ShmoopTube

00:06

Renewable Energy, a la Shmoop.

00:09

Hey there, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, mee-maws and pee-paws...

00:13

and welcome back to "Renew it or Lose It!"

00:17

Today we have our two contestants...

00:19

Ashley from Portland, whom we caught running her thermostat at 61 degrees on a 67 degree day!

00:26

Let's have a warm welcome for Ashley!

00:29

And Contestant Number 2... Fletcher from Omaha!

00:33

We picked up Fletcher after we found him sitting

00:35

in his living room with every single light switch in his home left in the "on" position!

00:41

Hello, Fletcher!

00:42

One of these two energy-villains is going

00:44

to walk out of here with the grand prize... of not being hung entirely upside down while

00:49

strapped to the blade of a wind turbine!

00:51

Good luck to them both!

00:53

Okay, now down to business... when you know the answer, just shout it out...

00:58

When was the very first electricity-generating wind turbine built?

01:06

Ooh, sorry, neither of you are correct. We were looking for 1891... and you

01:11

could have gotten an extra point if you had known it was built in Scotland.

01:15

As it is, you both move one notch on the Turbines of Nausea!

01:22

Okay, next question... why was the first solar cell built?

01:32

No, sorry... it was to increase the distance that phone signals could travel.

01:37

Ashley -- you should have gotten that one. We've seen your cell phone bill... we had

01:40

you pegged for an expert...

01:42

Give 'em another notch! Okay, redemption time, you two...

01:47

How long did the first large-scale wind turbine last before it broke?

01:55

You guys do not know your renewable energy! It lasted 45 days.

02:03

We've come a long way, baby.

02:04

Next question... when was the first diesel engine successfully run on vegetable oil?

02:15

Aw, those are some nice, totally random guesses... but they are unfortunately totally

02:19

off the mark. It was in 1900, a little before petroleum oils became readily available.

02:26

Speaking of oil... Fletcher, you look like you're about to slip out of your bonds there...

02:30

hold on, buddy! You don't want to fall from that height!

02:33

Okay, let's keep the steam train chugging along...

02:36

How much of the world's power is made by solar panels? You know what -- I'm not even going

02:42

to give you guys a chance to answer that one... it's half a percentage point.

02:46

You wouldn't have gotten it. Crank the lever, Jimmy.

02:53

One last question, and we're still looking for a winner...

02:55

How big is the biggest wind turbine in the world?

03:03

Oh, so sorry... a single blade of the biggest wind turbine is 250 feet long.

03:09

So...just be grateful we only strapped you to this itty bitty one...

03:13

Final notch, Jimmy!

03:16

Well, Ashley and Fletcher, it looks like we

03:17

have ourselves a tie today! We're going to leave you hanging for a few minutes so you

03:21

can reconsider your energy consumption habits...

03:24

...and we'll see the rest of you next week on... Renew It or Lose It!

Full Transcript