The Colony (2009–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Power Struggle - full transcript
We are on the edge of a global
catastrophic disaster.
Human conflict.
Nuclear bombs.
Natural disasters.
Chemical and biological warfare.
Without warning, the world as we
know it can come to an end.
Six days ago,
these volunteers entered
a 10-week experiment
designed to see if they could
survive and rebuild
after a simulated
global disaster.
Their world
constructed to mirror
what survivors could experience
if a viral outbreak
left los angeles
and the rest of the planet
devastated.
The volunteers' backgrounds
and skill sets
represent a cross section
of modern society.
Their new home,
a cordoned-off,
80,000-square-foot warehouse
near downtown los angeles.
An old manufacturing plant
for something.
Inside,
they've been provided
with limited tools,
supplies, and food.
They have no electricity...
no running water...
nothing.
...and no communication
with the outside world.
As part of the experiment,
a gang of looters and thugs
will attempt to compromise
the colonists' resources
and security.
Yeah!
So far, the volunteers have
focused on survival basics...
fire...
a water filter...
electricity...
whoo!
And their security
has been tested.
If there's only two
of them,
i want you to get on out there
and kick some butt!
Now sustainable energy...
you've got a bomb here.
You light it,
it will blow.
...and a dangerous
street scavenge.
Drop that or i'll shoot you!
What we got,
we go on back!
When a person is forced to be
in a place of seclusion
and forced to be away
from things that are familiar,
it creates a sense of anxiety
and internal unrest.
Morgan.
A recent rainstorm
provided the colonists
with a 9-day supply of water.
Now it's time to look beyond
the basic necessities
and think about how to make
the colony livable.
We have to survive.
This is where we live now.
And there's still so much
we have to do.
I know it will get
more difficult
when we start running
out of things.
It's always the things
that you don't think about
that blindside you,
and all of a sudden you're
without water or power runs out.
Then it's...
it's gonna be a nightmare.
The colonists'
first few days were so hectic
that they haven't had a chance
to take full stock
of the resources
available to them.
Disasters force people
to view themselves
and the world
in a different light.
Things once viewed as trash
may become as valuable as gold.
To survive,
you must use anything
and everything you find.
Did anyone er check
in this thing?
Luckily, we're blessed
enough to find this place
and have all this,
but we haven't even scratched
the surface
in looking around here.
The rest of them
have clothes
to change
into welding safety gear.
I mean, i think
it's gonna take us days,
maybe weeks to figure out
all the stuff that's here.
John c. Discovers
a crate in the side room.
So, i saw them
back over here.
I wonder how long
this has been sitting here.
Let me get it for you.
Stand back.
Ha!
There you go.
Flip.
Watch the nails.
Let it rip.
Watch the nails.
Ah, circular saw.
Oh,
that's a new one, too.
And rechargeable.
That's gonna be great.
"Drill master electric
reciprocating jigsaw."
There were a couple of crates
in there
that had some great
rechargeable power tools,
which will be helpful
for doing woodworking.
The power tools
will dramatically expand
what the colonists
can accomplish.
But they're worthless
until they're charged.
Let's go ahead
and swap this one out.
Joey charges
the batteries for the drill
and the sawzall with
the colony's power supply...
an array of 20 car batteries
daisy-chained together.
But charging the tools
is a huge drain
on the already-depleted
battery bank.
Machinist John v. Estimates
the colonists only have 4 days
of electricity left.
Once the batteries die,
the colonists will have
no lights, no power tools...
nothing.
If those batteries
get drained too quickly,
the voltage drops too low,
we actually have a big
battery bank of junk,
and we are basically screwed.
Finding a way
to recharge the battery bank
takes precedent
over every other project.
The batteries are getting
really low, Mike.
I think we've got to come
some sort of generation.
I'm thinking about an idea
to run a small engine,
run an alternator.
A simple generator can be made
from a small engine,
a pulley, and a car alternator.
To create electricity,
the engine's drive shaft
must turn the pulley,
and the pulley must spin
the alternator.
Just like in a car,
the alternator is designed
to convert mechanical energy
generated by the spinning pulley
directly into electrical energy,
which is exactly
what the colonists need
to charge their batteries.
Michael begins the search
for an engine
to be the foundation
of the generator.
Well, i would rather have
the smallest displacement
combustion engine
because all we're gonna do
is spin an alternator.
This is an alternator.
It doesn't take much to spin.
Okay, maybe not.
The lawn mower doesn't cut it.
Michael tries to get the engine
of an old pressure washer
running.
Let's give it a shot
and see.
Come on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Whoa, guys!
Come on, come on!
Whoa!
Whoo!
No exhaust.
The pressure-washer
engine works.
Now michael can start converting
it to spin an alternator
angenerate electricity.
But to keep it running,
they'll need fuel.
So, we can run the
generator either on gasoline,
which we could either scavenge,
siphon.
Maybe there's vehicles outside.
But i've got to imagine
that that's getting
less and less plentiful.
The colonists begin
to search for gasoline
or another source of fuel
for the pressure-washer engine.
But it's empty.
I know.
It's empty, man.
But i can't find it, man.
Yeah.
Not a lot in it, man.
With an inventory
of less than 5 gallons of gas,
John c. Thinks
of another option.
We have tons of pallets,
so wood is a great option.
So, i think we all agree
we got to get to a more
sustainable power generation.
We got to have something
that's renewable.
In times of disaster,
resource shortages force
the survivors to make do
with the materials at hand.
I used to live in austria,
and i lived with a family
that the grandparents told me,
during the second world war,
they and all of their friends
had to convert their cars,
their gasoline cars,
to run on wood.
John's idea
is called a wood gasifier.
A wood gasifier
consists of two containers,
each filled with wood scraps.
The wood in the first container
is used to build a fire.
The fire heats the wood
in the second container,
releasing a flammable vapor
made of hydrogen,
carbon monoxide, and methane,
known as "wood gas."
The wood gas is then piped
into the pressure-washer engine
that will be outfitted
with an alternator.
The engine will run off
the wood gas just like gasoline.
I mean, the gasifier
is a simple technology
that's difficult to control.
We figure out a system like this
for filling it,
closing it,
building a fire under it.
Handyman michael is skeptical
that computer engineer
John's idea will work.
He's so pie-in-the-sky
sometimes.
And i actually looked this up
a long time go,
but i've never actually
built one.
The idea is great.
The first step is
finding containers to hold the wood.
Does that one have a top
on it, Morgan?
Yeah, it does.
Oh, yeah.
Flip it over.
We got one right here.
Okay?
This is gonna be perfect.
I like it.
It feels good
to be using my brain.
It's fun to be able to,
you know,
sit down and do engineering...
just really using your mind
to figure out a problem.
Okay, so,
what we're gonna do is
we're gonna take
this big one here.
We're gonna put wood chips
in it.
We're gonna put it on top
of this,
and we're gonna cut a hole
in this one,
have a fire going under it,
and it's going to let...
it's gonna make all the wood
chips in here kind of smolder,
but it's gonna release
all of the gas in the wood,
and we're gonna funnel
that gas
in up through
an exhaust pipe here.
While Morgan and
Vladimir fill the barrels with wood,
John c. Looks for a nozzle
to release the gas
from the gasifier.
I've been able
to find a fitting...
just put a little bit
of teflon tape.
