JUNE 4 to AUGUST 6, 2006

BEYOND OIL UH Cinema Series focuses on Alternative Energy Solutions Explored in 10-Part Film Series, at the University of Hawaii, during the summer session. Programmed by Don Brown, in cooperation with the UH Office of Sustainability, the series is co-sponsored by the Hawaii Health Guide and Honolulu Weekly, with assistance by Hawaii Pubic Radio's Environmental reporter Sunny Lewis.

Guest Speakers informed on topics covered by the films, ranging from solar, wind and water power, bio-diesel and ethanol production, hydrogen fuel cells, cold fusion, and geothermal power, will conduct a post-film discussion with the audience on the applications to Hawaii's needs.

Showings: Every Sunday at 5:00 PM from June 4 through August 6.
- All screenings will be held in the UH Spalding Auditorium on the UH Manoa campus.
- On-campus parking is free on Sundays and $3 on Thursdays.
- Admission is $3 for UH students and faculty, and $5 for general audiences.

For more information contact: donbrown@hawaii.rr.com or call 223-0130.

Program #1: Understanding the Problem:
Peak Oil, Politics, and the World Supply
Sunday, June 4 at 5 PM

The Oil Factor
Dir: Audrey Brohy, Gerard Ungerman. USA 2005 93 min.
When this film was released last year, many found it easy to dismiss the claims of this documentary that spells out the REAL reason for our involvement in Iraq (the second largest oil reserves in the world) as pure politics. However, the film makes a clear assessment of today's global oil crisis with skyrocketing consumption and declining production. Original footage shot in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan hint at the agenda of the still-classified meeting of Cheney's energy commission--that American oil interests were acting on secret information that Saudi oil had reached its peak, and resolved to control other sources. Maps studied at that meeting pinpoint the oilfields of Iraq. It also explains how Afghanistan is also the key to controlling the oil reserves of Central Asia, putting us in direct competition with China at a time when the world's oil is dwindling. Much of the material outlined in this compelling documentary were fictionalized in the film "Syriana". An important eye-opener that is more important than politics.

Program #2: Solar Energy
Sunday, June 11 at 5 PM

The Power of the Sun
Dir: David Kennard. USA 2006 56 min.
As fossil fuels runout, the search for renewable sources of energy becomes more urgent. This film about the discovery of the power of light, the genesis of solar energy technologies and their vast and promising potential, begins with the findings of Isaac Newton and other early visionaries. It covers the groundbreaking work in 1905 of Albert Einstein on photons, and the work at Bell Laboratories in the 1950s where the first silicon solar cell was produced. The film provides insight into the clean logic of solar energy, its efficiency and many applications. Winner of the Nobel prize in physics, Walter Kohn produced this optimistic and timely presentation, narrated by John Cleese.

Program #3: Understanding the Problem Part 2:
Peak Oil and America's Needs
Sunday, June 18 at 5 PM

The End of Suburbia
Dir: Gregory Greene. USA 2005 78 min. Since WWII Americans have invested much of their wealth in suburbia, a promise of space, family life, safety, and upward mobility--the "American Dream". But in the 21st century, serious questions are emerging about the sustainability of this way of life. With a touch of irony, this film explores the issue as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now and the consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, what does depletion of oil reserves mean for North America and how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? This timely film focuses on what can be done immediately, individually and collectively, to avoid the collapse of a country built on the quicksand of cheap oil.

Program #4: Wind Energy
Sunday, June 25 at 5 PM

Wind over Water
Dir: Ole Tangen. USA 2004 32 min.
With beautiful Cape Cod as its backdrop, this film chronicles an impassioned debate about land, energy and the environment, and helps clarify the issues surrounding the future of wind energy. Is wind-power the solution for clean energy for the future or are there adverse affects on the ecosystem? Are the windmills on the horizon actually a form of visual pollution?

Are private developers attempting to profit from a public resource? A thorough, thoughtful, and informative look at a complex issue.

