The natural world Flora and fauna, agriculture Mifloraand fauna 1.4 How many plants and animals do you know? Can you name: A. five animals found in Africa? D_ five animals found in Australia? 8 five different types of flower? —E_ five different types of tree? five types of fruit? F five types of vegetable? 1.2 Are these words associated with plants or animals? Put the words into the correct column. Which word can go in both columns? flora fauna vegetation branch twig root coat predator beak trunk fur hide scales feathers paw claw thorn petal__horn Animals Plants En @- We say we must take care of mature. NOT Wemust toke care of the noture- Natural is the adjective form: Itisa natural process. NOT it#s-e-nature process: Which five words in the animal column are connected to their skin or covering? 1.3 COMPOUND NOUNS Complete the sentences by adding one of these words animal, human, nature, natural . 1 It's human.....2%4#4...... to want to find a solution to our problems, 2 Vegans do not use or eat any ...... .. products. 3 Iwould rather be served by a.... being than by a computer. 4 Tam constantly amazed by now beautiful and now destructive mother 5 Manis said to be the most dangerous creature of all the .. kingdom. 6 Animals are much happier living in their habitat. 7 Manmade disasters such as chemical spills can destroy the balance. 8 In some countries prisoners are denied basic..... . Fights. 46| 1.4 | © 92 Listen toa description of an animal called a meerkat and complete the table. Habitat Diet ‘Pound in South Afriew in + Meerkuts mostly eut @. .-areas. 6). rose (9). and * Avoids woodland and thick 0. The natural world 9 Desrricares * They occasionally eat small rodents and the (8)... ons certain plants. It sleeps in (3). © If necessary, the meerkat will make a @). between rocks. Wi Agriculture 2.1. Which is the odd one out? Circle the word which is different from the others and say why. 1 rose tulip daisy (weed)vs..ent. te gow, the others. 5 tropical subtropical humid arid 2. plant grow cultivate soil 3 cfop plant shrub bush. 4 organic natural chemical biological 6 arid desert semi-arid tropical 7 endemic native introduced local 2.2 Read the text and then decide if the statements below are true or false. Find words in the text which mean the same or the opposite of the words in bold. Introduced species Since the birth of agriculture, farmers have tried to avoid using pesticides by employing various biological methods to control nature. The first method involved introducing a predator that would control pests by eating Urei, This wes used sucessfully i 1925 to contol the prickly pear population in Australia, The prickly pear had originally been used as a divider between paddocks. However, it eventually spread from a few farms to 4 million hectares of farming land, rendering them unusable. The Cactoblastis moth larvae was introduced to help control the situation and within ten years, the prickly pear was virtually eradicated. Further attempts at biological control weren't so successful. When farmers tried to eliminate the cane beetle by introducing the South American cane toad, the results were catastrophic. The cane toad did not eat the cane beetle and the toad population spread rapidly leading to the decline of native species of mammals and reptiles. 1 Farmers do not like using chemicals to kill pests... The prickly pear was planted as a tyne of barrier between fields. The Cctoblastis moth killed off nearly all prickly pear plants. The cane toad was a native species to Australia... Using the cane toad was very successful... a79 The natural world ! 2.31 Now read the rest of the text and match the | 3 | Improve the text by replacing the words in italics words in italics to the definitions below. with a suitable word or phrase from this unit. Other introduced species have proved similarly Some farmers believe that growing * fruit and disastrous among native Australian animals, Since vegetables that have been ? changed so that their the intioduction of the cat, the fox and the rabbit genes are oifferent \s a good way to? roratly stop from Europe, 19 species of native animals have pests and improve the quality of their produce. become extinct and a further 250 species are However, this type of “ farming has both advantages considered to be either endangered or vulnerable. and disadvantages. ‘The modern-day approach to the biological control One of the advantages is that farmers can grow Of pests is through genetically modified crops. plants that produce a poison that is harmful to > tt remains to be seen whether this controversial ‘small animals like flies and caterpillors. This means ‘method will have any long-term repercussions, that farmers will not have to use © chemicals to kill Particularly in regards to the ecofogical balance of these animals and so this should be better for the ‘the environment where they are grown. Some fear surrounding environment and the ” earth that plants ‘that insects may become resistant to these new grow in. As a result, it could help to protect other crops and therefore become even more difficult to ® plants as well as the ° living space of any animals control in the area. 1 atrisk.. On the other hand, farmers usually only spray their 2 negative effects fields once or twice per year but these new plants 3. tostop being affected by something would be toxic all year round. Furthermore, itis possible that over time the pests may ™ stop being ™~ killed by the toxins and so the problem would be = worse than ever. The toxins may also be polsonous 5 _ no longer existing .. to other plants and animals and this would upset 6 crops whose genes have been scientifically changed the” wy plants ond animols lie and grow together and may lead to more animals becoming ” at risk of ~~ extinction. 