Discovery Channel Announces POWERING THE FUTURE With A Four Hour Series Airs July 17 and 18 at 8PM ET/PT

As the crisis in the Gulf deepens, the ongoing search for viable alternate energy sources is even more urgent. But, navigating the complex web of options can be both complicated and confusing. On July 17 and 18, Discovery Channel takes an in-depth look at the most important challenge facing the world today: the future of energy use.

POWERING THE FUTURE, a four hour special series premiering Saturday, July 17 from 8-10 PM and Sunday, July 18 from 8-10 PM (ET/PT), guides viewers to a greater understanding of the fundamental impact of energy on our lives. Hosted by Dr. M.A. Sanjayan, lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy, the special closely examines where our energy will come from, how we can create a clean, limitless, secure supply of energy -- and how it will be delivered to our homes, businesses and schools in the next 50 years.

From economics and climate change to national security and global politics, energy is the driving force behind most everything on the planet. POWERING THE FUTURE puts energy on the national stage, addressing the challenge from every angle and cutting through the noise by establishing a target: identifying a clean, limitless, secure energy supply and addressing how it could possibly be delivered. Producers traveled to more than 30 different locations around the world -- from an offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico to the oil sands of Canada, Washington, DC to Beijing, China - to meet with the people at the heart of the issue.

Encore presentations of POWERING THE FUTURE will air on Science Channel Monday, July 19 from 9-11 PM and Tuesday, July 20 from 9-11 PM ET, and on Planet Green Sunday, July 25 from 9-11 PM and Monday, July 26 from 9-11 PM ET.