21/07/2013 Reporters

that thousands of jobs created here by Japanese companies could be put

at risk. Welcome to Reporters. From here we

globe. America's oil and gas boom: we

investigate the dawn of a new era With oil fields like this, America

may be on course to produce as much oil as Saudi Arabia.

The power of the plant. We meet the scientists turning sunlight into

energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.

As the Taliban pledges to keep up its fight against NATO troops in

Afghanistan, we join US and Afghan forces on the frontline. US troops

are keeping a lookout for any Taliban fighters, while the Afghan

army is clearing the village. We investigate China's growing spate

of food scandals, and the measures people are taking to deal with the

crisis. People develop their own personal ways to deal with the

threat of contaminated food. Some get imported goods, others use

information. And, can having green fingers also help you beat the

blues? We find out whether gardening can

make you happy. Many of us the world over rely on

oil every day. When you fill up your car at the pump, heat your house, or

buy food, what you pay depends on the price of oil, and that is

determined by world supplies. New advances in technology have helped

oil companies locate huge fresh deposits in the US. It is not just

oil. The US is experiencing a boom in shale gas production, produced by

fracking. the controv?I ? the controvthod o

fracking. We have been to the new he has been to more familiar

territory, the oilfields of California to investigate the oil

boom. The rhythm of pumps pulling oil from

the ground. It is the beating heart of a modern economy. It is

California, but not as most people know it. It is one of the largest

oilfields on the planet. An entire landscape stretches for miles, given

to the extraction of oil from the rock below. It keeps producing. It

is an incredible sight. With more than 10,000 of these pumps, this

than than 100 years. When we think it

might run dry, someone comes along and finds more oil, or comes up with

a new way of getting at it. The result is more oil than previously

thought. The owner of one of the oilfields here takes me to one of

his sites. We have been pumping oil like this for 100 years. This is big

oil country. He has it in his blood. His grandfather and father worked in

the wells. He owns 600. He says is enough oil in this country for

100 years, with present technology. There is also a lot of oil to be

found, yet. Oil once burst from the ground here. This well burst

uncontrollably for months. Oilfields have kept adapting. New technology

means America is on course to International experts say America's

oil fortunes have suddenly been very rapidly. It is a short period

of a couple of years. Looking at the forecast two years ago, most people

expected a continuing decline in production. Now it is very

different. It happened very quickly. Where does this leave alternative

energy? This dense mass of wind turbines stands not far from the

oilfields. A new flood of oil could undermine moves to get away from

fossil fuels. We need to win the battle against this big oil boom in

California. We have to win it in on being a leader in responding to

the climate crisis. If we cannot win it in California, where can we win

it? Huge new reserves of oil are being developed. The stuff itself is

in hot demand. It is becoming harder to get oil out of the ground. You

must dig deeper. It costs energy. This is the key thing: there is

plenty left. It is not running out. The latest sources of oil may not be

all that easy to exploit. The oil era that has dawned in these hills

is far from over. A glimpse of the underworld. A 3-D view revealing the

geology beneath our feet. Each layer is an area of rock. This is all to

discover shale. A rock that holds so much gas, it is transforming the

future of fuel. It is changing the picture. In 2007, we were looking at

importing. Because of this revolution, we are looking at

exporting now. Southern Texas, one of many new frontiers for shale gas.

The team drills into the deep rock. America now produces more gas than

Russia. The key is fracking. It is the key to break up the shale. It

has been around for years, but the new techniques makes it easier all

the time to get hold of the gas that lies deep underground. The drill is

turned horizontally, running right through the layer of shale rocks.

The aim is to get at tiny fissures in the rock. Some are less than one

millimetre wide. Inside them are molecules of gas trapped inside.