I've got this hydraulic fitting.
At this point, we should be able
to cook that thing up
and see if we get a jet of gas
out of this thing.
All right. So, a little bit
of teflon tape here.
Mm-hmm.
Make an airtight seal.
We put the fittings that i had
found, we closed it up.
Vladimir had lit a fire with
the wood that Morgan had drawn.
It looks like
it's catching pretty well.
After 30 minutes
to let the fire build up,
it's time to test the gasifier.
If it's successfully
producing wood gas,
the engineers will be able
to light the vapor
coming out of the nozzle.
Hey, Mike.
So, you want to know what's going on? Yeah.
We started the fire.
We put a nozzle
on the top here.
We're gonna siphon off
the gas.
We're gonna light it
on fire.
You know what?
Um, this is deadly.
You've got a bomb here.
A bomb.
The 10 volunteers in the
colony are running out of power.
They're working on a generator
to recharge their batteries
and a wood gasifier
to produce wood gas,
a fuel that can power
the generator.
Engineers John c.,
Vladimir, and Morgan
are ready to test
the gasifier prototype,
but handyman michael
thinks they've ignored
a potential danger.
You've got a bomb here.
This is deadly.
Michael came outside
to take a look,
and he kept asking the question,
"is this thing...
are we making a bomb?"
Do not... do not light this.
Do not light this.
If a gasifier
is constructed properly,
the barrel will be full
of only flammable wood gas.
If not constructed properly,
air might mix with wood gas,
and lighting it from the nozzle
could create a flashback,
igniting all the gas
in the barrel like a bomb.
That's why we have
the vent opened.
It's still a bomb.
You have fuel
in a confined space,
you light it, it will blow.
I don't want to hear a bang
from in there.
I don't need Mike to watch out
for me or take care of me.
Go away.
The engineers
dismiss the handyman
and ignore his warnings.
If anyone's got tequila, now
is the time to speak up. Okay.
I'm gonna let them
figure it out.
I'm not gonna say anything.
I'm gonna let them fail.
I'm gonna let them fail.
You know?
I'm not gonna save them.
Let's just keep going.
I know what panicked him.
Not used to the fire.
Fire! Look at this. Smoke! Whoa!
They think they know
what they're doing.
They got phds
or fartsy-artsy degrees.
They want to cop an attitude.
Little miss Morgan says,
"get out of here."
You know what?
Blow yourself up.
If the gas ignites,
the project is a success,
but the flame could also light
the gas in the barrel,
creating a deadly explosion.
Burn it! Burn it!
This is only water vapors.
Only water vapors.
The gasifier isn't a bomb,
but it's not working, either.
The distillate,
the vapor that was coming off,
was never... had enough wood gas
to actually ignite.
When the gasifier
failed, i knew why.
But I'm not gonna say anything.
Just because
someone has a letter
after the name "phd doctor,"
does that make them more capable
of surviving in a world
like this?
No, i don't think so.
That's engineers, folks.
The gasifier's failure
sets back the energy project.
Without a gasifier
and generator,
the colonists will be unable
to charge the battery bank
powering their lights
and tools.
But rationing electricity
isn't something the volunteers
are used to.
Some of the colonists
are using the power tools
without waiting for the battery
bank to be recharged.
So, here's what I'm thinking,
Allison.
This is gonna be the sole
of our shoe, right?
Then we can lay it flat.
We have to cut across.
We can use the sawzall.
The trip down the l.a. River
destroyed many
of the colonists' shoes.
So George and Allison decide
to make new ones out of a tire.
But they can't do it by hand.
George needs the sawzall
to cut the thick rubber tread
and the steel belts
inside the tire.
They should be
adults enough to know
that we have a finite amount
of power
and we should use it wisely.
Uh, the battery's dead.
They keep wasting resources
like this, i, you know...
I'm gonna run out of patience.
To help solve
their energy problems,
michael and John v. Continue
to work on the generator.
They need to find a pulley
to spin the alternator.
Finally, the builders
catch a lucky break.
Ohh!
That's what
we were looking for.
Mm-hmm.
For some odd reason,
this fan was sitting way up,
and what i noticed is,
is the drive shaft
is inch and a quarter
or inch and an eighth,
which happens to be the same
size drive shaft on our engine.
Awesome.
So, now
we can put our pulley...
anywhere along here.
We just pick our spot.
Isn't that brilliant?
Wonderful.
The gasifier prototype
has cooled off.
The engineers analyze it
to determine why it failed
to produce wood gas.
It's just goo is coming out.
We're trying to see
if it's charred
or if it had even gotten
hot enough to burn.
In the first stage
of gasification,
wood turns to charcoal.
If the wood in the gasifier
isn't charred,
then it's not
getting hot enough.
We were not efficient enough.
In the end, we never got enough
heat into the barrel.
We need more heat
and a smaller vessel.
With the gasifier
and generator projects
taking up so much time,
some of the colonists
are worried
that smaller projects
might fall by the wayside.
There are big issues
coming up.
It's the anticipating all
the other little
that we're not doing
and making sure that
small projects get done
and that everybody's busy
appropriately.
These little things
are starting to come up,
stuff like soap
and toilet paper.
We're not even finished with
the crap that we need to do,
and now you guys
are micromanaging
with who's dealing
with toilet paper.
We still have no power,
people.
I'd rather have toilet paper
than power.
Great.
To hear Morgan say,
"I'd rather have toilet paper
than electricity"...
what kind of a statement
is that?
In an extreme survival
situation,
it may not be possible
to ignore or dismiss
the personality styles
that may conflict with yours.
Because these might be
the same people
that are actually
keeping you alive.
We got to talk also about
how we're gonna do security
later on tonight.
I, as always, will do the first
long shift, as always.
It's not a long shift.
The scheduling right now
with the shifts at night,
some of the guys think
they can only take
the 9:30-to-12:00 shifts.
That's not how this works.
I was wondering if you were
gonna take on a hard shift.
You keep jabbing me.
Why are you jabbing me?
I don't bother you.
You bother me
all the time.
But do you want to take
a hard shift or not?
I don't mind
taking a hard shift.
We know
that that's the way he is.
We're not trying to baby him.
We're just trying to get him
to a certain point
where he's compatible
with all of us.
I don't really care.
Coming up...
drop that or i'll shoot you!
...a street scavenge.
Start going back.
...and a new threat.
I do not have any degree.
I have nothing.
I have no education.
I can't spell.
I can hardly read.
But yet those people
who do have that capability
seem to know better than me
about what i can do.
Well, has anything gotten done
here that we needed without me?
Well, screw it.
You do better.
Go ahead.
Though energy
is the group's priority,
Dr. George
and trauma nurse Allison
are keeping an eye
on another major concern...
the food supply.
You want to count right next
to what we had,
and i'll just put in
the new number?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
With 10 people,
we're going through a lot
of our canned goods.
1, 2, 3... 3.
We're gonna need more oil.
We're gonna need more sugar.
We're gonna need
more fresh foods.
Whether we hunt it
or whether we forage it
from abandoned homes
or grocery stores,
we're gonna need more food.
That's a concern.
Food isn't the only reason
to go foraging,
because it's extremely important
to be aware
of your surroundings...
what resources and what dangers
might be lurking
just behind you.
So, guys, there's
a number of things we need.
