Great Gear

Special Report 1: Rethinking Hydroelectricity (1x11)

Data di messa in onda: Giu 20, 2012

Special Report 1: Rethinking Hydroelectricity Using large dams is not the only way to generate hydroelectricity. Small hydroelectric power stations on small aqueducts that flow through the urban district of a small city in Japan are currently attracting nationwide attention. We take a look at these small yet powerful turbines. Japan is blessed with an abundance of fresh water, most of which flows down from the mountains that cover over 70% of the nation's land. This makes it an ideal candidate for hydroelectric power generation. In fact hundreds of dams have been built on the country's rivers to produce electricity. Large dams produce no radiation and almost no green house gasses but unfortunately they are not without some negative impacts on the ecology of the rivers they block. In the prefecture of Yamanashi, however, a local city government has developed a series of very small hydroelectric generators which make use of some old technology and don't require the damming of a whole river. Special Report 2: Taking Urban Solar Energy to the Next Level Solar Panels are becoming an increasingly viable source of renewable energy. Until recently though, their use in large numbers was limited to deserts and other wide-open spaces outside urban areas. In this second "Special Report", we'll be taking a look at a university research facility that is covered with solar panels and is located right in the middle of a city. Making use of the sun's power is nothing new. In Japan, solar panels are becoming more common on the roofs of individual houses, but the lack of space limits their output to significantly less than what an average household consumes. We take a look at a research facility in Tokyo that has developed a practical way to increase the number of solar panels that can be placed on buildings in urban areas. On Site: New Environmental Exposition 2012 Recycling, energy efficiency and alternative energies are becoming increasingly vital to our society. Many companies are pouring a lot of effort into developing technologies to improve these areas. For this "On Site" segment, Kanako Sachno reports from the New Environmental Exposition 2012, which showcases new trends in eco-businesses. Schedule: May 22-25 Location: Tokyo Big Sight As the need to protect the ecology of our planet becomes more and more urgent, environmental technologies and businesses that use them are growing at an unprecedented rate. Innovation is one of the key elements in protecting the environment. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle isn't just an environmentalist mantra, it's an incentive for even more companies to develop products and technologies that make it easy and inexpensive for us to take care of the world we live in.