Water and chemicals are pumped in at high pressure. This is to widen the

fissures. Tiny grains like sand are added to the mix. They are designed

to hold the cracks open. It releases the gas. It is then flushed through

the drill pipe and back up to the surface. New research is enhancing

the process all the time. What this means is that there is a shale gas

boom under way. A mass of machinery amid a swarm of pipes. Fracking is

about to begin. Here at the heart of the operation, you need fireproof

clothing. They mix the water and chemicals, pump them under high

pressure along these pipes, up to the well and then down into the

rock. They fracture it below. One risk is tremors. They are very rare.

Another risk is polluting the water. This happens if the work is not done

carefully. In open country, there are few objections, but it is highly

controversial close to people's homes. We now have this oilfield.

This man had fracking on his California. The company would not

comment. The fracking was for oil, not gas, but the process is the

same. It is a major inconvenience because of the activity around the

clock. As well as the smells, and the dust on the road. The noise.

Fracking is worth billions. This terminal in Louisiana built to

import gas is now being converted to export it. American shale gas will

be sent from here to Britain, Spain and other countries. Potentially

huge business. Fracking operations are speeding up, with more than one

million in America so far. One state has banned it. With huge demand for

fuel, a gold rush is on. It is not just in oil and gas

technology that America is leading the way. A multimillion dollar

science hub set up by the US government is on the verge of a

major step forward in artificial photosynthesis. It is splitting

oxygen and hydrogen and combining water, sunlight and carbon dioxide

like a plant does. We were given access to the research centre that

is turning the idea of a power plant on its head. Some of the world's

biggest trees tower over northern California.

The redwoods have reached this size by in tapping the incredible power

of the sun. Imagine if we humans could do that. If we could survive

without burning fossil fuels, then worries about global warming would

be over. That is where artificial photosynthesis comes in. Man-made

leaves that could generate all the energy that we require, and that

technology is closer than you may think. Bubbles, bubbles in a bottle

show the process in action. Light, air and water generating a gas which

can be burnt as fuel. What we are demonstrating is the splitting of

water using simulated sunlight. is how tree leaves do it, turning

air and water into the sugars that fuel their growth while taking out

the carbon dioxide that warms up the planet. With this technology working

and competitive against fossil fuels, we could reduce the rate at

which the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are increasing, and

stop the acceleration of climate change that we are now seeing. It

would be world-changing in every meaning of that word. This

laboratory is one of the US government's five energy innovation

hubs, combining physicists, biologist, chemists and engineers to

develop solar panels that can create fuel rather than electricity. They

have cutting edge tools to build new materials, molecule by molecule,

nanotechnology is making artificial plants possible. What is different

about us is we are trying to take all of this beautiful science and

put it together to build a working prototype. It would then be a

foundation for a technology. The technology would then be a

foundation for an industry that would supply the skills for us. This

is baby steps at the very beginning of this journey. Scientists across

the world are chasing the technology. But this US lab plans to

have a practical prototype within the year. In a lifetime, we could be

generating hydrocarbon fuels such as methanol more efficiently than

nature. It is a fuel of the future, technology that can be truly

world-changing. This year's fighting season has

started again in Afghanistan as the Taliban insists that it will keep up

its fight against NATO troops. Violent incidents have been taking

place across the country. We have been to Kandahar to speak to US and

Afghan commanders about the prospects for reconciliation.

Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban. Talk of peace still

seems like a mirage in the desert. We joined a US and Afghan night

patrol to destroy tunnels used by insurgents. The fight is far from

over. Just two months ago, the Taliban killed five of the US

comrades travelling in similar armed vehicle. There is always going to be

some kind of conflict. I believe it will have to happen if they want

this country not to go into a full-blown civil war. In another

district on a daytime patrol, the Taliban may be in hiding, but they

have not gone away. The US describes this area as... But the Taliban are

still very active. So US troops are keeping lookout for any fighters

while the Afghan army is clearing the village. At a nearby checkpoint,

the Afghan police feel vulnerable. One complains that he does not have

enough information. He tells me that when the Americans leave in 2014, he

thinks the Taliban could retake the whole district within a day. It is

perhaps no surprise that many locals are weary of embracing the

foreigners or the Afghan security forces that they will leave behind.