We need to go foraging.
Honestly, we can't build food.
We can't build water.
I don't feel comfortable...
i don't think any of us do...
that all of us leave, 'cause
then this place is vulnerable.
I think you guys are working on
something incredibly important.
It might be best
if you stay.
So, you stay and Mike.
Lock up behind us.
Lock up all the doors.
We stay in groups of at least
two to three at a time,
and we never get too far away
from each other.
In a post-apocalyptic event,
looting is foraging.
There are no owners
of property anymore.
In the aftermath of
hurricane katrina, for example,
people reverted to a pack-like
mentality over food and water.
We see that happen often
during major catastrophes
where people are forced
on their own to survive.
We're not foolish
with all the dangerous people
and the conditions
we have to encounter
when we leave
these guarded walls.
I did some years in a
pretty serious prison, you know.
It's a part of me.
I know I'm a survivor.
So, if you're attacked,
you try to protect your stuff,
and if you can't protect
your stuff,
you protect each other.
John.
But if somebody separates...
John. Have you ever been in a fight? Yes.
Have you ever been in a
life-and-death fight? No.
I have.
I was a member of the military,
and i've seen a lot
of people die.
And i've seen a lot
of people dead.
So, uh...
...that's where I'm coming from.
I'll let you know
what happens
when we go out
after we assess things.
This is no longer the world
of sharing
and good-naturedness.
The only way to control
a wild animal
is being wilder
than the wild animal.
Let's put it this way.
I do not plan to run.
We are going to be the wildest
animal there is.
Oh, you had those.
Great.
No, no, no, no.
Take a peek, so...
just be aware 360.
In a post-disaster setting,
they'll be fierce competition
for the resources
in any given area.
As part of the experiment,
food and other supplies
have been scattered
throughout
the surrounding streets.
Hostile outsiders
are in position
to threaten the colonists'
sense of security
and steal their resources.
They're not allowed
to physically harm them,
but the colonists
don't know that.
Come on, Leilani.
All right.
Hey, guys,
there's goats down here!
We got two goats.
Hey.
We're good on a burner,
but do you need any parts
or anything off of this?
Uh...
there's jerky in here.
Oh, watch your back!
Watch your back!
Drop that!
Drop that
or i'll shoot you!
Get the bag
and let's go.
Start going back.
You didn't... no, no,
no. No conversations.
We got what we got for today.
Let's go.
Roll.
Vladi,
those were two guys.
How do you know
there's not more?
Are you me?
There's the guys.
There's the guys.
To the edge.
Send it back.
Just keep going back
what you got and go on back.
Now!
Not later! Now!
Get the goat.
We cannot lose the goat.
What we got
and go on back.
What we got
and go on back!
Let's go.
Let's go!
I'm super-worried
about going out on the streets.
When things get heated,
we just...
we fragment and splinter and
scream without having a plan.
We cannot lose the goat.
What we got
and go on back.
What we got
and go on back!
Let's go!
I'm not gonna hide out.
I'm not gonna be on defense.
I'm not gonna put myself
in a rathole
and hope that
there's nothing out there
when i put my head out there.
That's crap.
I'm want to be the cat.
I'm not gonna be
a rat.
That's a nice bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
These marauders, they have
more malicious intent than we do.
There's scarce material
out there,
and we're all contending for it,
and it's gonna cause conflict.
I mean, one thing
this says to me
is that we do need
to get out of here.
Let's just go.
Let's just turn it back.
Open the door.
All right.
Coming, coming, coming!
Holy crap.
I feel incredibly successful.
We found a good bit of food.
We found some fruit,
we found some vegetables.
We got some...
we have
some dried apricots.
We actually broke up a camp.
I think there were two guys
in a tent,
you know, just trying
to get by like we did,
and our guys went in and grabbed
everything they had.
Two heirloom tomatoes.
And i was... i was really
struggling with that.
You know, on one hand,
i know how desperately
we need the stuff,
but i also know
that we really screwed them.
In extreme situations,
you may be forced to do things
you wouldn't normally do
to survive, like stealing.
Eventually,
we can have fresh goat meat.
Well,
as a very, very last resort.
Bringing back the goat,
being able to have cheese,
being able to have milk...
milk is protein, and i've been
so worried about that
because we haven't been
eating much.
I don't know how long I'm
gonna wait for the cheese and milk.
Those animals are cute,
but they're also delicious.
We got some clothing,
you guys.
I was pretty happy.
I think i found two towels.
So, this one's
relatively clean.
Some of it was treasure.
Some of it seemed like trash.
Another shirt...
another good blue shirt.
All of it seems like trash,
actually.
It all seems like trash.
We just raped somebody's
friggin' tent for nuts,
and, oh, what a good day...
what the things we found.
I want to get the hell
out of dodge.
That's what I want to work on.
With three days of
additional food supplies scavenged,
Joey, George, and John c.
Turn their attention
to an old truck in the yard.
As part of the experiment,
the volunteers are confined
to the warehouse compound.
But what they do
with the supplies inside,
including a broken-down truck,
is entirely up to them.
I think, long-term,
we do have to leave.
We are gonna exhaust our means
here at some point.
That huge truck, i believe, you
know, it's gonna be our exodus.
It's our salvation.
Think about this.
This thing could be like
this giant mars lander thing.
And it's big enough to bring
the stuff that we have
because I'm not leaving
some of this stuff behind.
It could carry
all of us.
It could be one
badass battlewagon, too.
I mean, the best defense
is a good offense, right?
We need to bring
the big truck inside.
I think if it's in front of us,
we can take a better handle
of it
and figure out what direction
we want to go with it.
Can we push this
with 10 people?
Screw this area.
Screw this warehouse.
Let's get that truck going.
It's gonna be a pain
to steer.
Let's get it inside.
Let's get it inside.
We're burning daylight.
Easy. You don't have to put
your back into it.
Just push gently.
Is there no brakes? No.
Turn, turn, turn,
turn, turn, turn, turn!
Turn it, turn it hard!
He's doing it, he's doing it,
he's doing it.
Slow down.
Slow down.
It'll slow down
by itself.
Leilani,
this is our workout.
Steer this bad boy.
You comfortable with that?
You know what?
You want to steer?
Yeah, i'll steer.
Okay.
Yeah, no one
has to be in the cab.
Push the clutch.
-I did.
Push the clutch in.
Push the clutch in.
There we go!
Oh.
Pull it in.
And push!
Wait.
And she's got her foot
on the brake.
It's the other pedal.
Which one... this one?
That's the clutch.
Okay, go.
Push.
Go, guys!
We're almost there!
Way to go!
Oh, we're in!
Is it straight?
Whoo!
The battlewagon.
I'm just really...
what i am is I'm psyched,
because you take a look
at this thing now,
it is gonna be so different
in a couple of weeks.
This is our ride out.
Fixing the truck
will be a massive undertaking,
but without a generator
to charge the batteries
for the power tools,
it won't be going anywhere.
They want to make the
truck run, electricity is key.
It gives us the ability
to fabricate.
It's crucial
to running the shop.
We need power tools.
We need lighting.
We can't do without it.
Excelente.
Coming up on "the colony"...
the race for power heats up...
it's burning!
...but the generator
may fizzle out.
We're back
where we started.
It's day 8 in the colony.
