:00:01. > :00:11.that thousands of jobs created here by Japanese companies could be put
:00:11. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:33.at risk. Welcome to Reporters. From here we
:00:33. > :00:41.globe. America's oil and gas boom: we
:00:42. > :00:46.investigate the dawn of a new era With oil fields like this, America
:00:46. > :00:50.may be on course to produce as much oil as Saudi Arabia.
:00:50. > :00:58.The power of the plant. We meet the scientists turning sunlight into
:00:58. > :01:02.energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.
:01:02. > :01:10.As the Taliban pledges to keep up its fight against NATO troops in
:01:10. > :01:13.Afghanistan, we join US and Afghan forces on the frontline. US troops
:01:13. > :01:17.are keeping a lookout for any Taliban fighters, while the Afghan
:01:17. > :01:21.army is clearing the village. We investigate China's growing spate
:01:21. > :01:28.of food scandals, and the measures people are taking to deal with the
:01:28. > :01:31.crisis. People develop their own personal ways to deal with the
:01:31. > :01:39.threat of contaminated food. Some get imported goods, others use
:01:39. > :01:42.information. And, can having green fingers also help you beat the
:01:42. > :01:50.blues? We find out whether gardening can
:01:50. > :01:57.make you happy. Many of us the world over rely on
:01:57. > :02:01.oil every day. When you fill up your car at the pump, heat your house, or
:02:01. > :02:06.buy food, what you pay depends on the price of oil, and that is
:02:07. > :02:13.determined by world supplies. New advances in technology have helped
:02:13. > :02:17.oil companies locate huge fresh deposits in the US. It is not just
:02:17. > :02:24.oil. The US is experiencing a boom in shale gas production, produced by
:02:24. > :02:29.fracking. the controv?I ? the controvthod o
:02:30. > :02:32.fracking. We have been to the new he has been to more familiar
:02:32. > :02:38.territory, the oilfields of California to investigate the oil
:02:38. > :02:44.boom. The rhythm of pumps pulling oil from
:02:44. > :02:50.the ground. It is the beating heart of a modern economy. It is
:02:50. > :02:55.California, but not as most people know it. It is one of the largest
:02:55. > :03:00.oilfields on the planet. An entire landscape stretches for miles, given
:03:00. > :03:06.to the extraction of oil from the rock below. It keeps producing. It
:03:06. > :03:12.is an incredible sight. With more than 10,000 of these pumps, this
:03:12. > :03:16.than than 100 years. When we think it
:03:16. > :03:21.might run dry, someone comes along and finds more oil, or comes up with
:03:21. > :03:27.a new way of getting at it. The result is more oil than previously
:03:27. > :03:34.thought. The owner of one of the oilfields here takes me to one of
:03:34. > :03:39.his sites. We have been pumping oil like this for 100 years. This is big
:03:39. > :03:49.oil country. He has it in his blood. His grandfather and father worked in
:03:49. > :03:49.
:03:49. > :03:53.the wells. He owns 600. He says is enough oil in this country for
:03:54. > :03:59.100 years, with present technology. There is also a lot of oil to be
:03:59. > :04:09.found, yet. Oil once burst from the ground here. This well burst
:04:09. > :04:10.
:04:10. > :04:15.uncontrollably for months. Oilfields have kept adapting. New technology
:04:15. > :04:25.means America is on course to International experts say America's
:04:25. > :04:25.
:04:25. > :04:32.oil fortunes have suddenly been very rapidly. It is a short period
:04:32. > :04:35.of a couple of years. Looking at the forecast two years ago, most people
:04:35. > :04:43.expected a continuing decline in production. Now it is very
:04:43. > :04:47.different. It happened very quickly. Where does this leave alternative
:04:47. > :04:52.energy? This dense mass of wind turbines stands not far from the
:04:52. > :04:58.oilfields. A new flood of oil could undermine moves to get away from
:04:58. > :05:05.fossil fuels. We need to win the battle against this big oil boom in
:05:05. > :05:09.California. We have to win it in on being a leader in responding to
:05:09. > :05:17.the climate crisis. If we cannot win it in California, where can we win
:05:17. > :05:23.it? Huge new reserves of oil are being developed. The stuff itself is
:05:23. > :05:29.in hot demand. It is becoming harder to get oil out of the ground. You
:05:29. > :05:37.must dig deeper. It costs energy. This is the key thing: there is
:05:37. > :05:43.plenty left. It is not running out. The latest sources of oil may not be
:05:43. > :05:53.all that easy to exploit. The oil era that has dawned in these hills
:05:53. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :06:03.is far from over. A glimpse of the underworld. A 3-D view revealing the
:06:03. > :06:07.geology beneath our feet. Each layer is an area of rock. This is all to
:06:07. > :06:15.discover shale. A rock that holds so much gas, it is transforming the
:06:15. > :06:20.future of fuel. It is changing the picture. In 2007, we were looking at
:06:20. > :06:30.importing. Because of this revolution, we are looking at
:06:30. > :06:31.