Playing With:

Velocity: Exploring Sustainability Through Wind Power Dir: Michell Voss. USA 2003 32 min.
The film explores several examples of sustainable-energy projects including wind-turbine manufacturing in Denmark, 100% wind-powered beer production at the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colo., and Green Building at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems in Austin. Austin Energy's GreenChoice program is mostly fueled by wind power.

Program #5: Miracle Fuels:
Cold Fusion & Hydrogen Power
Sunday, July 2 at 5 PM

Cold Fusion: Fire from Water
Prod: Infinite Energy. USA 1999 60 min.
The facts of Cold Fusion's birth are far more dramatic than fiction--it promises to be the ultimate renewable energy source. In this fascinating documentary , find out what happened to the Cold Fusion discovery in the years since the announcement at the University of Utah. In 1989, respected chemists Drs. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons claimed that a table-top, glass cell filled with heavy water, fitted with a palladium electrode, produced so much heat beyond the power put in that the mysterious energy source had to be nuclear. They said it was probably related to nuclear fusion, which powers the stars. The new "fire" from water could not be coming from ordinary chemical reactions; it was far too much energy. Nuclear reactions in a jar of water, producing heat but no deadly radiation? If the shocking claim was real, the world might have a source of infinite, clean energy from the abundant fusion fuel in all water. Thus began the Cold Fusion controversy, which could be one of the greatest revolutions in the history of science.

Playing With:

Element One: Hydrogen (Key to Sustainable Energy)
Dir: Geoff Holland. USA 1996 58 min.
This film heralds the coming hydrogen era, demonstrating how cars and homes can be powered by this clean, efficient energy source. This exciting video delivers the most complete and up-to-date overview of advanced hydrogen technology available today. It features a colloquium of world class energy experts who review the environmental, political, economic, and historical consequences of our present dependence on fossil fuels. Hydrogen-powered vehicles and energy-producing hydrogen fuel cells are demonstrated in Germany, Canada, Japan, and the United States. Pollution-free, sustainably produced hydrogen is predicted to displace petroleum as the planet's dominant fuel.

Program #6: Energy from the Earth:
Sunday, July 9 at 5 PM

French Fries to Go
Dir: Suzanne Harle. USA 2002 17 min.
The story about one guy, his truck and used vegetable oil. This funny and inspiring piece follows Charris Ford, 'The Granola Ayatollah of Canola' as he makes the rounds in his veggie fuel powered rig. Timely, and unlike many environmental films, really makes you laugh. With an eclectic roster of celebrities: Daryl Hannah, Dennis Weaver and Dr. Andrew Wiel.

Playing With:

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
Dir: Faith Morgan. USA 2005 53 min.
Cuba lost over half of its oil imports after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990. This spelled disaster for its oil-dependent economy and society. But by completely reorganizing its agricultural system and switching to alternate and renewable energy sources, Cuba survived. This film shows how they did it.

Program #7: New Ideas & Geothermal Energy
Sunday, July 16 at 5 PM

Playing With:

Geothermal Energy: A Renewable Option
Marilyn Nemzer. USA 2002 22 min.
Geothermal energy is the immense resource of natural heat that is ever-generating inside the earth, which currently produces clean, reliable energy to dozens of nations around the world. The use of geothermal energy, like that of other renewables, helps conserve depleting fossil fuels, promotes sustainable economies, and contributes to energy security by decreasing dependence on imported fuels. It reviews the history of energy use, energy resources, and current environmental issues, as well as introduces renewable energy sources, emphasizing wind and solar. It also explores clean renewables, outlining the science, technology and various valuable uses of geothermal energy. Third, it dicusses how public policy in the United States affects development of renewable energy sources.

Program #8: Water & Hydrogen Power
Sunday, July 23 at 5 PM

Biogas from the Sea
Dir: Hans-Ernst Weitzel. USA 1981 29 min.
German and Italian scientists are converting excess marine algae from the Venice Lagoon into biogas, a versatile, clean-burning fuel. Researchers in Calabria are cultivating phytoplankton in shallow sea water ponds. In both cases, with the help of the sun, biomass is created and fermented into biogas. The potential for generating fuel from algae culture is tremendous. Worldwide there are more than 18,750 miles of desert areas suitable for such energy plantations.

