06:47and they join them together to make bigger nuclei.
06:51The sun, for example,
06:53absorbs the hydrogen and turns it into helium.
06:57That's why the sun shines.
06:59If we could do the same thing on Earth,
07:02it would be a perfect way to create energy.
07:05Nuclear fusion has been studied for more than 60 years
07:08and has a complex infrastructure.
07:11The Jet of England is one of the largest facilities in the world
07:15dedicated to recreating the process that fills the stars with energy.
07:19Inside this network of cables rests a tokamak,
07:23a donut-shaped confinement device that emits 6 meters in diameter.
07:27This is where the nuclear fusion process takes place.
07:31The reaction generates an excess of energy
07:34that can be used to produce electricity.
07:37To achieve this, they will use the fuel of the fusion
07:41in the form of ionized gas or plasma.
07:44Look at that.
07:46Inside this vessel,
07:48which contains a huge magnetic field,
07:51inside this vessel,
07:53inside this vessel,
07:55inside this vessel,
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08:25inside this vessel,
08:27inside this vessel,
08:29inside this vessel,
08:31inside this vessel,
08:33inside this vessel,
08:35inside this vessel,
08:37inside this vessel,
08:39inside this vessel,
08:41inside this vessel,
08:43inside this vessel,
08:45inside this vessel,
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08:59inside this vessel
09:01inside this vessel,
09:03inside this vessel,
09:05inside this vessel
09:07inside this vessel
09:09inside this vessel
09:17But in order to keep that sun embedded
09:19without dimming ...
09:21Scientists still have to overcome
09:23in the energy field, 35 countries are joining their efforts to build the largest tokamak
09:28ever designed, twice the size of the jet.
09:32What's interesting about this new design is that it doesn't need to heat up in the traditional
09:36way to maintain the temperature.
09:40All you have to do is add more fusion fields, and it will just continue to produce more fusion
09:45energy without any energy input at all.
09:50That's like turning on your fireplace, once it's on, you just have to add more firewood,
09:56you don't have to turn it on again because it's already burning.
10:00That's what we have to achieve.
10:02And when we do, it will be one of the milestones in the history of science, because it will
10:07be the first time that a human being has mastered the process by which energy is generated.
10:16People imagine that when you start working with physics, you sit in a desk with a blank
10:22sheet of paper in front of you.
10:24In my case, that's not true.
10:26You have to stand in front of the blackboard, fighting relentlessly with the ideas of another
10:31person, their brain, yours, everyone's ideas.
10:34And there comes a time when you know you're right, because somehow math seems to explain
10:41everything, and that's music to my ears.
10:46But at the end of all the calculations, you see that that's the coherent way of thinking
10:52about a problem.
10:54Those moments are golden moments for me.
11:03Fusion has all the advantages of a source of energy.
11:08It's safe.
11:10It does not produce greenhouse gases.
11:13It does not produce radioactive waste, whose energy lasts a lifetime.
11:17And it's able to keep a whole city.
11:20It could keep a planet complete for millions of years.
11:27Perhaps this dream will come true towards the end of the century, but in the meantime,
11:31there are numerous ways to take advantage of the unlimited energy of our sun.
11:39One square meter of land in Paris consumes 1.3 megawatts per hour, which is equivalent
11:46to a barrel of oil.
11:49Most people ignore that fact.
11:52Now we need to take into account what we didn't know about energy.
11:57Without exploiting until recently, solar energy is booming.
12:00Welcome to the era of the gigantic solar energy plants.
12:05Crescent Dunes, in the Nevada desert, is a thermodynamic solar power plant.
12:10More than 10,000 heliostats, mirrors that follow the path of the sun, form a circle
12:15of 3 kilometers in diameter and concentrate solar light on a receiver fixed at the top
12:20of a tower of 170 meters.
12:26The very high temperatures heat molten salt, which is stored in tanks.
12:31In a second phase it is used to produce steam by moving the turbines to generate electricity.