:06:32. > :06:39.exporting now. Southern Texas, one of many new frontiers for shale gas.
:06:39. > :06:49.The team drills into the deep rock. America now produces more gas than
:06:49. > :06:51.
:06:51. > :06:54.Russia. The key is fracking. It is the key to break up the shale. It
:06:54. > :06:59.has been around for years, but the new techniques makes it easier all
:06:59. > :07:05.the time to get hold of the gas that lies deep underground. The drill is
:07:05. > :07:09.turned horizontally, running right through the layer of shale rocks.
:07:09. > :07:14.The aim is to get at tiny fissures in the rock. Some are less than one
:07:14. > :07:19.millimetre wide. Inside them are molecules of gas trapped inside.
:07:19. > :07:26.Water and chemicals are pumped in at high pressure. This is to widen the
:07:26. > :07:33.fissures. Tiny grains like sand are added to the mix. They are designed
:07:33. > :07:38.to hold the cracks open. It releases the gas. It is then flushed through
:07:38. > :07:45.the drill pipe and back up to the surface. New research is enhancing
:07:45. > :07:55.the process all the time. What this means is that there is a shale gas
:07:55. > :08:01.
:08:01. > :08:04.boom under way. A mass of machinery amid a swarm of pipes. Fracking is
:08:04. > :08:11.about to begin. Here at the heart of the operation, you need fireproof
:08:11. > :08:14.clothing. They mix the water and chemicals, pump them under high
:08:14. > :08:20.pressure along these pipes, up to the well and then down into the
:08:20. > :08:24.rock. They fracture it below. One risk is tremors. They are very rare.
:08:24. > :08:30.Another risk is polluting the water. This happens if the work is not done
:08:30. > :08:37.carefully. In open country, there are few objections, but it is highly
:08:37. > :08:44.controversial close to people's homes. We now have this oilfield.
:08:44. > :08:49.This man had fracking on his California. The company would not
:08:49. > :08:54.comment. The fracking was for oil, not gas, but the process is the
:08:54. > :09:04.same. It is a major inconvenience because of the activity around the
:09:04. > :09:08.clock. As well as the smells, and the dust on the road. The noise.
:09:08. > :09:14.Fracking is worth billions. This terminal in Louisiana built to
:09:14. > :09:18.import gas is now being converted to export it. American shale gas will
:09:18. > :09:27.be sent from here to Britain, Spain and other countries. Potentially
:09:27. > :09:33.huge business. Fracking operations are speeding up, with more than one
:09:33. > :09:41.million in America so far. One state has banned it. With huge demand for
:09:41. > :09:45.fuel, a gold rush is on. It is not just in oil and gas
:09:45. > :09:49.technology that America is leading the way. A multimillion dollar
:09:49. > :09:53.science hub set up by the US government is on the verge of a
:09:53. > :09:55.major step forward in artificial photosynthesis. It is splitting
:09:55. > :10:03.oxygen and hydrogen and combining water, sunlight and carbon dioxide
:10:03. > :10:12.like a plant does. We were given access to the research centre that
:10:12. > :10:14.is turning the idea of a power plant on its head. Some of the world's
:10:14. > :10:17.biggest trees tower over northern California.
:10:17. > :10:24.The redwoods have reached this size by in tapping the incredible power
:10:24. > :10:26.of the sun. Imagine if we humans could do that. If we could survive
:10:26. > :10:36.without burning fossil fuels, then worries about global warming would
:10:36. > :10:37.
