Poster for Planet Mechanics

National Geographic 2008 1 season 8 eps Ended

Planet Mechanics

2008 1 season 8 eps

7.7

Season 1

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Season 1

60 min

S1 · E1 Apr 6, 2008

Air Propelled Sandwich Episode 1

Meet Dick Strawbridge & Jem Stansfield – two eco-engineers who travel around the U.K. & Europe, using ingenuity, resourcefulness & humour to help people lower their energy consumption.

60 min

S1 · E2 Apr 13, 2008

Cow Power Episode 2

Dick Strawbridge and Jem Stansfield bring their unique brand of eco-engineering to a farm in Devon in southwest England.

60 min

S1 · E3 Apr 20, 2008

Lake District Dilemma Episode 3

In Water War, Dick and Jem must make England’s most remote youth hostel completely energy self-sufficient. With the only reliable energy source miles away, the pair must use only the natural resources found in the valley to help power this hostel. But where will Dick and Jem find enough energy to generate enough electricity to keep the hostel up and running? Setting out with two very different game plans, Dick looks to generate energy from a local stream while Jem searches for enough wind power to create a high-powered wind turbine. Jem must create wind turbine blades that are each just over one metre long, and perfectly aerodynamic and identical. With Jem’s wind turbine almost complete, Dick must haul 27 reels of heavy-duty fire hose up the mountain to trap power from a waterfall that is nearly one kilometre away from the hostel. By week’s end, they have built a fully functioning and de-mountable Wind Turbine – and a compact Cross Flow Water Turbine. But, will either eco-friendly solution generate enough electricity to keep the Black Sail hostel open?

60 min

S1 · E4 Apr 27, 2008

Solar Paella Episode 4

In an area known as the ‘frying pan of Spain’, Dick and Jem head to Andalucía in their eco-friendly workshop to help one farmer pump enough water from his well to sustain his cattle. Dick and Jem devise radically different solutions to farmer Jesus’ water problem – Dick harnesses wind power using a traditional windmill pump while Jem pushes his inventive boundaries to the limit with a Stirling engine. But, ambitious Jem may have bitten off more than he can chew, by also volunteering to build a massive solar cooker to make enough paella for an entire crowd at the annual Andalucían festival. While Dick sails along creating his windmill, Jem struggles to pull together a Stirling engine, which uses temperature differences inside a cylinder to move a piston, which can then be used to power machinery – in Jem’s case working a pump to draw water from the well. Will Jem’s ingenuity pay off or will the tried and true windmill pump win out? And, more importantly, can either of these two engineers cook well enough to please the audience with their traditional Spanish paella?

60 min

S1 · E5 May 4, 2008

Electric Water Taxi Episode 5

Invited by former Olympic sailor Alberto Sonino, Dick and Jem travel to Venice, Italy, to help save one of the world’s most beautiful cities from the damaging effect of boat pollution. With 40,000 boats commuting around Venice, exhaust from Europe’s largest car-free zone mixes with water and creates an acid that is eroding away the historic buildings’ precious facades. With a stunning U.S. $30,000 boat provided by Alberto, Dick and Jem get to work on creating an electric-powered motor. To power the engine using a clean power resource, Dick and Jem outfit the water taxi with solar panels that re-charge the motor’s batteries. To test the design, Alberto creates a marathon course that will take at least two hours, encountering open water, bridges, tight canals, traffic and a meeting with the head of Venice’s waterways. Satisfied with the result, Dick and Jem next challenge themselves to build an electric speed boat, using a specialized go-kart motor. Will this boat sink or swim?

60 min

S1 · E6 May 11, 2008

Surf Power Episode 6

Dick Strawbridge and Jem Stansfield bring their eco-engineering talents to County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland in an attempt to harness the power of the ocean waves. It has been calculated that the sea around Ireland could contain enough wave energy to supply over eighteen times the country's entire electrical demand; however, the destructive nature of waves make them a difficult energy source to tap. Taking on the Atlantic Ocean, Dick and Jem want to generate green electricity for Irish surfers Keith and Rosy who tour the coast looking for the best waves in their travel trailer, the 'surf shack'. With a few days and some simple resources, Dick and Jem work with the surfers on a test project that will put the waves to work. Using practical experiments and demonstrations, the Planet Mechanics devise a huge wave energy converter with some surplus sewer pipe and steel and bolt it to a concrete pier. Can the wave converter survive the ravages of the sea? And can it generate electricity required to power the 'surf shack'?

60 min

S1 · E7 May 18, 2008

Heavy Metal Episode 7

Eco-engineers Dick and Jem tackle Britain's affordable housing crisis by turning cheap and plentiful shipping containers into economical and sustainable homes of the future.

60 min

S1 · E8 May 25, 2008

Tree Powered Car Episode 8

The Planet Mechanics pull out every stop for the finale of the series… they run a pickup truck on WOOD! and they drive it through the streets of London.

8 episodes in Season 1

Some details come from TheTVDB.

The series features Dick Strawbridge and Jem Stansfield – two eco-engineers who use ingenuity, resourcefulness and humour to confront ecological challenges head on. Travelling around the U.K. and Europe to help people lower their energy consumption with the environmentally-friendly technology of the future.

Documentary Reality

Where to watch

Not streaming anywhere

Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.

Your rating

Your review

Cast

2 people

Dick Strawbridge

Self - Presenter

Also in

Scrapheap Challenge

Celebrity Masterchef

Jem Stansfield

Self - Presenter

Total runtime 6h 0m · Episode length 45 min · Type Reality

Show info

Premiered

April 6, 2008

Final episode

May 25, 2008

Status

Ended

Network

National Geographic

Country

United Kingdom · United States

Type

Reality

Episode length

45 min

Total runtime

6h 0m

Original language

English

Production

R

Renegade Pictures

Production

United Kingdom

Produced in

Languages

Spoken on screen

English

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