7 extremely bad or unsuccessful. 8 the relationship between plants, animals, land, air, | 4 | PRONUNCIATION ® 9 Each of the words in and water... the box below has a weak sound (a) or schwa, e.g, about. Undertine the schwa in each word, thon licton and check your answors. Practise | 2.4 WORD BUILDING Complete the table. You do saying the words. There may be more than one not need to write anything in the shaded areas. schwa in each word. adapt i i aavest: were agriculture agriculture agricultural catastrophe ecology chemical aha climate . disastrous extinct extinct endangered nature genetically genetic (eran natural vulnerable 48The natural world 9 Test practice Academic Reading Meet the hedgeh A ee es In Norwich, England, the first housing development designed for both _| This reading text is also good practice hedgehogs and people has been built. All through the gardens and for General Training section 3. fences is a network of pathways and holes installed just for the ancient, spiny creatures. I's a paradise that Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, calls ‘absolutely fantastic’. As for the developers, they have reason to think the animals will help make home sales fantastic, too. Part of the attraction is that many people simply love hedgehogs, particularly in Britain, where children’s hook writer Rratrix Patter introduced Mrs Tiggy-Winklo, a hedgehog character, over a century ago. But part of the attraction is also rooted. in science. Studies have helped make clear that hedgehogs are good for gardens, eating vast numbers of slugs and other pests as they forage in the vegetation at night. B Recent scientific studies about hedgehogs have helped explain mysteries as varied as why hedgehogs apply saliva to their entire bodies, how they have survived on the planet for 30 million years, why they chew toxic toad skins and what secrets they may hold about evolution. As one of the most primitive mammals on the planet, the hedgehog has been helping geneticists understand evolutionary relationships ainiuny ranturials and even uncover secrets of the human genome’. At Duke University, for example, scientists chose the hedgehog and 14 other species to study the lineages of mammals. They determined among other things that marsupials (e.g. kangaroos) are not related to monotremes (the egg-laying platypus and echidna), which had long been a subject of debate. Such questions are not just academic. ‘If you are trying to trace, for example, the evolutionary steps of foetal heart development to better understand how foetal defects ocour, it helps to know which mammals are related so that you can make accurate inferences about one mammal from another mammal's development,’ says researcher Keith Killian. c Still, much about hedgehogs remains unknown. For one thing, scientists think they haven't even discovered all the hedaehoa species. ‘We know of at least 14.’ says hedgehag researcher Nigal Raava af Rritain’s | Inivarsity af Surray, Roehampton. ‘I's almost certain that there are more species.’ The 14 known species are native to Africa and parts of Asia as well as Europe. Some hibernate through cold winters in the north. Others tolerate desert heat near the equator. Some live in urban areas, adapting well to living in close proximity to humans. Others live in areas that rank ‘among the most remote places on the planet. D Hedgehogs spend much of their time alone, but Reeve says it would be a mistake to think of them as solitary. ‘Hedgehogs do approach each other and can detect the presence of others by their scent,’ he says. ‘Itis true that they usually do not interact at close quarters, but that does not mean they are unaware of their neighbours. ‘Thoy may occasionally corap over food items and rival males attracted to a female may also have aggressive interactions. Stil, it's fair to say that, in adulthood, hedgehogs meet primarily to mate, producing litters of four or five hoglets as often as twice yearly.’ genome: the complete set of genetic material of a living thing 499 The natural world E Adult hedgehogs eat just about anything they can find: insects, snakes, bird eggs, small rodents and more. Veterinarians trying to understand gum disease in domesticated hedgehogs have concluded that the varied diet of wild hedgehogs gives them more than nutrition ~ the hard bodies of insects also scrape the hedgehogs’ teeth lean, F All hedgehogs also share the same defence mechanism: they retract their vulnerable parts ~ head, feet, belly — into ‘a quill-covered ball, using special skin down their sides and over their heads and feet. Any perceived threat can make them roll up, including the approach of a biologist, so researchers have invented @ new measurement for the animals: ball length. Young hedgehogs have a few extra defence strategies. ‘One is to spring up in the air,’ says Reeve. ‘A fox would get a face full of bristles. They make a little squeak while they do it.’ Evidence suggests that hedgehogs may also add unpleasant chemicals to their quills to make them even less appealing. In behaviour that may be unique for a vertebrate, they chew substances laden with toxins and then apply frothy saliva to their entire bodies. In one 1977 study, human volunteers pricked themselves with quills from hedgehogs that had coated themselves after chewing on venomous taad skins. The volunteers found those quills much mare irritating and painful than clean ones. G However, every year, many thousands of the animals die on roads in Europe and elsewhere as they go about their nightly business. Along with intensive farming and pesticides, road kill has taken its toll on hedgehog populations. One 2002 study found the animal numbers had dropped by between 20 and 30 per cent in a single decade. To help combat the deciine, the British have established special clinics for injured hedgehogs, urged that anyone making a bonfire check for the animals underneath first, and ensured that hedgehogs can cope with cattle grids. Recently, they even persuaded McDonald's to alter the packaging of its McFlurry ice-cream container, which had been trapping foraging hedgehogs. 4 Ironically, for centuries the English considered these animals as vermin. Even 50 years ago gamekeepers were killing as many as 10,000 a year thinking they were no more than bird-egg-eating pests. In some places today, Scientists are coming to the same conclusions all over again. In the 1970s, hedgehogs were introduced to the Hebrides Islands off Scotland to help combat garden slugs. With no natural enemies there, a few hedgehogs soon turned into thousands. Wildlife researchers have watched the hedgehogs reduce the numbers of rare ground- nesting wading birds by feasting on their eggs. Efforts to cull the animals in the past two years have upset Britain's, conservationists who have countered with strategies to relocate the animals. For questions that require you to locate information, you also need to understand the function of the information. For example, for question 1 you will need to find the part of the text which tells you why it is important to know how animal species are connected (i.e. the relevance of this information), 50The natural world 9 Questions 1-9 ‘The reading passage has eight sections A-H. Which sections contain the following information? Write the correct letter (A-H) next to questions 1-9 below. ‘The significance of establishing the relationship between different species. ... The different habitats where hedgehogs can be found The reason why standard forms of measurement cannot be used for the hedgehog. «arn ‘A problem associated with hedgehogs kept as pets. .. ‘Two reasons why hedgehogs are popular with people in the UK. Four findings from the latest research into hedgehogs. The social habits of the hedgehog, ‘The number of hedgehog species already identified. eer one orn ‘The name given to baby hedgehogs... Questions 10-13 Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. 10 The study conducted in 1977 revealed a possible reason why A hedgehogs clean their quills. B_ hedgehogs chew poisonous animal skins. adult hedgehogs do not leap into the aii. D_ young hedgehogs make a high-pitched noise. 11 In Britain, which of the following has NOT been done to protect hedgehogs? A The opening of hospitals just for hedgehogs. B__ Imposing fines for littering in areas where hedgehogs live. © The alteration of a container produced by a fast-food chain. D Alerting people to the potential dangers faced by hedgehogs. 42 What are the ‘conciusion * Ural stiviists on the Hebrides Islands have reached again? ‘A Hedgehog numbers are declining, B_ Hedgehogs pose a threat to other wildlife. © Hedgehogs can safely be introduced there. D_ Hedgehogs can be used effectively as a natural predator. 13 What would conservationists prefer to do on the Hebrides Islands? Introduce a native predator of hedgehogs. Kill a small number of hedgehogs. Remove ground-nesting birds. Move the hedgehogs elsewhere. gom> 51! 15 The environment, climate change and pollution Mitheenvironment = fi, I 1.1 | Choose the words that reflect your opinion of these three statements from the first column of the table below. Write the words you chose in the My Opinion column. 1 We should educate the public about our environment by handing out leaflets. 2. Within a few years we will have solved all of our pollution problems. 3. Within the next ten years the only chemicals we use will be environmentally friendly ones. ‘My opinion ‘Speaker A Speaker B Statement 1-useful / useless? Statement 2-possible / impossible? ‘Statement 3-likely / unlikely? 1.2 | © 152 Now listen to two people (speakers A and B) giving their opinions about the same ideas and choose the words that reflect their opinions. Write them in the appropriate columns of the table. 