The energy project was on hold
for 24 hours,
but the colonists
still need a generator
to recharge the battery bank.
The concern is definitely being
able to charge up the batteries.
We are running very low
on our power supply.
Their plan is to build
a generator that runs on wood gas,
a vaporous fuel produced
by heating wood scraps
in a device called a gasifier.
But the gasifier
built by engineers Vladimir,
Morgan, and John c.
Didn't get hot enough
to make any fuel.
If they can't make it work,
the colonists' power
will run out the next day.
Vladimir has an idea on how
to achieve the heat they need.
This...
that's inside... here.
The gasifier's fuel container
needs to reach 451 degrees
to start producing wood gas.
One way to increase
the temperature
would be to place
the wood container
directly inside the drum.
Vladimir's modified design
requires a smaller container
for the wood
and a longer pipe
to release the wood gas.
As the engineers search
for parts,
over in the shop,
michael works on attaching
the alternator
to the pressure-washer engine.
Yeah, i want a bracket here
and here
and then bolt
onto the alternator.
Vladimir looks for a pipe
while John finds
an army-surplus gas can.
We found an aluminum pipe.
It probably was from an umbrella
or something like that.
And we found some
fittings that actually work with it.
Like this here?
It is going to fit like that.
And we got
to tighten it up,
and it's going to be
a tight seal
because we need to have all
the gas coming out right here.
Morgan fills the can
with wood scraps
while Vladimir builds the fire.
Hold on a second. Yeah.
Let me make a little room here.
What we would expect is to see,
just like before,
a bunch of steam
as it starts to come out,
but not nearly as much.
And then over time,
we should be able to torch it,
and it should burn with a kind
of sooty flame, I'm hoping.
Do we want it
facing that way?
Yeah, that sounds good.
Excellent.
It's already caught.
Just put it on the side.
Okay. What are you thinking
there, you guys?
I'm gonna try and ignite
these gases coming out
and see if they burn.
That's gonna tell us that we are
making renewable fuel.
It's burning.
Look, it's burning!
It's burning!
It's burning!
It's burning!
Whoo-hoo!
Whoo-hoo!
It's burning.
Holy crap.
We torched the end
of this thing, this pipe,
and
hey, hey, hey!
It was like the friggin'
olympic torch.
It's burning, huh?
Oh, yeah, it's burning.
Michael, still stinging
from Morgan's rebuke
two days ago...
go away.
...is less than impressed.
All righty.
You want to put that
in your engine?
So, they thought,
"hooray, we did it!
Hooray, we made fire
come out of a pipe!"
Thank god this works.
This worked today.
That's an accomplishment,
guys.
You know, they got one
little experiment that worked out,
so now, you know, Morgan thinks
she's an engineer
that's worth something.
Now what?
Now they throw it in my lap.
The gasifier
is just a fuel source.
In order to actually charge
the batteries,
michael needs to finish
the generator.
He's down to the final step...
mounting the alternator
that will produce electricity
from the pressure-washer engine.
Voila.
You guys coming?
There's enough
gasoline left in the engine
from its previous owner
for a test-run.
Yeah, so,
here's what's gonna happen.
We're gonna start her up,
and it's gonna stink.
I want you to measure
the voltage on the battery.
If the generator
is constructed properly,
the alternator will produce
the 12 volts needed
to charge a car battery.
Hold the handle.
Clear.
Okay.
Well,
we got up to about 9 volts.
If we don't get to 12 volts,
we're not getting anywhere.
Yeah.
It's not a perfect world,
and that's pretty damn obvious
right now.
The generator
is not a done deal.
We're back where we started.
The batteries
are on their last legs.
If the generator
isn't finished today,
the colonists
will have no power.
Morgan packs the gasifier
with wood scraps...
and moves it closer
to the battery bank,
ready to be hooked up
to the generator.
Morgan's part
of the project is done.
But if michael can't figure out
why the generator isn't creating
enough electricity,
the gasifier will be useless,
and the colony
will be in the dark.
Well, there's a problem.
This pulley is lower-geared
than the alternator.
So we're running
three-quarter to one.
That's not gonna
freakin' cut it.
The pulley is too big to spin
the alternator fast enough
to produce 12 volts
and recharge the batteries.
We have no choice.
We have to find
a smaller pulley.
Michael finds a smaller pulley
on the same fan
that the large one came from.
Yeah!
Awesome.
It better work.
But the pulley's hole
is too small
to fit on the engine's
drive shaft.
Michael finds a small steel
shaft that will fit the pulley
and a metal collar to connect it
to the engine's drive shaft.
The small shaft and the collar
must be welded together
to keep it from spinning apart
during operation.
This little thing
may not look important,
but this determines whether
we have electricity or not.
Michael is in
a classic catch-22.
To create power,
he needs to weld,
but the batteries
don't have enough power left
to run a welder.
So he needs to find
another solution.
Through our trial,
we came across an acetylene
and oxygen torch.
Hey, guys.
That torch thing's
a last-ditch effort.
I mean,
welding's the best way.
Acetylene torch is sloppy
and neanderthal.
You want to use one
of these light rods?
I'm just gonna melt it.
Go for it.
I think i might have
melted it together.
I mean, i don't...
i don't know.
Aw, you got to love that.
See that crappy
little weld there?
Question is, will our little
shade-tree-mechanic weld hold?
Looks like it's holding.
It's spinning straight.
Whoa-ho-ho!
We need to find out if it's
actually producing 13 volts...
let's go to the meter.
Let's go to the meter.
And our inverter?
It's... fluttering on 13.
It's charging,
and it's charging good enough.
It's the ugliest weld
that i've ever had work.
The generator is working.
Now it's time to answer
the big question.
Will it run off of wood gas
from the gasifier?
Because it's vapor
and not a liquid,
the wood gas bypasses
the engine's fuel tank
and goes straight
into the carburetor.
Let's do it.
I got this wood over here.
You got enough wood in there,
so it should be fine.
All right.
Let's go get everybody
and show off.
Come on, guys!
Drop everything!
Drop everything, guys!
Come on!
Let's go.
There's only enough
gasoline in the engine to start it up.
If it runs for more
than a few seconds,
it's running on wood gas.
Connect her up, Mike.
Doom for the second time.
Come on, come on!
Get it, get it, get it!
Go, go, go, go, go!
Wow!
It might be too rich.
Okay. All right.
There you go.
There's no gas in the engine
right?
Wow!
That's very cool.
It's amazing.
There's no end
to what we can run with that.
Now we have electricity.
Now we don't have to walk around
in the dark at night.
Properly maintained,
the generator
will produce electricity
as long as the colonists
have enough wood
to fill the gasifier.
We got electricity.
Now i just need
to find a blow-dryer.
Good job, Mike.
I really believe that michael,
in his heart, is a good guy,
and i think
he's incredibly creative.
It's important to take the good
that michael provides,
in terms
of his technical insight,
and just try
to shrug off the rest.
It's nice to finally
be finished
on a project that i thought
was horribly important.
Compact fluorescent.
Very efficient.
We're gonna light up the place.
Yeah, i can relax a little,
but, i mean, there's still
a lot to be done.
I mean,
you can never really be done.
What do you say...
right about there?
Are we gonna stay here?
Are we gonna mosey on
to greener pastures?
Is there greener pastures?
How do we know?
That's the big question is,
where do we go from here?
