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It is the greatest technological challenge ever undertaken by humankind. The quest to produce the ultimate energy solution, Fusion, a reliable source of clean power. What if we could create here on earth, our very own version of a star, a machine that makes power from nuclear fuel? But so immense are the challenges, the goal of a power-producing fusion reactor has so far remained elusive and out of reach... until now.

As tides rise and fall twice a day, vast amounts of water swirl around the earth. This is a huge energy source that's currently largely untapped. An estimated 3000 gigawatts are available to be harvested globally, enough to power a third of the earth's homes. Yet compared to wind and solar, the technology needed to harness tidal power is still in its infancy. The power of the ocean’s tides is the last great untapped energy source on Earth. From sub-sea kites to floating platforms, teams of engineers are racing to perfect the technology to harness the vast flows of water.

The world's shipping industry is facing a major challenge. If global shipping were a country it would be the sixth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. At current growth rates, if we do nothing, those emissions could double or even triple by 2050. But shipping companies and engineers are creating remarkable new machines to make their industry greener, using a resource that has moved man across the world’s oceans for thousands of years…Wind.

Will explore the strategy, deception and feats of engineering plants use to thrive in the changing weather of different seasons. In the face of conditions ranging from ice and snow to raging fires, survival is often a question of perfect timing - particularly when contending with intense competition and surprising predators.
In this episode, David Attenborough travels to Finland to show one of the most extreme examples of seasonal plant life in the Arctic Circle. He also travels to California to see how climate change is affecting giant sequoias. These ancient trees like all other seasonal plants depend on the predictability of the seasons and our current changing climate threatens their survival.

The meteoric rise of renewable energy has consequences for our electricity supply. While coal and gas fired power stations can generate electricity whenever you need it, renewables are intermittent by nature. So we need a backup plan for when the wind stops or the sun goes down.
All over the world, engineers and scientists are racing to solve one key problem; how to safely and efficiently store electricity at a huge scale but at a low cost. The quest is producing some truly remarkable ideas and this episode details three of them.