12:38The plant produces more than 110 megawatts, that is, enough power for more than 75,000
12:44homes.
12:45This technology allows the production of clean energy with zero emissions even after
12:50the setting of the sun.
12:52This industry was practically non-existent 10 years ago.
12:57There was nothing equivalent to the power of nuclear or thermal plants anywhere.
13:02Today we are generating 200 gigawatts all over the world.
13:06And solar energy already represents 1% of our electricity.
13:10All that in just 10 years.
13:13To expand, solar energy requires space.
13:17How can we install it in the center of cities as close as possible to consumers
13:22in order to minimize energy loss?
13:25For now, the only solution is to use fixed solar panels with low performance.
13:30It's a false idea.
13:32When you transform coal or any other source of heat into electricity, the performance
13:37is 33%.
13:40With current photovoltaic panels, the performance is already more than 20%, with almost no
13:47machinery, no pumps, nothing.
13:52The performance is 20% compared to 33%.
13:58That cannot be ignored.
14:01To increase performance, produce energy where people live and create autonomous buildings,
14:07some dream of improving the way existing systems receive solar light.
14:14For me, a building is a machine.
14:18So why not use the machine to convert solar energy?
14:24My name is André Brossel, and I have a vision.
14:29I like to design energetically autonomous buildings, thinking about the future.
14:40All the systems can deploy, for example, in a solar station.
14:46The tracking systems need, as their name indicates, to follow the sun to get the focal
14:53point on the surface where the rays need to converge.
14:59And this movement, which occurs throughout the day, occupies a physical place that is
15:09not available in a building.
15:11It is physically impossible.
15:15The key to have a more efficient solar conversion system is to concentrate the sun's energy.
15:33Using the optical properties of a transparent sphere full of water, André Brossel has invented
15:39a unique solar energy generator, combining efficiency and aesthetics, called RowLemon.
15:47The idea is simple.
15:48The sphere works like a magnifying glass, concentrating solar light towards photovoltaic
15:53cells at the central point.
15:55This ingenious system can produce as much or more energy as a traditional solar panel,
16:00using four times less space.
16:03Okay, this one is throwing 90 watts of incoming light, 2.4 volts and 4.4 ohms, one meter
16:23further back.
16:28Another advantage.
16:29The perfect optical shape of the sphere would make it possible to collect solar energy even
16:34when it was cloudy.
16:36But that's not all.
16:41You don't need to move the whole system.
16:44The focal point is always in the same position behind the lens.
16:49It's traveling with the sun.
16:51You just need to replace the parachute behind it to capture it.
17:22I reduced the sun's rays to 1% per square meter.
17:26It's clear vision because the transfer is so high.
17:31So, I take out of this 1% same power-rated energy as a conventional solar panel.
17:41The spheres can be obtained in different sizes.
17:44Ultimately, the idea is to integrate them into glass panels to build the facades of
17:50the buildings of tomorrow.
17:52Imagine a skyscraper with thousands of square meters of facade and only 100 meters of roof.
18:00So, you install a conventional solar panel and you have a glass roof.
18:06You're not going to cover 20% of the building's consumption.
18:11But if you cover the entire facade with spheres, you can supply energy to the entire building.
18:37What is absolutely surprising is that in a year or two, solar and wind energy have
18:43started to produce electricity cheaper than oil, gas or coal.
18:48And that's not a revolution.
18:50It just means that most of today's research is done on renewable energies and not on
18:56fossil fuels.
19:07Wind is another important renewable energy for tomorrow, but like solar energy, wind
19:13energy is difficult to implement in big cities.
19:17Wind turbines respond to almost 2% of the global energy needed.
19:22In some countries like Denmark, they generate 20% of the annual electricity production.
19:29But wind turbines are huge machines that need to face the wind in open spaces where
19:35they can generate more than 13 meters per second.
19:44How can we implement wind energy all over the world?
