“Switch” film shows world energy concerns

The Visual Arts Theater will show a documentary film “Switch” that covers future energy concerns at 6:30 p.m. on April 26.

After hearing about a recent screening at Oregon State University, Troy Donaldson, an MHCC engineering instructor, requested a DVD from Arcos Films to show to his renewable energy students, the MHCC engineering club, and the community.

Donaldson’s students study different types of renewable energy and the overall energy situation in America, he said.

“This film just brings information to that conversation. It’s a thought-provoking film,” he said. “(It) should make the audience think about our current energy needs, our future energy needs and how we are going to meet those demands.

“It’s very well done… It’s not like watching a lecture in a classroom,” he said.

In the film, Dr. Scott Tinker, director of the Bureau of Economic Geology (a joint University of Texas/State of Texas organization), travels the world to visit energy sites, including some where access is tightly controlled.

During three years of production and post-production, the initial film expanded into the Switch Energy Project with a website that has additional videos to further understanding.

The website says the film’s goal is to provide information about how the switch from one technology to another would happen, based on their investigations.

“I’d like my students to walk out (of the theater) with lots of questions about how we are going to meet our energy needs 50 years from now,” Donaldson said.

The filmmakers visited 11 countries and 26 world-leading energy sites and conducted 52 interviews with experts. “Switch” was directed by Harry Lynch.

“Switch” is scheduled to show in 250 universities and international locations, making a second stop at some sites.

Donaldson said, “We’re all consumers of energy and it’s not going to be just a few folks who solve this problem, it’s going to be all of us who solve this problem.”

The MHCC showing at the Visual Arts Theater is free, and open to the public.