4.3 | Listen again or look at the recording script at the back of the book and write the adjectives the speakers used to express their opinions. Put the adjectives into the correct column according to their meaning. useful useless possible impossible Likely unlikely beneficial. - - - enciny reese sevanonneneeva Vocabulary note The prefix re- often tells us that something is being done again: reuse, revegetate. The prefix de- often tells us that something is being removed: decaffeinated, deforestation. Miclimate change and pollution = 2.1 Complete the text with words from the box. acid bivdiversity Wumtaniinoted deforestation evusystems — enissivies environmental erosion exhaust drought fertilisers greenhouse waste The advances made by humans have made us the dominant species on our planet. However, several eminent scientists are concerned that we have become too successful, that our way of life is putting en unprecedented strain on the Earth's (1).......0..000n0. and threatening our future as a species. We are confronting 2 . problems that are more taxing than ever before, some of them seemingly insoluble, Many of 78The green revolution 15 the Earth's crises are chronic and inexorably linked. Pollution is an obvious example of this affecting our air, water and soil The air is polluted by (3), produced by cars and industry. Through (4 rain and (5) gases these same (6), cnn fumes can have a devastating impact on our climate. Climate change is erguably the greetest environmentol challenge facing our planct with increased storms, AOOKS, (7) nnn and species losses predicted. This will inevitably have a negative impact on @)... .».and thus our ecosystem. The soil is (9) by factories and power stations which can leave heavy metals in the soil. Other human activities such as the overdevelopment of land and the clearing of trees also take their toll on the quality of Our SOil5 (10) enon . has been shown to cause soil (11). «Certain farming practices can also pollute the land though the use of chemical pesticides and (12). This contamination in turn affects our rivers and waterways and damages life there. The chemicals enter our food chain, moving from fish to mammals to us. Our crops are also grown on land that is far from pristine. Affected species include the polar bear, 20 not even the Arctic i immune, Reducing (13) nnn and clearing up pollution costs money. Yet it is our quest for wealth that ‘generates so much of the refuse. There is an urgent need to find a way of life that is less damaging to the Earth. This is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening © 2.2.1 Match the words in bold with these synonyms. 1 1 3 unspoiled .......Prestine. 6 unaffected crucial. 7 omnipresent... unparalleled 8 unavoidably (2 extremely harmful .....[Link] 9. persistent... insurmountable ... 10. challenging... Consider how you would answer these questions. What do you think is the greatest environmental threat we face today? 2 What can the government do to help protect the environment? 3 What can we as individuals do? on 4.1 ‘Y/Juse a dictionary to check the different forms of the words in the box as well as the prepositions used with them. Then complete the answers to the questions in 3 using the correct form of the word in brackets. You will need to add prepositions to the words that are undertined. contaminate danger dispose erode pollute recycle risk sustain threat 1 [think our environment is ' under. threat, from. (threat) many different things. We have allowed too much ‘, (pollute) to enter our ecosystem and we are»... asa result. I think soil ...... (erode) and water°.. most urgent problems that we need to deal with. (danger) poisoning ourselves (contaminate) are two of the Clearly our current lifestyle is not ©..... sowee (Sustain). The government should educate people about these problems and encourage us to change our habits. They need to show everyone that we are putting the very future of our planet ’. (risk). We can make sure we don’t throw 8 (recycle) items into our normal waste (dispose) bins. We can also help protect our planet by not using phosphate-based detergents; this will help to keep"... sone (pollute) out of our food chain. 7915 The green revolution 4.2) Complete the sentences using the negative form of the v 9 10 words in brackets. 0 Aste aes The prefix i-is often used with adjectives Itis.....unrealistic... (realistic) to expect everyone to hiding with 7b form ths opposite oF change their buying habits overnight. to mean lacking something: reversible, When it comes to protecting the environment, cost should be irreversible, regular, irregular. Some words sn (relevant). beginning with r form their opposite with Itis (reasonable) for rich countries to uns realistic, unrealistic. expect developing countries to reduce carbon emissions immediately. People who dump chemical waste into our waterways are VETY «on. son (responsible) . .. (repairable) damage to several marine species. Scientists believe that the damage to this area is .... (reversible) . These species are The oil spill has caused .~meo(teplaceable) . Once they are lost our ecosystem will be changed. It is a mistake to think that increased consumerism and environmental damage are (related) . PRONUNCIATION @15b Some words have a different stress pattern and therefore a different pronunciation, depending on their meaning or part of speech. Circle the correct stress pattern for the words in italics in these sentences. Listen to the recording to check your answers and then practise saying the sentences. 