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Electricity. We depend on it every day, but don't give it much
thought until we’re forced to do without it. Join us on
a journey into the energy system: we follow energy as it travels
from a variety of generation points, to the “grid,”
across high voltage transmission lines, and eventually into
our homes. We learn about the myriad problems associated with
traditional energy sources — and marvel at the clean,
simple, renewable alternatives that are available now. We visit
people like Vince Cerniglia, whose township is powered by wind;
take a tour of Alice and John Weygandt’s home and vineyard
— and see how their lifestyle and livelihood revolves
around the ever-reliable sun.
After we’ve been electrified, we’ll leave the wires
and head for the roads. We take a ride in a first generation
mass-produced hybrid electric car; check out the student developed
vehicles that run on everything from solar powered batteries
to reclaimed vegetable oil; and journey into the future with
GM’s Hy-Wire, a pollution-free hydrogen fuel-cell powered
automobile which emits water instead of exhaust.
 Lights,
refrigeration, television sets, computers are all powered by
electricity. It’s hard to imagine existence without electricity
because it’s such a big part of everyday life, but how
does it all work? From far-off generating plants to the outlets
in our homes, the system that provides electricity is a mass
of interconnected pieces, known as the grid. Take a look inside
the grid, and then follow a group of students from Neshaminy
High School as they learn about electricity: where it comes
from, how it gets around, and some of the problems associated
with traditional fossil fuel sources.
 More
than 60% of the electricity used throughout Radnor Township,
PA comes from the wind. Wind energy is clean, non-polluting—and
it’s the fastest growing source of electricity in the
world. It’s reliable. It comes at a known cost. And it’s
available now to people in many parts of the country, including
Pennsylvania. Radnor also uses power from the sun, as do the
Weygants in Coatesville, PA. Passive solar energy provides heat
for their home, and they’re in the process of converting
their vineyard to Solar Power as well. Watch the installation
and learn how it works.
 Melrose
Park’s Andy Rudin makes a living as an energy consultant,
and he’s taken his knowledge into his home. His house
is outfitted with solar panels, and he’s got electricity
meters all over the place. He knows exactly how much energy
everything in his home uses—and he knows how much
energy he produces from his solar array. His utility bills
are non-existent because he gets paid a premium for the
clean energy he sends back into the grid…
 Gasoline
powered automobiles are huge polluters, contributing to everything
from ground level ozone in urban areas to air pollution in national
parks to the global problem of climate change. Even big oil
companies acknowledge that the global supply of oil will be
depleted in the next half century, so alternatives are inevitable.
Ellen Sherk takes us for a ride in her gas-electric hybrid Toyota
Prius, one of the first cars of its kind on the market. It emits
90% less pollution than a conventional car—and gets more
than 50 miles per gallon of gas.
 The
Tour de Sol visits Philadelphia every summer on its way to Washington,
DC for national Transportation Week. It showcases an amazing
array of low emission, high gas mileage vehicles, powered by
everything from the solar panels to reclaimed vegetable oil.
Contrary to popular wisdom, clean burning, sustainable fuels
offer more choices rather than fewer, and a look at some of
the participants in the Tour de Sol highlights this fact.
 Hydrogen
fuel cells are considered one of the most promising areas of
alternative energy, because they enable electricity to be stored
for a wide range of uses, including powering cars. General Motors’
Hy-Wire is a $5 million prototype of a hydrogen fuel cell powered
car. Not only does it use no gasoline and run in near silence,
its only emission is water. Take a ride, and see how it works.
Envision a future based on a system of sustainable energy, a
system that not only uses renewable sources for its power, but
which doesn’t pollute. And think about all the steps people
are taking towards that future by doing their part today.
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| Get
Energized — Using fossil fuels to generate
energy worsens the health of our environment. Get information
on the issue and details about solar and wind power from
this exclusive information packed GreenWorks.tv website.
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Energized
Forward
Drive
Rough
Terrain: The Green Machine
Ready
to Roll
Energy
Efficiency
EAC
Video Presention: Radnor Township EAC Leads the Way in Clean
and Efficient Energy Use
(Real
Player Video)
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it here for free.
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