19:47Tomorrow, two out of every three people will live in colossal cities like Hong Kong.
19:54All cities have something in common.
19:57They are built to protect people from elements, rain, storms, winds, etc.
20:03Turbines that need winds of 13 meters per second don't make sense there.
20:10My name is Lucien, I'm 58 years old, and I'm trying to find alternative energies that
20:17are still relevant in 50 years.
20:25We live in a world where things have to be practical.
20:29We must be able to use what we invent.
20:33Any scientist with self-love has to be able to fight against global warming.
20:42He has to do it.
20:48Offering solutions doesn't necessarily mean spending years and years investigating.
20:55It's just about simplifying existing systems.
21:00To implement wind energy in cities, Lucien has designed a system similar to wind turbines.
21:07They are 26 centimeters in diameter, are modular, and can operate with winds as weak as one meter per second.
21:16The best thing is that you only have to connect them to each other.
21:20Each turbine has a surface area of 26 centimeters, so if you use 10 of them,
21:26you end up with a row of 2.6 meters of interconnected turbines.
21:31Working as one, we are able to cover large surfaces with very small devices,
21:38producing enormous amounts of energy.
21:44The design of these micro turbines is particularly ingenious.
21:48The wind blows through a cylinder, allowing the turbines to operate in both directions,
21:53without having the wind in the face, unlike the traditional 3-axis turbines.
21:58These plastic-molded and one-piece devices are practically indestructible and easy to install.
22:09I always describe my system in a very simple way, compared to traditional turbines.
22:15Ours cost half as much and produce five times as much energy,
22:21with very low wind speeds.
22:24They last much longer.
22:26They can last 50 years, while conventional turbines last 15 to 20 years.
22:32And the production cost of one kilowatt hour is between 25 and 50 times cheaper.
22:40This concept of extremely profitable urban wind turbines has already spread over 45 countries.
22:47In Hong Kong, there are 60 installations today,
22:50but they are still far from being able to meet the enormous energy need of the city,
22:55simply because of the available space.
23:00The energy produced by an installation is enough to feed a two-story house.
23:09So imagine 100 or 200 floors.
23:17Hong Kong is interesting from an energy perspective,
23:21because I think it is the worst mistake possible.
23:25They don't have much space here,
23:27so they have managed to pile up 7 million people in an area smaller than Paris.
23:33The buildings are 100 to 150 meters high.
23:38Energy consumption is 5, 6, 7, 10 times higher than anywhere else in the world.
23:44It's horrible.
23:58People pay their bills.
24:01But apart from that, they have no idea what energy is.
24:07Electricity is not visible.
24:11At some point, they will need to understand the cost of that energy,
24:17because once they are aware, they will tend to save it.
24:21If nothing is done in the next few years,
24:24if nothing changes,
24:26all megacities will look like Hong Kong.
24:33But if we can solve the problem in Hong Kong,
24:36basically we will have solved it all over the world.
24:51Some say that a drastic decrease in the price of oil
24:54will seriously damage the development of renewable energies.
24:58But I think we have to look at it differently.
25:00Today we can use cheap oil to build wind turbines,
25:04solar panels and biofuel plants.
25:07We can use economic energy to build sustainable infrastructures.
25:13This is the direction we need to take to avoid oil.
25:18It should be used to build something durable,
25:22not to burn in a car or in an oven.
25:31For more than a century, the electricity we use daily
25:34has been generated by power plants using fossil fuels,
25:38and also by nuclear power plants and hydroelectric plants,
25:42as well as by wind farms and solar panels.
25:47The last two resources are intermittent
25:49and should be integrated into the old electrical networks
25:52that need continuous improvements.
25:54If a line or a plant falls,
25:56it is not able to produce enough electricity,
25:59we have a blackout.
26:03The current network has been built and optimized
26:06for a certain mode of production.
26:09Today production is evolving
26:12because we are heading towards the distribution of energy,
26:15a part of the network can become a resource source.