What's the next step?
catastrophic disaster.
Human conflict.
Nuclear bombs.
Natural disasters.
Chemical and biological warfare.
Without warning, the world as we
know it can come to an end.
Six days ago,
these volunteers entered
a 10-week experiment
designed to see if they could
survive and rebuild
after a simulated
global disaster.
Their world
constructed to mirror
what survivors could experience
if a viral outbreak
left los angeles
and the rest of the planet
devastated.
The volunteers' backgrounds
and skill sets
represent a cross section
of modern society.
Their new home,
a cordoned-off,
80,000-square-foot warehouse
near downtown los angeles.
An old manufacturing plant
for something.
Inside,
they've been provided
with limited tools,
supplies, and food.
They have no electricity...
no running water...
nothing.
...and no communication
with the outside world.
As part of the experiment,
a gang of looters and thugs
will attempt to compromise
the colonists' resources
and security.
Yeah!
So far, the volunteers have
focused on survival basics...
fire...
a water filter...
electricity...
whoo!
And their security
has been tested.
If there's only two
of them,
i want you to get on out there
and kick some butt!
Now sustainable energy...
you've got a bomb here.
You light it,
it will blow.
...and a dangerous
street scavenge.
Drop that or i'll shoot you!
What we got,
we go on back!
When a person is forced to be
in a place of seclusion
and forced to be away
from things that are familiar,
it creates a sense of anxiety
and internal unrest.
Morgan.
A recent rainstorm
provided the colonists
with a 9-day supply of water.
Now it's time to look beyond
the basic necessities
and think about how to make
the colony livable.
We have to survive.
This is where we live now.
And there's still so much
we have to do.
I know it will get
more difficult
when we start running
out of things.
It's always the things
that you don't think about
that blindside you,
and all of a sudden you're
without water or power runs out.
Then it's...
it's gonna be a nightmare.
The colonists'
first few days were so hectic
that they haven't had a chance
to take full stock
of the resources
available to them.
Disasters force people
to view themselves
and the world
in a different light.
Things once viewed as trash
may become as valuable as gold.
To survive,
you must use anything
and everything you find.
Did anyone er check
in this thing?
Luckily, we're blessed
enough to find this place
and have all this,
but we haven't even scratched
the surface
in looking around here.
The rest of them
have clothes
to change
into welding safety gear.
I mean, i think
it's gonna take us days,
maybe weeks to figure out
all the stuff that's here.
John c. Discovers
a crate in the side room.
So, i saw them
back over here.
I wonder how long
this has been sitting here.
Let me get it for you.
Stand back.
Ha!
There you go.
Flip.
Watch the nails.
Let it rip.
Watch the nails.
Ah, circular saw.
Oh,
that's a new one, too.
And rechargeable.
That's gonna be great.
"Drill master electric
reciprocating jigsaw."
There were a couple of crates
in there
that had some great
rechargeable power tools,
which will be helpful
for doing woodworking.
The power tools
will dramatically expand
what the colonists
can accomplish.
But they're worthless
until they're charged.
Let's go ahead
and swap this one out.
Joey charges
the batteries for the drill
and the sawzall with
the colony's power supply...
an array of 20 car batteries
daisy-chained together.
But charging the tools
is a huge drain
on the already-depleted
battery bank.
Machinist John v. Estimates
the colonists only have 4 days
of electricity left.
Once the batteries die,
the colonists will have
no lights, no power tools...
nothing.
If those batteries
get drained too quickly,
the voltage drops too low,
we actually have a big
battery bank of junk,
and we are basically screwed.
Finding a way
to recharge the battery bank
takes precedent
over every other project.
The batteries are getting
really low, Mike.
I think we've got to come
some sort of generation.
I'm thinking about an idea
to run a small engine,
run an alternator.
A simple generator can be made
from a small engine,
a pulley, and a car alternator.
To create electricity,
the engine's drive shaft
must turn the pulley,
and the pulley must spin
the alternator.
Just like in a car,
the alternator is designed
to convert mechanical energy
generated by the spinning pulley
directly into electrical energy,
which is exactly
what the colonists need
to charge their batteries.
Michael begins the search
for an engine
to be the foundation
of the generator.
Well, i would rather have
the smallest displacement
combustion engine
because all we're gonna do
is spin an alternator.
This is an alternator.
It doesn't take much to spin.
Okay, maybe not.
The lawn mower doesn't cut it.
Michael tries to get the engine
of an old pressure washer
running.
Let's give it a shot
and see.
Come on.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Whoa, guys!
Come on, come on!
Whoa!
Whoo!
No exhaust.
The pressure-washer
engine works.
Now michael can start converting
it to spin an alternator
angenerate electricity.
But to keep it running,
they'll need fuel.
So, we can run the
generator either on gasoline,
which we could either scavenge,
siphon.
Maybe there's vehicles outside.
But i've got to imagine
that that's getting
less and less plentiful.
The colonists begin
to search for gasoline
or another source of fuel
for the pressure-washer engine.
But it's empty.
I know.
It's empty, man.
But i can't find it, man.
Yeah.
Not a lot in it, man.
With an inventory
of less than 5 gallons of gas,
John c. Thinks
of another option.
We have tons of pallets,
so wood is a great option.
So, i think we all agree
we got to get to a more
sustainable power generation.
We got to have something
that's renewable.
In times of disaster,
resource shortages force
the survivors to make do
with the materials at hand.
I used to live in austria,
and i lived with a family
that the grandparents told me,
during the second world war,
they and all of their friends
had to convert their cars,
their gasoline cars,
to run on wood.
John's idea
is called a wood gasifier.
A wood gasifier
consists of two containers,
each filled with wood scraps.
The wood in the first container
is used to build a fire.
The fire heats the wood
in the second container,
releasing a flammable vapor
made of hydrogen,
carbon monoxide, and methane,
known as "wood gas."
The wood gas is then piped
into the pressure-washer engine
that will be outfitted
with an alternator.
The engine will run off
the wood gas just like gasoline.
I mean, the gasifier
is a simple technology
that's difficult to control.
We figure out a system like this
for filling it,
closing it,
building a fire under it.
Handyman michael is skeptical
that computer engineer
John's idea will work.
He's so pie-in-the-sky
sometimes.
And i actually looked this up
a long time go,
but i've never actually
built one.
The idea is great.
The first step is
finding containers to hold the wood.
Does that one have a top
on it, Morgan?
Yeah, it does.
Oh, yeah.
Flip it over.
We got one right here.
Okay?
This is gonna be perfect.
I like it.
It feels good
to be using my brain.
It's fun to be able to,
you know,
sit down and do engineering...
just really using your mind
to figure out a problem.
Okay, so,
what we're gonna do is
we're gonna take
this big one here.
We're gonna put wood chips
in it.
We're gonna put it on top
of this,
and we're gonna cut a hole
in this one,
have a fire going under it,
and it's going to let...
it's gonna make all the wood
chips in here kind of smolder,
but it's gonna release
all of the gas in the wood,
and we're gonna funnel
that gas
in up through
an exhaust pipe here.
While Morgan and
Vladimir fill the barrels with wood,
John c. Looks for a nozzle
to release the gas
from the gasifier.
I've been able
to find a fitting...
just put a little bit
of teflon tape.
I've got this hydraulic fitting.
