Ecopolis
Half-way through this century 75-percent of the global population will live in cities. Sprawling, ever-growing metropolises where citizens will burn through resources like food, water and energy at a rate far outpacing those living in nonurban areas. Mass consumption means a very large carbon footprint and large amounts of waste which, most scientists agree, will speed global warming and pollute cities to the point where each is almost unlivable.
But science has the ability to change the future of Ecopolis, this possible blue-print for city life in the year 2050. Ecopolis can benefit from new "green" technologies being explored today that will lead to a more sustainable city life tomorrow.
In Science Channel's groundbreaking new six-part series ECOPOLIS, premiering Wednesday, December 10 at 10 PM (ET/PT), Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr. Daniel Kammen uses the Ecopolis blue-print as a test bed for new technologies that could reshape the environmental circumstances of the future megacity. Each episode investigates several different visionary, technology-driven solutions to specific future megacity challenges, including: producing enough food and water; finding clean and reliable energy sources; reducing our reliance on oil for transportation; discovering new ways to manage waste; and, increasing the energy efficiency of city buildings.
Dr. Kammen evaluates each innovative solution based on scalability and its ability to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions, choosing one technology per episode that is most effective. In the final episode, he ranks the five previously chosen ideas to determine which is most urgently needed to help revolutionize the ecological fate of future cities.