26:19A wind turbine on the Breton coast
26:23can supply electricity to local residents.
26:28The network is changing, but there is no need to be pessimistic.
26:32By replacing the old,
26:34by changing polluting systems for clean systems,
26:38by adequate technology and by managing
26:41through smart networks,
26:43we will be able to develop things
26:46long before problems arise.
26:55The idea of an intelligent electrical distribution network,
26:58or intelligent network,
27:00consists of integrating innovative computer technologies
27:03in each part of the network,
27:05with the intention of optimizing production and distribution
27:08and adjusting demand peaks.
27:14Electricity cannot be stored easily and quickly on a large scale.
27:21Smart network technologies adjust supply and demand in real time,
27:26based on prioritizing consumer needs.
27:36Finally, renewable energy resources,
27:39as well as energy production systems
27:42at the level of users,
27:44are integrated into these smart networks.
27:49In the summer months,
27:51excess power is reused in the main grid
27:54or in nearby houses.
27:59And vice versa,
28:01when a house does not produce enough electricity,
28:04it receives excess solar energy from other houses
28:07or from the electrical grid.
28:10This is possible with the use of smart counters,
28:13remotely controlled and connected
28:15to all electrical devices in our house.
28:20Batteries can store or release electricity
28:23depending on the time of day.
28:25Supply and demand are managed precisely
28:28using the principle of communicating vessels.
28:32Energy intercommunication will soon become a reality.
28:35The network will be increasingly better adjusted
28:38to more sensitive and autonomous electrical systems
28:41that limit energy waste.
28:44We must abandon the idea
28:46that there will be only one solution
28:48to cover all our production, efficiency and storage needs.
28:52There will be a multitude of solutions.
28:54That is what is intelligent and interesting.
28:58Each country, each company, even each village
29:02will be able to apply the techniques
29:05that best adapt to their climate, their economy,
29:08their industrial level and their mentality.
29:14We need to improve systems at all levels.
29:17At the same time, we have to improve the energy efficiency
29:20of everything that surrounds us,
29:22starting with the isolation of homes.
29:27But the biggest challenge is in the industrial field.
29:3036% of the world's energy is consumed by the industrial sector.
29:35Half of that energy is consumed
29:37to manufacture only five materials,
29:40steel, cement, paper, plastic and aluminum.
29:44If we cannot use less energy to manufacture them,
29:47then we will have to settle for less.
29:54We could use a third less of these materials
29:57without compromising the solidity
29:59or the operation of buildings or vehicles.
30:03But we need to go further.
30:08For many years, in which we have been collecting information,
30:12I have realized that at the end of the process,
30:15the cost of electricity was greater than at the beginning.
30:18So we need to go to the beginning of that process
30:21and see what we build and how we build it
30:24to save materials and to make the system work in the long term,
30:27to return that value to the same system.
30:30Things would be very different then.
30:34We consume and accumulate non-stop objects over and over again.
30:38But how have they been manufactured?
30:40With what components?
30:42When they go out of fashion or stop working,
30:44we just throw them away.
30:46With the intention of saving more and more energy,
30:49we need to instill systematic and large-scale recycling.
30:53The figures speak for themselves.
30:55The energy wasted on throwing away newspapers or soda cans
30:59is equivalent to the productivity of 15 power plants.
31:03Conversely, the energy saved by recycling steel
31:06is equivalent to the annual electricity supply of 18 million homes.
31:10If you look at manufacturing new devices, for example,
31:14it is not done as efficiently as it should be.
31:18And that affects the system.
31:21You change the system so that you are unable to find options.
31:24Because you can't deal with all the energy
31:28spent on hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines.
31:33You're saying...
31:34That's why we need to seriously consider
31:37a complete change in the system.
31:41But can everything be recycled?
31:43Wait a minute. What are you doing, Doc?
31:47I need fuel.
31:51Go ahead. Quick, get in the car.
32:22The smartphone.