:10:37. > :10:40.be over. That is where artificial photosynthesis comes in. Man-made
:10:40. > :10:43.leaves that could generate all the energy that we require, and that
:10:43. > :10:50.technology is closer than you may think. Bubbles, bubbles in a bottle
:10:50. > :10:53.show the process in action. Light, air and water generating a gas which
:10:53. > :11:00.can be burnt as fuel. What we are demonstrating is the splitting of
:11:00. > :11:03.water using simulated sunlight. is how tree leaves do it, turning
:11:03. > :11:10.air and water into the sugars that fuel their growth while taking out
:11:10. > :11:13.the carbon dioxide that warms up the planet. With this technology working
:11:13. > :11:16.and competitive against fossil fuels, we could reduce the rate at
:11:16. > :11:22.which the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing, and
:11:22. > :11:27.stop the acceleration of climate change that we are now seeing. It
:11:27. > :11:29.would be world-changing in every meaning of that word. This
:11:29. > :11:31.laboratory is one of the US government's five energy innovation
:11:31. > :11:41.hubs, combining physicists, biologist, chemists and engineers to
:11:41. > :11:44.develop solar panels that can create fuel rather than electricity. They
:11:44. > :11:52.have cutting edge tools to build new materials, molecule by molecule,
:11:52. > :11:56.nanotechnology is making artificial plants possible. What is different
:11:56. > :12:02.about us is we are trying to take all of this beautiful science and
:12:02. > :12:06.put it together to build a working prototype. It would then be a
:12:06. > :12:09.foundation for a technology. The technology would then be a
:12:09. > :12:13.foundation for an industry that would supply the skills for us. This
:12:13. > :12:21.is baby steps at the very beginning of this journey. Scientists across
:12:21. > :12:25.the world are chasing the technology. But this US lab plans to
:12:25. > :12:28.have a practical prototype within the year. In a lifetime, we could be
:12:28. > :12:33.generating hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol more efficiently than
:12:33. > :12:40.nature. It is a fuel of the future, technology that can be truly
:12:40. > :12:43.world-changing. This year's fighting season has
:12:43. > :12:50.started again in Afghanistan as the Taliban insists that it will keep up
:12:50. > :12:56.its fight against NATO troops. Violent incidents have been taking
:12:56. > :13:02.place across the country. We have been to Kandahar to speak to US and
:13:02. > :13:09.Afghan commanders about the prospects for reconciliation.
:13:09. > :13:14.Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban. Talk of peace still
:13:14. > :13:22.seems like a mirage in the desert. We joined a US and Afghan night
:13:23. > :13:28.patrol to destroy tunnels used by insurgents. The fight is far from
:13:28. > :13:35.over. Just two months ago, the Taliban killed five of the US
:13:35. > :13:43.comrades travelling in similar armed vehicle. There is always going to be
:13:43. > :13:47.some kind of conflict. I believe it will have to happen if they want
:13:47. > :13:51.this country not to go into a full-blown civil war. In another
:13:51. > :13:59.district on a daytime patrol, the Taliban may be in hiding, but they
:13:59. > :14:02.have not gone away. The US describes this area as... But the Taliban are
:14:02. > :14:09.still very active. So US troops are keeping lookout for any fighters
:14:09. > :14:19.while the Afghan army is clearing the village. At a nearby checkpoint,
:14:19. > :14:20.
:14:20. > :14:23.the Afghan police feel vulnerable. One complains that he does not have
:14:23. > :14:31.enough information. He tells me that when the Americans leave in 2014, he
:14:32. > :14:34.thinks the Taliban could retake the whole district within a day. It is
:14:34. > :14:40.perhaps no surprise that many locals are weary of embracing the
:14:40. > :14:46.foreigners or the Afghan security forces that they will leave behind.
:14:46. > :14:51.They are influenced because they are scared of them. They do not like the
:14:51. > :14:55.Taliban. But they do not have a choice sometimes, because if they do
:14:55. > :14:58.not co-operate, they will get hurt or killed. While the Afghan forces
:14:59. > :15:06.have grown in strength, there is still a strong desire to reach a
:15:06. > :15:09.peace deal with the enemy. TRANSLATION: We want peace because
:15:09. > :15:19.fighting never ends by fighting. We can only end this if we can sit and
:15:19. > :15:21.
:15:21. > :15:24.talk. There may still be hopes that peace talks can take place in Doha.
:15:24. > :15:34.But here, they seem remote. We found seven Afghan policemen being
:15:34. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:38.treated, injured by another roadside bomb. It is hard to decipher the
:15:38. > :15:41.Taliban's desire for peace, although we were able to contact one local
:15:41. > :15:44.commander in another province through a trusted source. He says,
:15:44. > :15:54.we will continue fighting until there isn't a single US or foreign
:15:54. > :15:59.
:15:59. > :16:02.soldier in Afghanistan, so we can implement Sharia law. Most foreign
:16:02. > :16:06.troops will soon be leaving, taking with them a lifeline for the Afghans
:16:06. > :16:13.they have been helping. And with no guarantees yet that they will ever
:16:13. > :16:16.be peace. Toxic baby formula, rat sold as
:16:16. > :16:26.mutton and fake eggs made of gelatine are just three of the
:16:26. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:31.latest examples in a series of food scandals in China. Some people were
:16:31. > :16:35.so fed up with what they saw as a slow response from the authorities
:16:35. > :16:36.that they are coming up with their own solutions to deal with the
:16:36. > :16:39.crisis. A year's supply of baby formula,
:16:39. > :16:49.this family of Beijing has scoured the globe for the safest possible
:16:49. > :16:49.