They are influenced because they are scared of them. They do not like the

Taliban. But they do not have a choice sometimes, because if they do

not co-operate, they will get hurt or killed. While the Afghan forces

have grown in strength, there is still a strong desire to reach a

peace deal with the enemy. TRANSLATION: We want peace because

fighting never ends by fighting. We can only end this if we can sit and

talk. There may still be hopes that peace talks can take place in Doha.

But here, they seem remote. We found seven Afghan policemen being

treated, injured by another roadside bomb. It is hard to decipher the

Taliban's desire for peace, although we were able to contact one local

commander in another province through a trusted source. He says,

we will continue fighting until there isn't a single US or foreign

soldier in Afghanistan, so we can implement Sharia law. Most foreign

troops will soon be leaving, taking with them a lifeline for the Afghans

they have been helping. And with no guarantees yet that they will ever

be peace. Toxic baby formula, rat sold as

mutton and fake eggs made of gelatine are just three of the

latest examples in a series of food scandals in China. Some people were

so fed up with what they saw as a slow response from the authorities

that they are coming up with their own solutions to deal with the

crisis. A year's supply of baby formula,

this family of Beijing has scoured the globe for the safest possible

source of milk for their only child. He is a one-year-old boy. The

problems with locally produced food have brought a deep suspicion on

what is sold on Chinese shelves. TRANSLATION: The government has not

taken any measures to deal with the food scandals. There is only one

answer. You have to pay to find the best food for your child.

solution is not cheap. Much of the couple's earnings go towards

European milk formula. Even more is spent on imported fruit and

vegetables. But it is no wonder these parents and millions like them

are worried. Tainted milk formula killed six infants and sickened 300

others in 2008, and just this year, 900 people were arrested for crimes

involving fake meat, including rat illegally substituted for mutton and

sold in market stalls. People in China have come up with their own

personal ways to deal with contaminated food. Some import foods

and others choose to arm themselves with information. There are dozens

of apps that promise to warn users of food scandals. Here is one.

Someone said she found a worm in a packet of sausages. A few worried

consumers go one step further. This Beijing lab develops food monitoring

tests. Originally targeted at companies, now they are increasingly

popular with home users. TRANSLATION: Whenever a food safety

problem pops up, we produce a matching solution. Where there was a

crisis with toxic cooking oil, we spent a lot of time and energy

getting the test ready. The lab's bestseller, no surprise, it is a

detector that looks for tainted formula. But it is doubtful a

battery of home tests will convince them to change their shopping

habits. Even the most of Chinese foods, the rice that her son eats,

it imported from Germany. Spending a bit of time in the garden

can make a big difference to the landscape, but did you know that

having green fingers can also help you beat the blues? A new survey has

found that people who enjoy gardening are healthier and happier

than those who do not. Gardening is good for you. Go

figure. It may seem obvious, but now it is backed by research. A survey

for Gardeners World magazine spoke to 1,500 people, and a huge 80% of

them reported being happy much higher than non-gardeners. This

author and presenter has struggled with depression for more than 30

years. I have this feeling that the earth heals. This idea that you put

your hands in the soil, and it means you are recharging. All the bits

that need recharging and topping up are being looked after, and you are

looking after the earth. It is a symbiotic relationship. And that

power comes not just from ornamental gardens or growing vegetables in

allotments. In north London, the conservation volunteers are clearing

this area so that children from a local school can use it. He was

hospitalised after a nervous breakdown years ago. He says this

type of work has changed his life. bumped into a friend of mine whom I

had not seen for three or four years. He said, you have changed.

You look so much happier now. I am sure you are smiling more. So the

benefits are not just physical. It can be psychological as well.

Improving your life without you realising it. When you exercise

outdoors, you actually work harder, you spend more time in moderate to

vigourous activity than in an indoor aerobics class, and then you also

perceive it to be easier. So people work hard when they are gardening

but it seems to be easier, so it has big imprecations for their health.