32:24It's manufacturing a sustainable model
32:26aptly called Fairphone.
32:29We started making phones
32:31because we know they're a symbol of our economic system.
32:35My name is Tessa Burning and I'm 39 years old.
32:40I do believe that together we can change
32:43the way we produce our phones.
32:47What we found was that smartphones
32:49had an incredible impact in our minds,
32:52in the materials that we use to build them,
32:55and in our working conditions,
32:57in the way that we use them in the short term
33:00and in the way that we recycle them.
33:03And with our project,
33:05we believe that we can change some aspects of this process.
33:10Fairphone is a marked contrast
33:12with traditional smartphones
33:14that have a closed design,
33:16a compact system that we can't fix ourselves if it breaks down.
33:20They contain more than 40 precious metals,
33:22some combined and used in tiny amounts
33:25in each part of the phone,
33:27making them difficult to recycle.
33:31Finally, they're not ethical.
33:32Some of the metals used,
33:34like the tantalum extracted from the coltan,
33:36come from areas of war, like East Congo.
33:40We use the tantalum that comes from gold or fair trade,
33:44or areas of the world that are free from conflict.
33:47We look at the design,
33:49because one of the main points to make Fairphones
33:52is to take that design
33:54and turn it into something that lasts a long time,
33:57and that the people are able to repair it themselves.
34:04What we're looking for with our designs
34:06is that if something breaks,
34:07you don't have to throw the phone in the trash.
34:11I am Miguel Ballester,
34:13and my vision for the world is that
34:15more companies are created
34:17that do what they can to make a more sustainable world.
34:23Our Fairphone doesn't make a huge difference
34:27compared to what we have done.
34:29You start to notice our work
34:31when you take away the integrated case.
34:34When you take it away easily,
34:36or with details like the battery
34:38that can be replaced by yourself,
34:40something that used to be normal and has now ceased to be,
34:43or with things like being able to change the screen yourself
34:47simply with your fingers,
34:49which is equally important.
34:54You can take it away very easily,
34:56so if it breaks, you think,
34:58great, I can buy a new screen
35:00and I can change it myself.
35:02You don't have to leave the phone forgotten in a drawer.
35:10It's very important that we can repair the phones ourselves
35:13because even their recycling takes a lot of energy.
35:16So what we can do through the product design
35:19is get a simpler recycling.
35:21It's not about a percentage of customers
35:23keeping the phone for as long as possible.
35:26It's about extending the life of the phone
35:29as long as possible.
35:31And that happens with the phone as a whole,
35:34that it goes from hand to hand,
35:36or with the pieces of the phone,
35:38or with the materials it contains,
35:40and that everything is designed
35:42so that its value can go beyond the buyer,
35:45that it can be recycled,
35:47and go back to the beginning of the whole process.
35:54Making the inhabitants of the planet accept this
35:57is a natural part of doing business.
36:00It's a very important shift in thinking
36:03in a very short period of time.
36:06I think that everybody needs to abandon
36:09the idea of making a competition
36:12and move more towards collaboration.
36:19There are initiatives everywhere
36:21that are working to build a fairer world
36:24and to devour less energy by 2050.
36:27However, in the meantime,
36:29greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere,
36:32especially carbon dioxide,
36:34and there's no easy way to get rid of them.
36:37I think the central problem
36:39is the burning of solid fuels.
36:43My name is Andrew Woods,
36:45and I'm 51 years old.
36:47Reducing polluting emissions
36:49is the main goal of a society
36:51that, in the meantime,
36:53has to keep producing energy.
36:57When we burn fossil fuels,
36:59the carbon dioxide that we produce
37:02rises up into the atmosphere
37:04and enters the atmosphere
37:06and becomes part of the greenhouse gases,
37:09gases that don't dissipate in hundreds of years.
37:14If we want to change our energy system
37:17from fossil fuels to renewable energy,
37:20that's going to take several decades.
