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DISCOVERY CHANNEL TAKES A DEFINITE LOOK AT GLOBAL ENERGY CHALLENES AND ALTERNATIVES FOR POWERING THE FUTURE

The race to power our future starts now. At a time when the world's attention is sharply focused on our destructive dependence on fossil fuels, Discovery Channel delivers a thorough study of how we can transform our energy needs and what our energy future will look like. Hosted by Dr M. Sanjayan, lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, POWERING THE FUTURE is a four-part series that casts a look at the world of energy in the not-too-distant future and addresses the Earth's energy challenge from every possible angle.

From economics and climate change to national security and global politics, energy is the driving force behind most everything on the planet. As the crisis in the Gulf deepens, the ongoing search for viable alternative energy sources becomes more urgent than ever before, but navigating the complex web of options is both complicated and confusing. This <month>, Discovery Channel will pull back the curtain to reveal humankind's quest for clean and alternative energy. In each episode, Dr M. Sanjayan as he explains where our energy could come from and how we can all strive to create a clean, limitless and secure supply of energy.

POWERING THE FUTURE puts energy on the global stage, establishes the goal of a sustainable clean energy supply and addresses the challenges, possibilities and solutions to powering cities of the future. Travelling to more than 30 different locations around the world -  from an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico to the oil sands of Canada, and from Washington, DC to China, come meet the experts and people at the heart of this issue when POWERING THE FUTURE premieres this month.

POWERING THE FUTURE episode descriptions:

The Energy Revolution
Dr Sanjayan explores the beginnings of a shift in energy use that will change the world. Be it national security, the economy, or the health of our planet, there are as many drivers for change as there are technologies vying for a top spot. The hope is for a silver bullet that can solve our problems once and for all. This episode looks at the cutting-edge technologies that could allow us to break our dependence on fossil fuels.

The Energy Planet
Starting from an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, Dr Sanjayan looks at how the abundance of the planet's energy fuels every aspect of life on Earth. From wind, water, the sun, volcanoes and hurricanes, the smallest cells to the tallest trees, Earth has the natural energy to power the planet but mankind is not using it. What can humans learn from the creation of the natural world that will help create energy?

Striking a Balance
We are bombarded daily with conflicting messages about energy from sources with vastly different agendas and motives. This episode filters out politics and special interests by looking at numbers: How many people will be on the planet by 2050 and how much energy will we need? What happens if we grow and consume at our current rate? It is common knowledge that we use enormous amounts of energy, but until it is quantified, it is impossible to grasp the true extent of how much is wasted.

Leading the Charge
Unlikely characters and companies are leading the charge in an energy sea change. When it comes to energy, many unexpected forces are slashing their carbon footprints and propelling the new economy. From highly efficient wind turbines to cutting-edge solar cells, the US has an unprecedented track record for discovering the technologies to break our fossil fuel addiction, but rather than developing and employing them here at home, it has also developed a knack for giving them away.

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