1 refuse to go. (refuse Kfefuse) Disposing of refuse is a growing problem. (refuse / refuse) ) The two reports conflict each other. (conflict / conflict) There is a conflict here. (conflict / con We all need to be present at the meeting. (present / present) This issue presents an enormous problem. (presents / presents) We are making a lot of progress. (progress / progress) We need to progress at a faster rate. (progress / progress) There has been an increase in carbon emissions. (increase / increase) Temperatures are expected to increase. (increase / increase) 80home 1.1 Answer the questions in this quiz. 1 Natural resources, alternative fuels You decide to fly to an island 5,000 miles away for a holiday. How many trees would you need to plant to offset or make up for the CO, emissions produced by the flight? A oa B 20 c2 Which is the most environmentally friendly way to clean your clothes? A Hand-wash the clothes in hot water. B_ Take them to the dry cleaners. C_ Machine-wash the clothes in cold water. You are tidying up your house in the evening, going back and forth between the bedroom, kitchen and living room, spending five to ten minutes in each room as you sort out the clutter. What is the best way to make sure your lights aren't needlessly wasting energy? ‘A Keep the lights on as you go trom room to room until the job 1s done. B_ Turn the lights off every time you leave @ room and then on again when you return, You decide to cook a baked potato for lunch. Which is the most energy-efficient way of cooking the potato? A Putit in an electric oven to cook slowly for an hour. B Quickly zap it in the microwave. You want to really make a significant contribution to the reduction of CO, emissions. Which of these would be of the most benefit over the course of a year? A Taking the train instead of driving a car. 8 Hanging your washing out to dry rather than using the tumble drver. C_ Working from home one day a week. 1.2 ©16 Listen to the answers to find out how environmentally aware you are. 1.3 | Complete the text with one word in each gap. Then look at the recording script at the back of the book to 84 check your answers. If we want to (1). energy then we need to change the way we behave. We need to buy appliances that are more energy (2). and limit the amount of time we use them. To reduce the (3). the greenhouse gases have on Our (4) mmmmnons We Should plant more trees. Trees can (5)... carbon ‘oxide and so they help to (6). the tumes produced by our cars. Turning off lights even for a few minutes C80 (7Josnnrnnn -vou the negative effects of turning them on again later.The energy crisis 16 2.1. Read the text and then answer the questions below. ‘The future of energy CO» plays a critical role in maintaining the balance in the Earth’s atmosphere and the air that we breathe. It also a waste product of the fossil fuels that almost every person on the planet uses for transport and other energy requirements. Because we create CO> every time we drive a car, cook a meal or turn on a light, and because the gas lasts around a century in the atmosphere, the proportion of COs in the atmosphere is rapidly increasing. ‘The best evidence indicates that we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 70 per cent by 2050. If you own 1 four-wheel-drive car and replace it with a hybrid car ~ a car that is powered by a combination of electricity and petrol — or a smaller standard-fuel car, you can achieve a reduction of that magnitude in a day rather than half a century. Unfortunately, our past history of change is considerably slower than this. Samuel Bowser first invented the petrol pump in 1885 but it wasn't until 1988 that all new cars manufactured in the UK were required to use unleaded petrol only. Not only do fossil finels pose an environmental hazaed hut there is also a pressing need to find an alternative energy source that is renewable, Opinions as to how much oil remains vary considerably. Some say that the Earth has produced only 18 per cent of its potential yield of oil; others say supplies may run out as early as 2015. Many countries are exploring alternative energy sources such as solar energy or wind power, which uses large turbines to capture the energy of the wind. 1 How do you write CO. in full? i 4 What do we call fuels that can be produced at any 2 What do we call fuels such as coal and oil? time? 5 Name two types of alternative energy. 3 What are two names for the substance that comes out of the exhaust of a car? 6 What is a turbine most similar to? A alargeengine © B awindmill © C acar Ml Alternativefuels = 2.2 Complete the text with words from the box. alternative converting eco‘riendly emit engine fuel fumes greenhousegases plant solar Fueling our cars Our love of the fuel-burning car with its poisonous exhaust (1). . has had a devastating effect both on our environment and on oil supplies. It is unlikely we will abandon our cars in large enough numbers to resolve this problem, so there is a pressing need to find af (2).m.