37:24The idea is to implement
37:26new production processes
37:28where the emissions are smaller.
37:35So, rather than letting
37:37the greenhouse gases
37:39reach the atmosphere,
37:41the ideal would be to store them
37:43at ground level,
37:45liquefying and burying them
37:47in an aquifer
37:49about two kilometres from the surface,
37:52where the porosity of the earth
37:54and the composition of certain rocks
37:56would be of great help
37:58when retaining these greenhouse gases.
38:03But storing liquid carbon dioxide
38:05inside the rocks
38:07involves a few problems.
38:09Bombing the carbon dioxide
38:11underground can be a problem
38:13because the pressure can cause
38:15it to contaminate an aquifer.
38:17So it's necessary to make sure
38:19that it doesn't escape easily
38:21to the surface of the place
38:23where we inject it.
38:27In his laboratory at Cambridge University,
38:29Andrew Woods and his team
38:31try to understand the mechanics of fluids.
38:33The dynamics in play are very complex,
38:35very difficult to predict and reproduce,
38:37and even more so,
38:39to have a reliable model.
38:42We want to understand
38:44how the injected gas works underground
38:47and how long it takes to dissolve in the water.
38:50We have to understand
38:52how it is stored underground
38:54and whether that storage is safe.
38:58Mondstadt, Norway,
39:00is home to the largest carbon dioxide
39:02capture facility in the world.
39:04Here, 100,000 tonnes of this gas
39:06are processed every year.
39:08Various technologies are being tested
39:10for the large-scale capture
39:12and storage of carbon dioxide.
39:14The oil industry is particularly
39:16interested in this process,
39:18as it is the largest
39:20in the world.
39:24If you look historically,
39:26you'll see that as we've gone
39:28from wood to oil and so on,
39:30that transition has taken us
39:32several decades.
39:34So to make a similar transition
39:36would take us a long time
39:38and an enormous investment
39:40in infrastructure.
39:42So the sooner we start acting,
39:44the sooner we move
39:46forward.
40:08There is no need to imagine
40:10going down to the abyss
40:12to extract hydrocarbons,
40:14as we see in science fiction.
40:16The ocean has a lot to offer.
40:18The resources of blue energy
40:20that we are starting to repair,
40:22the study of algae,
40:24will soon lead to new types
40:26of biofuel.
40:28Wind power plants
40:30with innovative shapes
40:32could take advantage
40:34of the energy of the tides
40:36and the waves.
40:38Giant submarine turbines
40:40are being installed
40:42in the Atlantic Ocean.
40:48But the oceans also provide
40:50another source of potentially
40:52unlimited energy.
40:54It's called ocean thermal energy
40:56conversion, UOTEC,
40:58for its acronym in English.
41:02The ocean is the world's largest
41:04battery, the world's largest
41:06energy storage system.
41:08My name is Duke Hartman.
41:10I'm 29 years old,
41:12and I believe the challenge
41:14of our generation
41:16is to achieve affordable
41:18and renewable energy.
41:24The biggest source of energy
41:26we have is the sun,
41:28and the ocean collects
41:30all that energy in the form
41:32of heat, thus storing
41:34an immense amount of energy
41:36in its upper layers.
41:38If we can capture all that energy,
41:40we can use it 24 hours a day,
41:42365 days a year,
41:44and that use
41:46could be something that changes
41:48the rules of the game
41:50in terms of the energy independence
41:52of the nations interested,
41:54like Hawaii.
41:58Like any other island in the world,
42:00Hawaii is extremely concerned
42:02about the problems related
42:04to climate change.
42:06Lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
42:08the Hawaiian Islands aim
42:10to get rid of fossil fuels
42:12and become the first
42:14North American state
42:16to reach 100% renewable energy
42:18by 2045.
42:20Right now, Hawaii depends
42:22entirely on fossil fuel
42:24for its energy supply.
42:26The goal of UOTEC
42:28is to get local
42:30renewable resources
42:32for the first time.
