V. Now answer these questions.

1. What fuels and sources are used in your country (region)?

2. Which one is used most?

3. Where do these fuels come from?

4. Which are imported?

VI. Match these different power plants to their description.

1 hydropower plant	a) a traditional type of power plant which burns a solid, black fossil fuel
2 solar power plant	b) a power plant which pumps water back uphill into a reservoir during periods of low demand
3 nuclear power plant	c) a plant which uses the flow of water from a reservoir to generate electricity
4 wind power plant	d) a power station utilizing the natural flow of water in a river for generating power
5 gas-fired power plant	e) type of power plant that uses uranium as its primary fuel
6 run-of-river power plant	f) a power plant which uses the natural flow of air to generate electricity
7 coal-fired power plant	g) a fossil fuel power plant which burns a solid, a dark brown fuel
8 lignite-fired power plant	h) a power plant that generates electricity utilizing energy from the sun
9 pump-storage power plant	i) a power station which burns gas as its primary fuel

Grammar

VII. Translate the following words and define their part of speech:

1. new, to renew, renewable, nonrenewable;

2. to pollute, pollution, pollutant;

3 to vary, various, variable, invariable, variation;

4. to contribute, contribution, contributory, contributor;

5. to divide, division, subdivision, indivisible;

6. to move, movement, moved, movable.

VIII. Translate the following sentences.

1. It is known that energy cannot be created.

2. It is impossible to create energy.

3. You are asked to give some examples of energy transformation.

4. The construction of large thermal power plants is paid great attention to.

5. This old type generator is said to have many disadvantages.

6. They employ new devices to obtain better results.

7. This mechanism is believed to be the best for converting heat into work.

8. One could not obtain results without repeating the test.

9. One must be very careful when operating a nuclear reactor.

15 Alternative energy

Reading

I. Read the following words:

alternative, resource, projected, quadrillion, century, supply, capture, store, upwards, towards, proportionately, growth.

II. Read and translate the text.

Alternative energy sources include biomass, geothermal energy, hydropower, solar energy, and wind energy. They are called renewable energy sources because they are replenished in a short time. Day after day, the sun shines, the wind blows, and the rivers flow.

Alternative energy sources provide only about 7% of the world’s energy needs (Source: Energy Information Agency). This means that fossil fuels, along with nuclear energy, are supplying 93% of the world’s energy resources.

As the population grows upwards towards nine billion people over the next 50 years, the world’s energy demands will increase proportionately. Not only will it be important for renewable energy to keep up with the increasing population growth, but it must outpace not only these demands but begin replacing fossil fuel energy production if we are to meet future energy needs.

By the year 2020, world energy consumption is projected to increase by 50%, or an additional 207 quadrillion BTUs. If the global consumption of renewable energy sources remains constant, the world’s available fossil fuel reserves will be consumed in 104 years or early in the 22nd century. (Source: US Department of Energy). Clearly, renewable energy resources will play an increasingly vital role in the power generation mix over the next century. There’s more than enough renewable energy sources to supply all of the world’s energy needs forever; however, the challenge is to develop the capability to effectively and economically capture, store and use the energy when needed.

Vocabulary

III. Remember these words:

fossil, to demand, needs, to consume, to include, to mean, to flow, BTU, B.T.U. or Btu British Thermal Unit

Grammar

IV. Translate the following words and define their part of speech:

1. consume, consumption, consumer;

2. generate, generation, generator, degenerate;

3. efficient, efficiency, efficiently;

4. construction, construct, constructor, reconstruct, reconstruction;

5. convert, conversion, convertible, converter, reconvert.

V. Translate the following sentences. Pay attention to –ing forms:

1. Charging by induction was discovered by Epinus.

2. The lines of force are used for picturing the electric field.

3. The scientists go on studying the properties of the magnetic flux.

4. There are different ways of producing an electric current.

5. We could not achieve good results without comparing the two figures.

6. We know of the magnetic lines being emitted from the North pole.

Speaking