1. Being Environmentally Friendly
This will be our topic for the next week or so. There are three parts today and an extra listening activity after you submit your answers to the reading.
Before you start the vocabulary and reading, take 10 minutes and draw a word cloud on a piece of paper of all the words you can think of related to: being environmentally friendly.
Before you start the vocabulary and reading, take 10 minutes and draw a word cloud on a piece of paper of all the words you can think of related to: being environmentally friendly.
2.Vocabulary: Check your dictionary for the words below.
fossil fuel, alternative, non-renewable (energy), renewable (energy), abundant, emissions,
power plant, deplete, start-up, environmentalist
power plant, deplete, start-up, environmentalist
When you have researched the meaning of the words - practice saying them. Compare your pronunciation to that in an online dictionary (www.learnersdictionary.com)
3. Reading
As the world becomes more polluted by fossil fuels, people are looking for alternatives to these non-renewable energy sources. Many alternatives exist but they all have disadvantages or drawbacks. Solar energy is one alternative source for future energy. Over the course of the next century, solar energy may have a large impact on the world energy market.
Solar energy is the most abundant form of energy known. The sun releases energy at a rate 15,000 times greater than the rate that the earth uses energy. Solar energy can be used to produce clean, cheap electricity in amazing amounts.
In the early 1990s lower prices for fossil fuels, coupled with government subsidies, helped to make fossil fuels appear more economical than renewable fuels. The United States government hoped to develop new technologies so they launched a research and development project headed by the Department of Energy. This research has begun to pay off because of lower prices for light- and heat-collecting solar cells, as well as higher storage capacity of those cells.
Solar cells release far less pollution than fossil fuels. With lower emissions, the greenhouse effect can be slowed and global warming nearly stopped. These advantages are some reasons people may begin building more solar power plants in the near future. The price for solar plants has continued to drop while fossil fuels are being continually depleted. Eventually, this constant depletion will raise the price of coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
One argument against solar power is the cost of the initial start-up. Building solar power plants is very expensive. However, the plants require almost no maintenance, clean up, or dumping of waste. This helps to reduce start-up costs. Some experts argue that a solar plant can pay for itself after two or three years.
Experts from the United States and Canada have said that solar energy could play a part in changing our lives in the twenty-first century. If solar power use increases, polluting emissions will decrease and solar energy and other alternative fuels could supply more and more of our everyday electricity needs. Environmentalists argue that we should power our homes with solar power and other cleaner sources or energy instead of polluting the air with fossil fuels or dumping nuclear waste into the environment.
Solar energy is the most abundant form of energy known. The sun releases energy at a rate 15,000 times greater than the rate that the earth uses energy. Solar energy can be used to produce clean, cheap electricity in amazing amounts.
In the early 1990s lower prices for fossil fuels, coupled with government subsidies, helped to make fossil fuels appear more economical than renewable fuels. The United States government hoped to develop new technologies so they launched a research and development project headed by the Department of Energy. This research has begun to pay off because of lower prices for light- and heat-collecting solar cells, as well as higher storage capacity of those cells.
Solar cells release far less pollution than fossil fuels. With lower emissions, the greenhouse effect can be slowed and global warming nearly stopped. These advantages are some reasons people may begin building more solar power plants in the near future. The price for solar plants has continued to drop while fossil fuels are being continually depleted. Eventually, this constant depletion will raise the price of coal, natural gas, and petroleum.
One argument against solar power is the cost of the initial start-up. Building solar power plants is very expensive. However, the plants require almost no maintenance, clean up, or dumping of waste. This helps to reduce start-up costs. Some experts argue that a solar plant can pay for itself after two or three years.
Experts from the United States and Canada have said that solar energy could play a part in changing our lives in the twenty-first century. If solar power use increases, polluting emissions will decrease and solar energy and other alternative fuels could supply more and more of our everyday electricity needs. Environmentalists argue that we should power our homes with solar power and other cleaner sources or energy instead of polluting the air with fossil fuels or dumping nuclear waste into the environment.