42:50What we need to do
42:52is to set up pumping circuits
42:54for the surface water
42:56and the deep water.
42:58We need both, that is,
43:00to pump the sea energy.
43:02When we pump,
43:04water enters the plant.
43:06It is the source of heat
43:08that heats the fluids
43:10that mix with ammonia,
43:12reducing, in turn,
43:14the temperature of these fluids
43:16so that they can boil
43:18at the same temperature
43:20as the water in the ocean.
43:22As you can see,
43:24the fluid moves
43:26simply with the temperature
43:28and at that point
43:30is where the plant
43:32starts to run.
43:34The fluid becomes
43:36a high-pressure steam
43:38that moves a turbine
43:40that produces energy
43:42and then returns
43:44to the cold part of the system
43:46to condense
43:48in liquid form
43:50and restart the cycle
43:52so that it never
43:54leaves the system.
43:59So basically,
44:01you set up all the equipment
44:03at the first moment
44:05and once you start pumping
44:07seawater, it generates
44:09a force map that can
44:11keep the plant running
44:13and supply energy to the network.
44:15So basically, the fuel
44:17is free. We're using
44:19sunlight and seawater.
44:21That's the only thing.
44:23This is the electrical system.
44:25We're driving between
44:27100 megawatts per hour
44:29in normal hours
44:31and 115 megawatts in peak hours
44:33and continuously
44:35throughout the day.
44:37What we're doing here
44:39is validating the technology
44:41of the turbines
44:43and we're going to scale
44:45and commercialize it.
44:47Scaling up the size
44:49of the installations
44:51and pushing us away
44:53from the ocean
44:55requires longer pipes
44:57and floating platforms
44:59and that all that material
45:01is able to withstand
45:03the hardness of the sea.
45:05But it's not something
45:07that we can't do.
45:09Humanity always finds
45:11a way and engineering
45:13a solution to solve
45:15the challenges.
45:17We think that we can
45:19produce four times
45:21the equivalent of the
45:23population,
45:25quadruple the population
45:27and still maintain
45:29the supply.
45:31The favorable areas
45:33for Laotek cover
45:35more than 120 million
45:37square kilometers,
45:39a third of the world's
45:41ocean surface.
45:43Laotek's theoretical principles
45:45were formulated for the first time
45:47in the 19th century and even
45:49Julio Verne refers to them
45:51Laotek will be launched
45:53in Martinique in 2018.
45:55Located 7 kilometers
45:57from the coast,
45:59the first 16 megawatt floating platform
46:01will supply electricity
46:03to 35,000 homes.
46:05Despite the relatively low
46:07efficiency of Laotek plants
46:09to generate electricity
46:11all day long without
46:13having to store energy,
46:15it is an attractive option
46:17to support an energy mix
46:19for the south and for the islands.
46:37We have to take care
46:39of the planet individually
46:41and as a group
46:43and at this moment
46:45we are trying to continue
46:47to do so.
46:55We have to take care
46:57of the whole world
46:59together and that means
47:01responsibility,
47:03a task that consists
47:05of taking care
47:07of the environment
47:09because now we are
47:11at an inflection point
47:13and if we want our children
47:15we have to make a drastic change.
47:27One of the challenges
47:29that we have to face
47:31is trying to change
47:33the energy production systems
47:35that we have today
47:37because it is necessary
47:39to do it systematically.
47:41We have all the ingredients
47:43to produce large amounts
47:45of energy while
47:47we preserve the planet.
47:49Fundamentally, changing the world
47:51and making better use of energy
47:53is possible.
47:55It is a great moment
47:57for the pioneers,
47:59for the explorers,
48:01inventors and innovators
48:03to reach new and
48:05extraordinary solutions
48:07but we have to let them
48:09change what we have now.
48:11What we have now is not enough.
48:13It seemed to be,
48:15but it is not anymore.
48:17We must encourage change.