At this point, we should be able
to cook that thing up
and see if we get a jet of gas
out of this thing.
All right. So, a little bit
of teflon tape here.
Mm-hmm.
Make an airtight seal.
We put the fittings that i had
found, we closed it up.
Vladimir had lit a fire with
the wood that Morgan had drawn.
It looks like
it's catching pretty well.
After 30 minutes
to let the fire build up,
it's time to test the gasifier.
If it's successfully
producing wood gas,
the engineers will be able
to light the vapor
coming out of the nozzle.
Hey, Mike.
So, you want to know what's going on? Yeah.
We started the fire.
We put a nozzle
on the top here.
We're gonna siphon off
the gas.
We're gonna light it
on fire.
You know what?
Um, this is deadly.
You've got a bomb here.
A bomb.
The 10 volunteers in the
colony are running out of power.
They're working on a generator
to recharge their batteries
and a wood gasifier
to produce wood gas,
a fuel that can power
the generator.
Engineers John c.,
Vladimir, and Morgan
are ready to test
the gasifier prototype,
but handyman michael
thinks they've ignored
a potential danger.
You've got a bomb here.
This is deadly.
Michael came outside
to take a look,
and he kept asking the question,
"is this thing...
are we making a bomb?"
Do not... do not light this.
Do not light this.
If a gasifier
is constructed properly,
the barrel will be full
of only flammable wood gas.
If not constructed properly,
air might mix with wood gas,
and lighting it from the nozzle
could create a flashback,
igniting all the gas
in the barrel like a bomb.
That's why we have
the vent opened.
It's still a bomb.
You have fuel
in a confined space,
you light it, it will blow.
I don't want to hear a bang
from in there.
I don't need Mike to watch out
for me or take care of me.
Go away.
The engineers
dismiss the handyman
and ignore his warnings.
If anyone's got tequila, now
is the time to speak up. Okay.
I'm gonna let them
figure it out.
I'm not gonna say anything.
I'm gonna let them fail.
I'm gonna let them fail.
You know?
I'm not gonna save them.
Let's just keep going.
I know what panicked him.
Not used to the fire.
Fire! Look at this. Smoke! Whoa!
They think they know
what they're doing.
They got phds
or fartsy-artsy degrees.
They want to cop an attitude.
Little miss Morgan says,
"get out of here."
You know what?
Blow yourself up.
If the gas ignites,
the project is a success,
but the flame could also light
the gas in the barrel,
creating a deadly explosion.
Burn it! Burn it!
This is only water vapors.
Only water vapors.
The gasifier isn't a bomb,
but it's not working, either.
The distillate,
the vapor that was coming off,
was never... had enough wood gas
to actually ignite.
When the gasifier
failed, i knew why.
But I'm not gonna say anything.
Just because
someone has a letter
after the name "phd doctor,"
does that make them more capable
of surviving in a world
like this?
No, i don't think so.
That's engineers, folks.
The gasifier's failure
sets back the energy project.
Without a gasifier
and generator,
the colonists will be unable
to charge the battery bank
powering their lights
and tools.
But rationing electricity
isn't something the volunteers
are used to.
Some of the colonists
are using the power tools
without waiting for the battery
bank to be recharged.
So, here's what I'm thinking,
Allison.
This is gonna be the sole
of our shoe, right?
Then we can lay it flat.
We have to cut across.
We can use the sawzall.
The trip down the l.a. River
destroyed many
of the colonists' shoes.
So George and Allison decide
to make new ones out of a tire.
But they can't do it by hand.
George needs the sawzall
to cut the thick rubber tread
and the steel belts
inside the tire.
They should be
adults enough to know
that we have a finite amount
of power
and we should use it wisely.
Uh, the battery's dead.
They keep wasting resources
like this, i, you know...
I'm gonna run out of patience.
To help solve
their energy problems,
michael and John v. Continue
to work on the generator.
They need to find a pulley
to spin the alternator.
Finally, the builders
catch a lucky break.
Ohh!
That's what
we were looking for.
Mm-hmm.
For some odd reason,
this fan was sitting way up,
and what i noticed is,
is the drive shaft
is inch and a quarter
or inch and an eighth,
which happens to be the same
size drive shaft on our engine.
Awesome.
So, now
we can put our pulley...
anywhere along here.
We just pick our spot.
Isn't that brilliant?
Wonderful.
The gasifier prototype
has cooled off.
The engineers analyze it
to determine why it failed
to produce wood gas.
It's just goo is coming out.
We're trying to see
if it's charred
or if it had even gotten
hot enough to burn.
In the first stage
of gasification,
wood turns to charcoal.
If the wood in the gasifier
isn't charred,
then it's not
getting hot enough.
We were not efficient enough.
In the end, we never got enough
heat into the barrel.
We need more heat
and a smaller vessel.
With the gasifier
and generator projects
taking up so much time,
some of the colonists
are worried
that smaller projects
might fall by the wayside.
There are big issues
coming up.
It's the anticipating all
the other little
that we're not doing
and making sure that
small projects get done
and that everybody's busy
appropriately.
These little things
are starting to come up,
stuff like soap
and toilet paper.
We're not even finished with
the crap that we need to do,
and now you guys
are micromanaging
with who's dealing
with toilet paper.
We still have no power,
people.
I'd rather have toilet paper
than power.
Great.
To hear Morgan say,
"I'd rather have toilet paper
than electricity"...
what kind of a statement
is that?
In an extreme survival
situation,
it may not be possible
to ignore or dismiss
the personality styles
that may conflict with yours.
Because these might be
the same people
that are actually
keeping you alive.
We got to talk also about
how we're gonna do security
later on tonight.
I, as always, will do the first
long shift, as always.
It's not a long shift.
The scheduling right now
with the shifts at night,
some of the guys think
they can only take
the 9:30-to-12:00 shifts.
That's not how this works.
I was wondering if you were
gonna take on a hard shift.
You keep jabbing me.
Why are you jabbing me?
I don't bother you.
You bother me
all the time.
But do you want to take
a hard shift or not?
I don't mind
taking a hard shift.
We know
that that's the way he is.
We're not trying to baby him.
We're just trying to get him
to a certain point
where he's compatible
with all of us.
I don't really care.
Coming up...
drop that or i'll shoot you!
...a street scavenge.
Start going back.
...and a new threat.
I do not have any degree.
I have nothing.
I have no education.
I can't spell.
I can hardly read.
But yet those people
who do have that capability
seem to know better than me
about what i can do.
Well, has anything gotten done
here that we needed without me?
Well, screw it.
You do better.
Go ahead.
Though energy
is the group's priority,
Dr. George
and trauma nurse Allison
are keeping an eye
on another major concern...
the food supply.
You want to count right next
to what we had,
and i'll just put in
the new number?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
With 10 people,
we're going through a lot
of our canned goods.
1, 2, 3... 3.
We're gonna need more oil.
We're gonna need more sugar.
We're gonna need
more fresh foods.
Whether we hunt it
or whether we forage it
from abandoned homes
or grocery stores,
we're gonna need more food.
That's a concern.
Food isn't the only reason
to go foraging,
because it's extremely important
to be aware
of your surroundings...
what resources and what dangers
might be lurking
just behind you.
So, guys, there's
a number of things we need.
We need to go foraging.
Honestly, we can't build food.
