Back in the prehistoric days of 1982, the Universe of Energy Pavilion at Epcot was born. Sponsored by the good folks at Exxon, it was all about the dawn of fossil fuels. While the animatronic presentation was popular for many years, excitement had waned by the mid-1990’s. And so, plans were made to update the ride with a fun, comedic script and a couple of well-known personalities – comedian Ellen Degeneres and Science Guy Bill Nye.
Ellen’s Energy Adventure opened in 1996, and has seen only minor upgrades since that time. Which begs the question – is it really worthy of a twenty-year-long run? While animatronics continue to be pretty awe-inspiring, and – incredibly – Alex Trebek really is still hosting Jeopardy — there are certainly some holes and outdated info in the script.
Let’s poke our fingers into a few of them.
1. Apatasaurus, Stegosaurus and Pteradons all lived together
So according to the script, Bill and Ellen wind up about 220 million years ago, in the early Triassic, more or less the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. Where they meet…
Apatasaurus, Stegosaurus and Allosaurus, which lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 157-146 million years ago
Elasmosaurus, a marine reptile, which lived in the Late Cretaceous period, 80.5 million years ago.
Pteranodons, flying animals that also lived during the Cretaceous about 88 to 85 million years ago
That’s quite a range of critters that couldn’t possible have existed in the same time and place!
2. The dinosaurs went extinct a million years ago
At 55 million years BC, we’re told about a problem with a dinotherium, a vast prehistoric elephant that didn’t appear until about 10 million years ago. But that’s ok… who’s ever heard of a dinotherium anyway?
More importantly…
As we move forward in time to 1 million years ago, we hear that the dinosaurs have gone extinct – as a result of a comet or asteroid impact. But guess what? That impact occurred not one million years ago but… 66,038,000 years ago, give or take a few millennia.
3. Campfires were a relatively recent innovation
According to the script, controlled fire was first used about seven hundred and fifty thousand years ago – which may have been a good guesstimate when it was made. In 2012, however, researchers discovered new evidence in South Africa’s Wonderwerk Cave that suggests it’s been at least a million years since our pre-human ancestors first started using fire for cooking.
While fire was first used by pre-humans, human beings as we know them (homo sapiens) didn’t emerge until about 200,000 years ago. So setting the “dawn of the human age” at the same time as the first use of fire isn’t exactly accurate… though it does look cool.
4. The changing energy landscape
As we move into the description of alternative energy, we’re definitely behind the times. There’s no mention whatever of climate change or of the significant advances made in solar energy. And, while it may not be a popular thing to mention, the Hoover Dam is now producing just a fraction of the energy it did back in the day… as a result of a climate-related drought in California.
On a positive note, Bill tells us that only about 10% of the world’s energy comes from renewable sources. That may well have been true in 1996. But according to the International Energy Agency, “In 2012, the world relied on renewable sources for around 13.2% of its total primary energy supply, and in 2013 renewables accounted for almost 22% of global electricity generation, a 5% increase from 2012.”
Bill tells Ellen that we have only about 60 years worth of natural gas available. But that estimate was made in the pre-fracking years. Today, estimates vary from 100 years (Energy Information Administration) to over 200 years’ (International Energy Agency) worth of recoverable gas sources. Of course, those sources may not pan out completely, but either way that’s a lot more than 60.
Bill tells Ellen that most of our fossil fuels will come from offshore locations in the future. While that may still have a grain of truth, he doesn’t mention the huge shale beds which we’re presently tapping for natural gas.
Meanwhile, a fellow called Elon Musk has entered the scene. Musk has changed a great deal about how we think — with a special emphasis on solar power, clean-running electric cars (the Tesla), superfast trains, and even space travel. Should he get a nod?
Even if we only ask for a quickie remake of the very end of the script — leaving the dinosaurs and ice age critters as inaccurate as always — it would be worth Disney’s time. There’s just so much more to say about energy today than there was 20 years ago. And while not everything is good news, at least there a few positive messages to share!