:16:49. > :16:52.source of milk for their only child. He is a one-year-old boy. The
:16:52. > :16:58.problems with locally produced food have brought a deep suspicion on
:16:58. > :17:01.what is sold on Chinese shelves. TRANSLATION: The government has not
:17:01. > :17:06.taken any measures to deal with the food scandals. There is only one
:17:06. > :17:09.answer. You have to pay to find the best food for your child.
:17:09. > :17:15.solution is not cheap. Much of the couple's earnings go towards
:17:15. > :17:19.European milk formula. Even more is spent on imported fruit and
:17:19. > :17:23.vegetables. But it is no wonder these parents and millions like them
:17:23. > :17:26.are worried. Tainted milk formula killed six infants and sickened 300
:17:26. > :17:29.others in 2008, and just this year, 900 people were arrested for crimes
:17:29. > :17:39.involving fake meat, including rat illegally substituted for mutton and
:17:39. > :17:41.
:17:41. > :17:46.sold in market stalls. People in China have come up with their own
:17:46. > :17:49.personal ways to deal with contaminated food. Some import foods
:17:49. > :17:59.and others choose to arm themselves with information. There are dozens
:17:59. > :17:59.
:17:59. > :18:07.of apps that promise to warn users of food scandals. Here is one.
:18:07. > :18:14.Someone said she found a worm in a packet of sausages. A few worried
:18:14. > :18:16.consumers go one step further. This Beijing lab develops food monitoring
:18:16. > :18:20.tests. Originally targeted at companies, now they are increasingly
:18:20. > :18:24.popular with home users. TRANSLATION: Whenever a food safety
:18:24. > :18:27.problem pops up, we produce a matching solution. Where there was a
:18:27. > :18:34.crisis with toxic cooking oil, we spent a lot of time and energy
:18:34. > :18:44.getting the test ready. The lab's bestseller, no surprise, it is a
:18:44. > :18:46.detector that looks for tainted formula. But it is doubtful a
:18:46. > :18:50.battery of home tests will convince them to change their shopping
:18:50. > :18:58.habits. Even the most of Chinese foods, the rice that her son eats,
:18:58. > :19:02.it imported from Germany. Spending a bit of time in the garden
:19:02. > :19:06.can make a big difference to the landscape, but did you know that
:19:06. > :19:09.having green fingers can also help you beat the blues? A new survey has
:19:09. > :19:19.found that people who enjoy gardening are healthier and happier
:19:19. > :19:19.
:19:19. > :19:25.than those who do not. Gardening is good for you. Go
:19:25. > :19:28.figure. It may seem obvious, but now it is backed by research. A survey
:19:28. > :19:37.for Gardeners World magazine spoke to 1,500 people, and a huge 80% of
:19:37. > :19:40.them reported being happy much higher than non-gardeners. This
:19:40. > :19:50.author and presenter has struggled with depression for more than 30
:19:50. > :19:56.years. I have this feeling that the earth heals. This idea that you put
:19:56. > :19:59.your hands in the soil, and it means you are recharging. All the bits
:19:59. > :20:08.that need recharging and topping up are being looked after, and you are
:20:08. > :20:11.looking after the earth. It is a symbiotic relationship. And that
:20:11. > :20:15.power comes not just from ornamental gardens or growing vegetables in
:20:15. > :20:23.allotments. In north London, the conservation volunteers are clearing
:20:23. > :20:28.this area so that children from a local school can use it. He was
:20:28. > :20:33.hospitalised after a nervous breakdown years ago. He says this
:20:33. > :20:39.type of work has changed his life. bumped into a friend of mine whom I
:20:39. > :20:47.had not seen for three or four years. He said, you have changed.
:20:47. > :20:50.You look so much happier now. I am sure you are smiling more. So the
:20:50. > :20:56.benefits are not just physical. It can be psychological as well.
:20:56. > :20:59.Improving your life without you realising it. When you exercise
:20:59. > :21:02.outdoors, you actually work harder, you spend more time in moderate to
:21:02. > :21:09.vigourous activity than in an indoor aerobics class, and then you also
:21:09. > :21:15.perceive it to be easier. So people work hard when they are gardening
:21:15. > :21:18.but it seems to be easier, so it has big imprecations for their health.