We can't build water.
I don't feel comfortable...
i don't think any of us do...
that all of us leave, 'cause
then this place is vulnerable.
I think you guys are working on
something incredibly important.
It might be best
if you stay.
So, you stay and Mike.
Lock up behind us.
Lock up all the doors.
We stay in groups of at least
two to three at a time,
and we never get too far away
from each other.
In a post-apocalyptic event,
looting is foraging.
There are no owners
of property anymore.
In the aftermath of
hurricane katrina, for example,
people reverted to a pack-like
mentality over food and water.
We see that happen often
during major catastrophes
where people are forced
on their own to survive.
We're not foolish
with all the dangerous people
and the conditions
we have to encounter
when we leave
these guarded walls.
I did some years in a
pretty serious prison, you know.
It's a part of me.
I know I'm a survivor.
So, if you're attacked,
you try to protect your stuff,
and if you can't protect
your stuff,
you protect each other.
John.
But if somebody separates...
John. Have you ever been in a fight? Yes.
Have you ever been in a
life-and-death fight? No.
I have.
I was a member of the military,
and i've seen a lot
of people die.
And i've seen a lot
of people dead.
So, uh...
...that's where I'm coming from.
I'll let you know
what happens
when we go out
after we assess things.
This is no longer the world
of sharing
and good-naturedness.
The only way to control
a wild animal
is being wilder
than the wild animal.
Let's put it this way.
I do not plan to run.
We are going to be the wildest
animal there is.
Oh, you had those.
Great.
No, no, no, no.
Take a peek, so...
just be aware 360.
In a post-disaster setting,
they'll be fierce competition
for the resources
in any given area.
As part of the experiment,
food and other supplies
have been scattered
throughout
the surrounding streets.
Hostile outsiders
are in position
to threaten the colonists'
sense of security
and steal their resources.
They're not allowed
to physically harm them,
but the colonists
don't know that.
Come on, Leilani.
All right.
Hey, guys,
there's goats down here!
We got two goats.
Hey.
We're good on a burner,
but do you need any parts
or anything off of this?
Uh...
there's jerky in here.
Oh, watch your back!
Watch your back!
Drop that!
Drop that
or i'll shoot you!
Get the bag
and let's go.
Start going back.
You didn't... no, no,
no. No conversations.
We got what we got for today.
Let's go.
Roll.
Vladi,
those were two guys.
How do you know
there's not more?
Are you me?
There's the guys.
There's the guys.
To the edge.
Send it back.
Just keep going back
what you got and go on back.
Now!
Not later! Now!
Get the goat.
We cannot lose the goat.
What we got
and go on back.
What we got
and go on back!
Let's go.
Let's go!
I'm super-worried
about going out on the streets.
When things get heated,
we just...
we fragment and splinter and
scream without having a plan.
We cannot lose the goat.
What we got
and go on back.
What we got
and go on back!
Let's go!
I'm not gonna hide out.
I'm not gonna be on defense.
I'm not gonna put myself
in a rathole
and hope that
there's nothing out there
when i put my head out there.
That's crap.
I'm want to be the cat.
I'm not gonna be
a rat.
That's a nice bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
I like that bike!
These marauders, they have
more malicious intent than we do.
There's scarce material
out there,
and we're all contending for it,
and it's gonna cause conflict.
I mean, one thing
this says to me
is that we do need
to get out of here.
Let's just go.
Let's just turn it back.
Open the door.
All right.
Coming, coming, coming!
Holy crap.
I feel incredibly successful.
We found a good bit of food.
We found some fruit,
we found some vegetables.
We got some...
we have
some dried apricots.
We actually broke up a camp.
I think there were two guys
in a tent,
you know, just trying
to get by like we did,
and our guys went in and grabbed
everything they had.
Two heirloom tomatoes.
And i was... i was really
struggling with that.
You know, on one hand,
i know how desperately
we need the stuff,
but i also know
that we really screwed them.
In extreme situations,
you may be forced to do things
you wouldn't normally do
to survive, like stealing.
Eventually,
we can have fresh goat meat.
Well,
as a very, very last resort.
Bringing back the goat,
being able to have cheese,
being able to have milk...
milk is protein, and i've been
so worried about that
because we haven't been
eating much.
I don't know how long I'm
gonna wait for the cheese and milk.
Those animals are cute,
but they're also delicious.
We got some clothing,
you guys.
I was pretty happy.
I think i found two towels.
So, this one's
relatively clean.
Some of it was treasure.
Some of it seemed like trash.
Another shirt...
another good blue shirt.
All of it seems like trash,
actually.
It all seems like trash.
We just raped somebody's
friggin' tent for nuts,
and, oh, what a good day...
what the things we found.
I want to get the hell
out of dodge.
That's what I want to work on.
With three days of
additional food supplies scavenged,
Joey, George, and John c.
Turn their attention
to an old truck in the yard.
As part of the experiment,
the volunteers are confined
to the warehouse compound.
But what they do
with the supplies inside,
including a broken-down truck,
is entirely up to them.
I think, long-term,
we do have to leave.
We are gonna exhaust our means
here at some point.
That huge truck, i believe, you
know, it's gonna be our exodus.
It's our salvation.
Think about this.
This thing could be like
this giant mars lander thing.
And it's big enough to bring
the stuff that we have
because I'm not leaving
some of this stuff behind.
It could carry
all of us.
It could be one
badass battlewagon, too.
I mean, the best defense
is a good offense, right?
We need to bring
the big truck inside.
I think if it's in front of us,
we can take a better handle
of it
and figure out what direction
we want to go with it.
Can we push this
with 10 people?
Screw this area.
Screw this warehouse.
Let's get that truck going.
It's gonna be a pain
to steer.
Let's get it inside.
Let's get it inside.
We're burning daylight.
Easy. You don't have to put
your back into it.
Just push gently.
Is there no brakes? No.
Turn, turn, turn,
turn, turn, turn, turn!
Turn it, turn it hard!
He's doing it, he's doing it,
he's doing it.
Slow down.
Slow down.
It'll slow down
by itself.
Leilani,
this is our workout.
Steer this bad boy.
You comfortable with that?
You know what?
You want to steer?
Yeah, i'll steer.
Okay.
Yeah, no one
has to be in the cab.
Push the clutch.
-I did.
Push the clutch in.
Push the clutch in.
There we go!
Oh.
Pull it in.
And push!
Wait.
And she's got her foot
on the brake.
It's the other pedal.
Which one... this one?
That's the clutch.
Okay, go.
Push.
Go, guys!
We're almost there!
Way to go!
Oh, we're in!
Is it straight?
Whoo!
The battlewagon.
I'm just really...
what i am is I'm psyched,
because you take a look
at this thing now,
it is gonna be so different
in a couple of weeks.
This is our ride out.
Fixing the truck
will be a massive undertaking,
but without a generator
to charge the batteries
for the power tools,
it won't be going anywhere.
They want to make the
truck run, electricity is key.
It gives us the ability
to fabricate.
It's crucial
to running the shop.
We need power tools.
We need lighting.
We can't do without it.
Excelente.
Coming up on "the colony"...
the race for power heats up...
it's burning!
...but the generator
may fizzle out.
We're back
where we started.
It's day 8 in the colony.
The energy project was on hold
for 24 hours,
but the colonists
still need a generator
to recharge the battery bank.