-.nn fuel. Many car companies are exploring Direc energy sources. Hybrid cars were first developed in 1997 and these are likely to become more commonplace in the future. Hydrogen vehicles that use (4). panels to extract hydrogen from water are also likely to be readily available in the near future. These vehicles (5)... only water vapour and so do not contribute to (6)., - However, critics say that building a network of fuelling stations and Done ~existing petrol stations to hydrogen will prove too costly and will imit this vehicle's potential Nevertheless, countries such as the US, Germany, Japan and Iceland already have ambitious hydrogen plans. Others believe that biofuels are the future. These fuels are based on (8).. oils and so can be grown. The concept of using vegetable oil as a (9 dates back to 1895 when Dr Rudolf Diesel developed the first diesel (10). to run on vegetable oil. He demonstrated his engine at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 and described an experiment using peanut oil as fuel in his engine. In 1912, Diesel said, “The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.’ 8516 The energy crisis EE &- Gas is the American word for petrol. Smoke is produced when something burns. Fumes are the gases produced by chemicals such as petrol: Older cars generate a great deal of fumes. NOT e-great-deat-of (908 /o-greatdeotof-smoke 2.3 | Decide whether these sentences are true or false. Underline the parts of the text that gave you your answer. 1 Cars that run on electricity and petrol appeared in 1997, ......1f 2. Water is produced from the exhausts of hydrogen cars. 3. It will be relatively inexpensive to change current petrol stations for hydrogen cars. ....... 4 Biofuels are non-renewable. 5 In 1912 diesel was seen as an important fuel source. 2.4 Which is the odd one out? Try to explain why. 1 curb /timit / promote / restrict The. other words mean, ‘to reduce’. electricity / nuclear energy / solar energy / wind power economical / effective / efficient / emission carbon / fuel / gas / petrol emit / discharge / release / retain renewable / disposable / rechargeable diminish / dwindle / deplete / drastic consume / extend / exhaust / expend conserve / preserve / reserve / save 5 | Answer these questions using as many new words and phrases from this unit as you can. If possible, record yourself and then listen to your answers. 1 Do you think that you waste too much energy in the home? 2 What can the government do to encourage people to save energy? 3. Why do you think people prefer to drive a car instead of using public transport? 4 Do you feel optimistic about the future in terms of energy? 5 What changes do you think will happen in the next 20 years? ae {In the speaking test you will be assessed on your ‘lexical resource’ ~ in other words, whether you can use a wide range of vocabulary accurately. Think about your answers to these questions. Did you have to hesitate to search for words? Which words did you manage to use? Which words do you still need to practise? 86The energy crisis 16 Test practice Academic Reading America is abuzz with talk of replacing imported oil with ‘biofuels’ produced from homegrown materials. The US Environmental Protection Agency recently honoured famous country and western singer Willie Neison for his efforts to promote the use of biodiesel through his own ‘BioWilie’ brand, a vegetable oil-based fuel which is now being distributed at filling stations nationally. Clearly, many hurdles stand in the way of making such biofuels commercially viable with traditional sources. Indeed, it remains very difficult to forecast whether powering our vehicles with crop Gerivatives will ever be a truly economic proposition. Nevertheless, itis not too early to ponder what impact the widespread adoption of biofuels would have on our environment. Michael S. Briggs, a biodiesel advocate at the University of New Hampshire, has estimated that the United States would need about 140 billion gallons of biodiesel each year to replace all the petroleum-based transportation fuels currently haing tised This calculation is pramised on the idea that Americans could, over tima, switch to using diesel vehicles, as European drivers are clearly doing — half of the new cars sold there now run on standard diesel. ‘Although one could make a similar appraisal for the amount of sugar-derived ethanol needed to meet our needs, it is unlikely that drivers would ever want to fill up their tanks entirely with ethanol, which contains only two-thirds of the energy of gasoline, whereas biodiesel is only 2 per cent less fuel-efficient than petroleum-based diesel. Hence ‘a switch to biofuels would demand no new technology and would not significantly reduce the driving range of a car or truck. The main source of biodiesel is plant oil derived from crops such as rapeseed. An acre of rapeseed could provide about 100 gallons of biodiesel per year. To fuel America in this way would thus require 1.4 billion acres of rapeseed fields. This number is a sizeable fraction of the total US land area (2.4 billion acres) and considerably more than ‘the 400 million acres currently under cultivation. Consequently, the burden on freshwater supplies and the general disruption that would accompany such a switch in fuel sources would be immense Such calculations are sobering. They suggest that weaning ourselves off petroleum fuels and growing rapeseed instead would be an environmental catastrophe. Are more productive oil crops the answer? Oil palms currently top the list because they can