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CNN 10
Update on Midterm Elections Results; Making A Biomass Power Source; Cristo Milsa Jellyfish Found in Puerto Rico
Aired November 20, 2018 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz. This is our second and last show of the week. Afterward, we`ll be off for Thanksgiving
until next Monday, November 26th. Today marks two weeks since Americans went to the polls in the 2018 midterm elections and we`re still getting
results. Before the vote Republicans controlled the House of Representatives with 236 seats and Democrats held 193 seats. In the
midterms, Democrats won 232 seats and control of the House. Republicans won 200 seats. The races for three House seats are still undecided.
Before the vote, Republicans controlled the Senate with 51 seats. Democrats and two Independents who vote with them held 49 seats. In the
midterms, Republicans increased their control of the Senate. They`ll hold 52 seats. Democrats will have 47 seats. The race for one Senate seat is
still undecided. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New
York, were both reelected to their current positions in the Senate. And in the House, Representative Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California was
chosen to lead his party as House Minority Leader.
But there are some questions about who will lead the House`s new Democratic majority. Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, has held the job of
House Speaker before and she wants it again. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has also offered to help Representative Pelosi by encouraging
Republicans in the House to vote for her. The President has called Pelosi tough and smart and said Democrats were playing games with her, but those
who oppose Pelosi may have other plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Congressional Democrats, Nancy Pelosi has been a huge power player for more than 15 years in the House of Representatives.
Just look at some of the positions of leadership she has held and in those positions she has wrangled votes for a lot of issues Democrats really care
about. Healthcare reform, credit card and banking regulation, tobacco regulations, the Fair Pay Act, food safety and much more. She`s also
brought in a ton of money for her party. This is reportedly her haul for the party just for the midterm election all of which is why her supporters
say, yes, she`s the natural leader. Make her the speaker again.
But, there is opposition in her own party and here are some of their concerns. First of all they say, she is a lightening rod for Republicans.
Her district near San Francisco is much more liberal than the rest of the country. On top of which they say, she`s simply too much about the past,
about old grudges, old ideas, old coalitions and they say there are plenty of other Democrats out there who could maybe bring in new ideas if she
simply would step aside. Now right now, the people who are trying to oppose her in her own party do not have enough votes to stop her from being
chosen as the party`s candidate for the Speaker.
They have their vote first. She would easily win that. But when it comes out here onto the general floor, for the general vote where Republicans get
to play too. If 17, 18, 19 of these opposition forces in her own party said they would absolutely not vote for her, that could keep her from
getting the majority she needs. And that could force concessions from her or possibly an entirely different pick of the Democratic Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Which of these energy sources generates the most electricity in the U.S.? Nuclear power, natural gas, coal or
renewables like wind and solar power. Generating just over 32 percent of America`s electricity the largest percentage is natural gas.
That`s according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which also says that coal is the second largest electricity source generating about 30
percent of America`s power. A renewable called biomass generates less than 2 percent. Harvesting it. Moving it. Storing it. Making sure it
produces a consistent amount of energy. Those have been ongoing challenges for scientists looking to use biomass. But the biomass industry is hoping
to change that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s so many non-utilized waste streams in this world. We have food waste. We have transportation waste. There are endless
amount of bi-products that are currently not utilized.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What if you could power your home and live completely off the grid by just using your own trash? Each year over 1 billion tons
of solid waste is produced globally. That`s expected to double by 2025. And of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced world wide, only 9
percent is recycled. But to this German startup, our trash is their treasure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The initial vision that we had was to build a power plant that is truly mobile. That it can convert all the waste and turn it
into clean energy right on site.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Endtrades power plants can fit entirely inside a 20 foot shipping container and mainly run on biomass. Biomass is a renewable
organic resource that comes from plants and animals and can be turned into fuel. Bulig (ph) and his team work to identify local waste streams.
Anything from manure to discarded lumber to yard trimmings and even peanut shells can do the trick.
(BULIG): We crush it. We dry it and then we pelletize it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These biomass pellets are what Endtrades power units run on. The company has also developed the technology to use non-organic
waste as fuel. By taking plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills and combining it with other green waste, they claim they`re units can
produce enough electricity to power homes, neighborhoods and factories.
(BULIG): And then we put it into our reactor and it only stays there for a few seconds before it totally converts into a natural gas replacement.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a process called gasification. When plastic goes into a small reactor, it burns at extremely high temperatures breaking
down it`s polluting particles. The result, a hot gas that is then used to create electricity. Endtrades sees potential in countries dealing with
large amounts of plastic pollution but figuring out the right mixture of plastic and biomass can be complicated and is still being tested. The
company wants to take their mobile power units one step further. Their newest unit is a mini-power plant about the size of a fridge.
(BULIG): We were always thinking of this power unit you can bring to the middle of nowhere, plug it in, use all the waste you find around.
Pelletize it and you have a complete power supply onsite. And I can see many people in farm houses all over the world, just putting this next to
their kitchen and generating their own power from the waste that they`re currently throwing away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But are these many units as easy to use as they seem?
(BULIG): If you look at the backs of pellets that we produce here, we need about two to three bags per day. So you can actually fill it by hand in
the morning, have a complete power supply around the clock.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s a lot of pellets. Endtrades off the grid vision is still in it`s early phases. Questions like how much energy it
would take for someone to actually make these pellets at home still remain. The company envisions communities combining their green waste and making
their own biomass fuel. And they`re also working to make these things affordable.
(BULIG): The 50 kilowatt unit that you find in a big container was initially about $5 million to build. We have brought this down to a retail
price of $250,000. As the production numbers go up, we think we can offer this for the price of a small car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Endtrades hopes that mini-power plants like these can could change the way cities and towns source their electricity making
themselves sustaining and in some cases, cleaner.
(BULIG): You`re going to have communities processing their own waste using as electricity. And it`s totally going to revolutionize the way we`re
going to live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARL AZUZ: For 10 out of 10 today, what looks like one of those plasma ball globe lightening thingies people put on their desk but you wouldn`t
want to touch this thing. Cristo Milsa is it`s name, being a jellyfish is it`s game. It was found by scientists aboard "Noah`s Okanos (ph) Explorer"
off the coast of Puerto Rico. They say the psychedelic looking organism has it`s tentacles out in every direction so that it can feed from every
direction.
Sure there`re other animals with tentacles but they`re just "jellys". And while this one is "jelly fishing" for prey as long as it doesn`t
"hydrazone" out, anything near by out to use a "plankton" of caution. "Invertebraing" itself if it gets to close less it lose it`s "salt life".
Who`d have thought jellyfish puns would have been on the menu for our last show before Thanksgiving. We hope you enjoyed it. We hope you enjoy the
holiday ahead and we look forward to seeing you next Monday. I`m Carl Azuz.
END