The concern is definitely being
able to charge up the batteries.
We are running very low
on our power supply.
Their plan is to build
a generator that runs on wood gas,
a vaporous fuel produced
by heating wood scraps
in a device called a gasifier.
But the gasifier
built by engineers Vladimir,
Morgan, and John c.
Didn't get hot enough
to make any fuel.
If they can't make it work,
the colonists' power
will run out the next day.
Vladimir has an idea on how
to achieve the heat they need.
This...
that's inside... here.
The gasifier's fuel container
needs to reach 451 degrees
to start producing wood gas.
One way to increase
the temperature
would be to place
the wood container
directly inside the drum.
Vladimir's modified design
requires a smaller container
for the wood
and a longer pipe
to release the wood gas.
As the engineers search
for parts,
over in the shop,
michael works on attaching
the alternator
to the pressure-washer engine.
Yeah, i want a bracket here
and here
and then bolt
onto the alternator.
Vladimir looks for a pipe
while John finds
an army-surplus gas can.
We found an aluminum pipe.
It probably was from an umbrella
or something like that.
And we found some
fittings that actually work with it.
Like this here?
It is going to fit like that.
And we got
to tighten it up,
and it's going to be
a tight seal
because we need to have all
the gas coming out right here.
Morgan fills the can
with wood scraps
while Vladimir builds the fire.
Hold on a second. Yeah.
Let me make a little room here.
What we would expect is to see,
just like before,
a bunch of steam
as it starts to come out,
but not nearly as much.
And then over time,
we should be able to torch it,
and it should burn with a kind
of sooty flame, I'm hoping.
Do we want it
facing that way?
Yeah, that sounds good.
Excellent.
It's already caught.
Just put it on the side.
Okay. What are you thinking
there, you guys?
I'm gonna try and ignite
these gases coming out
and see if they burn.
That's gonna tell us that we are
making renewable fuel.
It's burning.
Look, it's burning!
It's burning!
It's burning!
It's burning!
Whoo-hoo!
Whoo-hoo!
It's burning.
Holy crap.
We torched the end
of this thing, this pipe,
and
hey, hey, hey!
It was like the friggin'
olympic torch.
It's burning, huh?
Oh, yeah, it's burning.
Michael, still stinging
from Morgan's rebuke
two days ago...
go away.
...is less than impressed.
All righty.
You want to put that
in your engine?
So, they thought,
"hooray, we did it!
Hooray, we made fire
come out of a pipe!"
Thank god this works.
This worked today.
That's an accomplishment,
guys.
You know, they got one
little experiment that worked out,
so now, you know, Morgan thinks
she's an engineer
that's worth something.
Now what?
Now they throw it in my lap.
The gasifier
is just a fuel source.
In order to actually charge
the batteries,
michael needs to finish
the generator.
He's down to the final step...
mounting the alternator
that will produce electricity
from the pressure-washer engine.
Voila.
You guys coming?
There's enough
gasoline left in the engine
from its previous owner
for a test-run.
Yeah, so,
here's what's gonna happen.
We're gonna start her up,
and it's gonna stink.
I want you to measure
the voltage on the battery.
If the generator
is constructed properly,
the alternator will produce
the 12 volts needed
to charge a car battery.
Hold the handle.
Clear.
Okay.
Well,
we got up to about 9 volts.
If we don't get to 12 volts,
we're not getting anywhere.
Yeah.
It's not a perfect world,
and that's pretty damn obvious
right now.
The generator
is not a done deal.
We're back where we started.
The batteries
are on their last legs.
If the generator
isn't finished today,
the colonists
will have no power.
Morgan packs the gasifier
with wood scraps...
and moves it closer
to the battery bank,
ready to be hooked up
to the generator.
Morgan's part
of the project is done.
But if michael can't figure out
why the generator isn't creating
enough electricity,
the gasifier will be useless,
and the colony
will be in the dark.
Well, there's a problem.
This pulley is lower-geared
than the alternator.
So we're running
three-quarter to one.
That's not gonna
freakin' cut it.
The pulley is too big to spin
the alternator fast enough
to produce 12 volts
and recharge the batteries.
We have no choice.
We have to find
a smaller pulley.
Michael finds a smaller pulley
on the same fan
that the large one came from.
Yeah!
Awesome.
It better work.
But the pulley's hole
is too small
to fit on the engine's
drive shaft.
Michael finds a small steel
shaft that will fit the pulley
and a metal collar to connect it
to the engine's drive shaft.
The small shaft and the collar
must be welded together
to keep it from spinning apart
during operation.
This little thing
may not look important,
but this determines whether
we have electricity or not.
Michael is in
a classic catch-22.
To create power,
he needs to weld,
but the batteries
don't have enough power left
to run a welder.
So he needs to find
another solution.
Through our trial,
we came across an acetylene
and oxygen torch.
Hey, guys.
That torch thing's
a last-ditch effort.
I mean,
welding's the best way.
Acetylene torch is sloppy
and neanderthal.
You want to use one
of these light rods?
I'm just gonna melt it.
Go for it.
I think i might have
melted it together.
I mean, i don't...
i don't know.
Aw, you got to love that.
See that crappy
little weld there?
Question is, will our little
shade-tree-mechanic weld hold?
Looks like it's holding.
It's spinning straight.
Whoa-ho-ho!
We need to find out if it's
actually producing 13 volts...
let's go to the meter.
Let's go to the meter.
And our inverter?
It's... fluttering on 13.
It's charging,
and it's charging good enough.
It's the ugliest weld
that i've ever had work.
The generator is working.
Now it's time to answer
the big question.
Will it run off of wood gas
from the gasifier?
Because it's vapor
and not a liquid,
the wood gas bypasses
the engine's fuel tank
and goes straight
into the carburetor.
Let's do it.
I got this wood over here.
You got enough wood in there,
so it should be fine.
All right.
Let's go get everybody
and show off.
Come on, guys!
Drop everything!
Drop everything, guys!
Come on!
Let's go.
There's only enough
gasoline in the engine to start it up.
If it runs for more
than a few seconds,
it's running on wood gas.
Connect her up, Mike.
Doom for the second time.
Come on, come on!
Get it, get it, get it!
Go, go, go, go, go!
Wow!
It might be too rich.
Okay. All right.
There you go.
There's no gas in the engine
right?
Wow!
That's very cool.
It's amazing.
There's no end
to what we can run with that.
Now we have electricity.
Now we don't have to walk around
in the dark at night.
Properly maintained,
the generator
will produce electricity
as long as the colonists
have enough wood
to fill the gasifier.
We got electricity.
Now i just need
to find a blow-dryer.
Good job, Mike.
I really believe that michael,
in his heart, is a good guy,
and i think
he's incredibly creative.
It's important to take the good
that michael provides,
in terms
of his technical insight,
and just try
to shrug off the rest.
It's nice to finally
be finished
on a project that i thought
was horribly important.
Compact fluorescent.
Very efficient.
We're gonna light up the place.
Yeah, i can relax a little,
but, i mean, there's still
a lot to be done.
I mean,
you can never really be done.
What do you say...
right about there?
Are we gonna stay here?
Are we gonna mosey on
to greener pastures?
Is there greener pastures?
How do we know?
That's the big question is,
where do we go from here?
What's the next step?