North Sea oil is going to run out in about 2040. If we want to continue to live our lives of relative luxury, we must find renewable sources of energy and non oil-derived plastics.

A life of luxury?
Adam and his team will look at how to live a life of luxury in a post-oil era by harnessing hydrothermal energy (energy from water) to heat his bath. They use a heat exchanger that works like a fridge in reverse - instead of cooling things down it warms them up. This uses the principle that compressing liquids give out heat and expanding liquids take in heat.

Corn cob plastics
Most of the plastics used today are made from polymers found in oil. But some polymers do occur in nature, called biopolymers. One example is starch, which is found in corn, potatoes and wheat. So in future plastic may be made from your common spud!

Tuppence an hour
Adam also wants to harness the energy people expend at gyms across the country to power his television. A standard exercise machine used steadily (the equivalent of riding a bicycle up a hill 300 meters high in 15 minutes), produces about 250 Watts of power. But Adam will have to find a lot of volunteers because the power generated by a single machine is only worth about tuppence.

Adam will also look at solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy in his quest to stave off the horrors of a chilled champagne-less future.

Content last updated: 23/09/2005

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