Reading 3: Renewable Energy

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 15 which are based on Reading Passage 1.

Renewable Energy

A

What is renewable energy? The term has two basic components, neither of which necessarily defines itself. Any discussion of renewable  energy must first deal with  the more general concept, energy. The term is often used quite loosely in everyday conversation. For example, we speak of ourselves or others as folks who need energy just to get out of the bed in the morning or kids who are “bundles of energy”.

B

Everyday living aside, the concept of energy also has a technical side and science commonly represents it abstractly, referring to it as an ability to perform work. From an even more technical scientific starting point, the first law of thermodynamics states, "In

all physical and chemical changes, energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be

converted from one form to  another." Using science as a starting  point, energy can  be defined as things around us that change forms in order to perform a task.

C

Discussions of energy as it relates to renewable energy commonly refer to the types of  fuels we use to perform the tasks associated with modern life. Fuels run our transportation system and they produce the electricity for our homes and offices and factories. Overwhelmingly, fossil  fuels,  coal, oil and natural gas have been the fuels of choice for performing these tasks.  Fossil  fuels  are  distinguished  from  renewables in  the sense  that they are finite resources,  i.e.,  there's x amount  under the earth and once  used will run out unless you're willing to wait the millions of years for the fossilization process to create more.

D

Renewable energy, on the other hand, refers to fuel sources more consistently available than their fossilized counterparts. Sources for this energy commonly fall under five categories: biomass (organic matter), geothermal (heat from under the earth),  solar, water and wind.

E

In theory these sources are infinitely available. As long as the earth continues to revolve around the sun, the sun will continue to produce harvestable energy. Heat from the sun additionally creates atmospheric conditions conducive to wind and water production,  although not in even quantities throughout the world or with scientific precision in any one particular location. Finally, the sun produces the light necessary for growing the plants and trees which constitute the biomass category.

F

Long before the beginning of the industrial revolution, mankind used the natural resources at hand to serve as energy sources for everyday tasks. Historical records of watermill and windmill use dates back to ancient China, Greece and Rome. Renaissance thinkers and builders expanded  their use, creating machines to grind grain, create cloth and  produce metal products. Today's versions of those same machines, while more technologically advanced to meet the energy needs of a larger population, operate  on similar principles, harvesting the energy of the world around us.

G

Cleanliness is perhaps renewable energy's biggest draw. Whereas fossil fuels require a combustion process (the use of an engine or turbine) to convert the energy into a form capable of performing the task at hand, renewable energy sources require none. No combustion means no emissions byproducts that cause the most common types of air pollution today, acid rain, smog and climate change. How much cleaner are renewables? There is probably no single answer, however, consider the following two examples related to solar (photovoltaic systems) and wind energy.

H

Based on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports, an average U.S. household uses 830 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. On average, producing 1000 kWh of  electricity with solar power reduces  emissions by nearly 8 pounds of  sulfur dioxide, 5 pounds of nitrogen oxides,  and more than 1,400 pounds of carbon dioxide. During  its  projected 28 years of clean energy production, a rooftop system with  2-year payback  and meeting half of a household‘s electricity use would avoid conventional electrical plant emissions of more than half a ton of sulfur dioxide, one-third a ton of nitrogen oxides, and 100 tons of carbon dioxide.

I

In the wind power area, the American Wind Energy Association claims that a single 660-Kw wind turbine will displace emissions of 1,100 tons of carbon dioxide (the leading greenhouse gas), 6 tons of sulfur dioxide (the leading component of acid rain), and 4 tons of nitrogen oxides (the leading component of smog) every year, based on the U.S. average utility fuel mix. 375 acres (more than half a square mile) of forest would be needed to absorb the same amount of CO2.

Questions 1 – 7

Reading Passage 1 has 9 paragraphs A – I.

Choose the most suitable headings for Paragraphs B - G, and I from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i – ix) in boxes 1 – 7 on your answer sheet. 

NB  There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them. You may use any of the following headings more than once.

List of Headings

(i)                 Defining energy in scientific terms

(ii)               Renewable energy as a general concept

(iii)             Types of energy that are finite

(iv)       Human history in the use of natural resources

(v)        Types of renewable energy

(vi)       Theoretical principles on renewable energy

(vii)      Wind power and environment

(viii)     The advantage of renewable energy

(ix)       What does the National Renewable Energy Laboratory say?

Example        Paragraph A                                                  Answer (ii)

1. Paragraph B

2. Paragraph C

3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E

5. Paragraph F

6. Paragraph G

Example        Paragraph H                                           Answer (ix)

7. Paragraph I

Questions 8 – 11

Choose the appropriate letter A – D and write your answers in boxes 8 – 11 on your

answer sheet.

8. When the writer says  ̳kids who are bundles of energy‘, he means ...

A. kids are lack of energy.

B. kids are full of energy.

C. kids need more energy.

D. kids are not so strong.

9.  ‘Energy is neither created nor destroyed’ is similar in meaning to ...

A. we can create energy but we cannot destroy energy.

B. we cannot create energy, we cannot destroy it either.

C. we can both create and destroy energy.

D. we can destroy energy but cannot destroy it.

10. In this passage fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas are mentioned as examples ...

A. non-renewable energy.

B. renewable energy.

C. fuels for homes, offices and factories.

D. non-fossilised energy.

11.  ‘There is X amount under earth...’ means ...

A. the amount under earth is unlimited.

B. the amount under earth can be added to.

C. the amount under earth is too little.

D. the amount under earth is fixed.

Questions 12 – 14

Classify the following forms of energy. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS taken from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 12 – 14 on your answer sheet.

Example: windmills                                                    Answer: wind power

12. heat from the sun

13. organic matter

14. heat from the earth

Questions 15 – 16

Answer  questions 15 – 16 using NO  MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 15 – 16 on your answer sheet.

15. China, Greece and Rome are mentioned as places that used what in ancient times?

16. What is the effect upon the environment if a fuel does not involve a combustion process?