provide enough oil to produce about 500 gallons of biodiesel per acre per year, which reduces the land requirement fivefold. Yet its cultivation demands a tropical climate, and its large-scale production, which currently comes from such countries as Malaysia and Indonesia, is a significant factor in the ‘ongoing destruction of what rainforest remains there. Conservationists have been warning that palm oil production poses a dire threat to the dwindling population of orang-utans, for example, which exist only in the wild in Borneo. and Sumatra. So here again, the prospect of dedicating sufficient land to growing feedstock for the world’s transportation needs promises to be an environmental nightmare. ‘There is, however, a ‘crop’ that is widely recognised as having the potential to meet the demands of a biodiesel- based transportation fleet without devastating the natural landscape: algae. Algae is a single-celled plant, some Varieties of which can contain 50 per cent or more oil. They also grow much more rapidly than ordinary plants and can double in quantity within several hours. ‘The US Department of Energy funded considerable research on biofuel production using algae after the oil problems of the 1970s, an effort known as the Aquatic Species Program. although this programme was terminated in the 1990s, a lot of experience was gained through research and various demonstration projects. The results suggested that algae can be grown in sufficient density to produce several thousand gallons of biodiesel per acre per year — a full order of magnitude better than can be expected using palm oil and two orders of magnitude better than soybeans. 8716 The energy crisis Itis not surprising then that many scientists and entrepreneurs are once again looking hard at the prospects for using algae to produce transportation fuels and sizeable amounts of money are being invested in various schemes for doing so. David Bayless, a professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio University, has been working with scientists to engineer a device that can grow cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). It uses carbon dioxide from the gases emitted from power-plant chimneys and sunlight that is distributed to the growing surfaces through optical fibres. Dayless uses an enclosed bioreactor and olaima to bo able to produse ac much ae 60 grame of biomace por square metre of growing surface per day. ‘Another recent effort is being carried out in San Diego by KentSeaTech Corporation. This company gained experience growing algae as a part of its aquaculture operations so was quick to respond when the California state government started looking for ways to treat the huge quantities of nutrient-laden water which runs off from adjacent farm lands. ‘i's no real difficult feat to turn nutrients into algae,’ says director of research Jon Van Olst, ‘put how do you get it out of the water?’ This is what Van Olst and his co-workers have been trying to achieve. The people working on these ventures are clearly eager to make growing algae a commercial success. Yet it is not hard to find experts who view such praspects as dim indaad .lohn Renemann, a private consuittant in California, has decades of experience in this area. He is particularly sceptical about attempts to make algae production more economical by using enclosed bioreactors rather than open ponds. He points out that Japan spent hundreds of millions of dollars on such research, which never went anywhere. Even Van Olst has serious reservations. ‘lt may work,’ he says, ‘but it is going to take a while and a lot of research before we get anywhere." Questions 1-5 Classify the following characteristics as belonging to, A biodiesel B ethane! © ordinary diese! Write the correct answers A-C next to questions 1-5. 1 Produced by a popular American entertainer. 50% of new cars in Europe use this fuel. Provides two thirds of the power of standard petrol. . Your car's performance will be alniost unchanged if you change to this fuel, os en Production can have a negative impact on water resources. .. 88The energy crisis 16 Questions 612 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Next to questions 6-12 write Yes if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer Neo if tho otatoment contradicte the claime of tho writer, Not given if itis impossible to say what the writer thinks about this, 6 2% of Americans already use biodiesel. 7 At present in America, 400 million acres of land are used for agriculture... 8 The use of palm oil as a fuel source will require more land than using rapeseed oll 9 Growing biodiesel crops has had a positive effect on local wildlife in some areas. 410 One advantage of algae is the speed with which it grows. 11 David Bayless believes that algae can produce more energy than solar power... 42 Itis easy to grow algae using agricultural waste water, Question 13 Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D. 13 What is the main purpose of this article? To prove that biofuels could totally replace petrol in America. To examine the environmental impact of standard fuel sources. To assess the advantages and disadvantages of different types of fuel. To show that an international effort is required to solve the fuel crisis. com> 89