Wattage from Waste and Watching Our Water

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Science Radio, Engineering, Naked Scientists, Natural Sciences, Technology, Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Science

4.6 • 957 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2012

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How can we extract energy from waste? In this week's Naked Scientists we explore the technology that turns muck into methane and consider the fertile issue of nutrient overload resulting from returning the finished products to farmland. And what about water? Why do we individually use ten times more water than we actually need, and what's the solution for a drought-stricken Britain? Plus, in the news, how astronomers have discovered evidence of life in the universe, but only down here on Earth, and the "ungentlemanly" conduct of the upper classes... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	Stripping down science, the naked scientists.
0:07.0	The Naked Scientists. Hello it's Sunday the 4th of March and this is the Naked Scientists. I'm Ben
0:26.8	Vausler and I'm joined this week by Dave Ansel. Good evening. This week we're
0:31.1	talking rubbish and recycling. We'll be exploring one way to generate power from waste and we'll find out how to keep the country fertilized.
0:39.0	And as England faces warnings of severe drought at unusually low levels in reservoirs and
0:44.0	groundwater, will explore the scientific solutions for better water management.
0:47.6	And in the news we'll hear why astronomers are looking for signs of life in light from the
0:52.4	earth and we'll discuss the new study
0:54.8	that suggests members of the aristocracy might be more likely to lie and cheat to get what
1:00.0	they want.
1:01.0	So if you'd like to get in touch you can tweet at naked
1:04.4	scientists comment at Facebook.com slash the naked scientists or drop us an
1:09.3	email our email address is Chris at the Naked Scientists.com.
1:16.0	The Naked Scientists Podcast is powered by UK Fast.
1:20.0	The UK's best hosting provider on the web at UKfast.co.uk.
1:27.0	According to government figures we produce around 280 million tons of waste in the UK each year.
1:37.5	And while waste management may not seem glamorous, especially when you consider that this includes dealing with the over 90 million
1:44.8	tons of animal slurry, it is essential. It's estimated that we could scavenge back as much as
1:50.6	five terawatt hours of electricity from this waste per year if we use
1:55.0	technology such anaerobic digesters. And we are joined today by Dan Cook from
2:00.5	Viridor, which is one of the UK's leading recycling, renewable energy and waste
2:04.4	management companies. Dan, thank you very much for joining us. Just to kick off, what are our priorities
	...

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