SWITCH ON

Program Rights Date Range

Thu, 02/01/2024 - 12:00 - Sun, 01/31/2027 - 12:00

NOLA Code:

SWON 0100 H1

Number of Episodes/Length:

6 / 30

Genre:

Documentary

Collections:

Media Manager, April, Environment

Rights End:

1/31/2027

Presenter

Austin PBS

Producer

Acros Film & Music

TV-G

CC

Interconnection

Stereo

Year Produced:

2023

Version:

Base

Join Dr. Scott Tinker on an unexpected journey -- in turns heart-warming, funny, eye-opening and unsettling -- to understand the benefits and challenges of bringing energy to more than 3 billion citizens of the developing world. In this spectacular 6-part series, he'll cross Nepal with an environmental health scientist, studying people's transition from the most dangerous cooking fuel, killing millions a year, to the safest; visit Ethiopia's huge new hydroelectric dam and Kenya's largest slum, to see how Africa will power its people; venture into the ports and coal mines that support a growing Vietnam; and install a solar microgrid to bring electricity, for the first time ever, to the Arhuaco people of Colombia.

Episode List

#101 Modern Cooking Fuels
3 billion people still use wood or biomass to cook their food and heat their homes. But these necessities come at a devastating cost: 3 million people die each year from breathing smoke. Dr. Scott Tinker visits Nepal, to see how they – like many developing countries – are transitioning to modern cooking fuels, and the many benefits these bring.

#102 Urban Grid Expansion
100 million people move to cities each year, mostly in the developing world – and they often settle in slums. How will governments and utilities battle cartels, corruption and budget shortfalls to supply electricity to these new urban citizens? Dr. Scott Tinker visits Kibera, Africa's largest slum, to look at the challenges to urban grid expansion.

#103 Developing on Coal
Nearly every nation developed on coal, and countries in the developing world are following suit – because coal is cheap, local and easy to use. Affordable coal electricity is helping lift their people out of poverty, but at local and global environmental costs. Dr. Scott Tinker travels to Vietnam to see the benefits and challenges of developing on coal.

#104 Hydropower in Africa
Many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America aim to build hydroelectric projects, large and small, to bring electricity to their growing cities and power their economies. Join Dr. Scott Tinker in Ethiopia, at the construction site of Africa’s largest dam, to understand the key issues of building hydro here and across the developing world.

#105 Off-Grid Solar, Part 1
For millions of off-grid citizens and villages, building their own solar power system may be the fastest way to get electricity. Dr. Scott Tinker visits a houseboat family in Vietnam, a Maasai family in Kenya, the Arhuaco tribe in remote Colombia, solar nonprofits and innovative start-ups to learn what it takes to plan, fund and build solar far off the beaten path.

#106 Off-Grid Solar, Part 2
Dr. Scott Tinker and a team of volunteers return to the jungles of Colombia with an international solar nonprofit, to build a solar microgrid – as utilities, NGOs and local entrepreneurs are doing across the developing world. With the help of the Arhuaco villagers, for the first time ever this remote community will have the power to SWITCH ON.