Playing With:

Water Power
Dir: Neal Livingston.USA 1986 25 min.
In 1900 there were over 100,000 small water power sites in operation across the country, but with the advent of cheap fossil fuels, many of them fell into disrepair. Using archival footage and still photographs to trace the history of water power, the film visits operating units of various small sizes. Water power remains a reliable, renewable, non-polluting source of energy. With relatively small investment, 100 to 100,000 watts of energy can be produced using anything from small creeks to small rivers--and the filmmaker speaks from personal experience. We watch the development of his own micro-hydro unit in Nova Scotia from conception to production of power.

Also Showing:

Hydrogen: The Safe & Clean Fuel
Dir: Geoff Holland. USA 2002 27 min.
This film not only presents the promise of a future featuring hydrogen as a mainstream energy source, it also shows us just how far we've already come in our movement towards a viable and sustainable hydrogen based economic infrastructure. The film shows hydrogen refueling stations around the world, tours homes powered by onsite hydrogen generators, and zero-emission bus fleets that benefit cities in the U.S., Japan and Europe. It explores how eight of the world's leading car manufacturers are planning a transition to hydrogen fueled vehicles on a giant scale and are drawing from NASA's decades of experience with this safe and clean fuel. The specific process of deriving energy from hydrogen is outlined and comparisons in safety and efficiency are drawn between hydrogen and gasoline as onboard fuel sources.

Program #9: Coal Power
Sunday, July 30 at 5 PM

Hard Coal
Dir: Marc Brodzik. USA 2006 75 min.
Most of the world's supply of hard coal (anthracite) is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Unlike its more plentiful coal cousins, anthracite is clean-burning and energy efficient. Hard coal gives off roughly one and a half times as much heat as the same volume of oil, and four times as much energy as firewood. During the anthracite boom of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the industry employed 180,000 miners, but the numbers dwindled when coal gave way to cheaper oil after World War II. Today, only twelve independent mining families exist. Every morning at 6 A.M., deep in the mountains, approximately 65 rugged men lower themselves into steep, narrow tunnels 2,000 feet below the earth's surface. These workers will spend more than twelve hours in the sooty blackness, in virtual silence except for the occasional nerve-wracking thunder of dynamite. Filmed on location in the mines, this film contains numerous interviews with politicians, scientists and workers that make us question why these men are being pushed out, just as big business and government leaders are pouring money into the development of technology that will produce cleaner-burning coal energy.

Program #10: Alternatives Around the World:
Sunday, August 6 at 5 PM

Turning Down The Heat: The New Energy Revolution
Dir: Jim Hamm Canada 2000 46 min.
This film profiles innovative projects that show how Renewable energy sources offer economically viable solutions to climate change: Solar energy in Holland, Japan and California; biogas in Denmark and Vietnam; wind energy in Holland and India; and hydrogen fuel cells and ground source heat in Vancouver. We do have a viable solution to global warming...all we need is the political will.

Playing With:

Renewable Power: Earth's Clean Energy Destiny
Dir. Geoff Holland. USA 1999 28 min.
An exciting vision of a world transformed by clean energy. See how solar, wind, and other renewably generated energy can be stored for later use by splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen to fuel transportation or electrical generation. Narrated by Peter Coyote.

Tickets & Directions:

Tickets: $5 general and $3 for UH students, faculty, and staff. On campus parking is free on Sunday.

Directions to Spalding Auditorium: Proceed north on University Avenue two stoplights past Dole St. (Maile Way). Make a right onto the campus. 400 yards past the guard gate, park in the lot on the right at the corner of Maile Way and Farrington Rd. Walk through passage way to the front of the building. Auditorium is on the first floor.

For further information: Call 223-0130 or visit www.HawaiiHealthGuide.com/uh-films