This documentary is about oil and its side-effects - money, war, pollution, terrorism, environmentalism, and about how the world is looking for a path to supplies of new forms of energy. Realizing the growing reliance on oil producers in five countries in the Middle East, and a peak in the world´s oil production there is increasing attention given to renewable sources of energy to replace oil. Renewable energies are those forms of energy that cannot be depleted or that are quick to regenerate, and include solar, wind, hydro, biofuels, ocean and hydrogen power. YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW focuses on the path the world is following towards renewable energy. It shows the impact of five Middle East countries dominating the world oil market. It documents the ongoing struggle for power in these politically unstable countries as governments and Islamic fundamentalists vie for control of the oil tap. It shows that governments, international development agencies, suppliers and consumers cannot embrace renewables just because of the environmental benefits. And that all the parties involved will have to make renewable energy work commercially as soon as possible, to give it a long-term future.
As the world heads into a new energy future, YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW documents the impact of a transition from fossil fuels to a renewable energy resource economy, and its resulting changes in lifestyles. Viewers meet energy experts, world leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs and environmental activists, and embark on a global journey which takes them to the four corners of the planet.