Модуль 5 - Modal Verbs and their equivalents. Многофункциональные глаголы в роли модальных - shall, should, will, would, need, dare (1096809), страница 5
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Wind has to be this speed to turn the turbines fast enough to generate electricity. Theturbines usually produce about 50 to 300 kilowatts of electricity each. A kilowatt is 1,000 watts(kilo means 1,000). You can light ten 100 watt light bulbs with 1,000 watts. So, a 300 kilowatt(300,000 watts) wind turbine could light up 3,000 light bulbs that use 100 watts!As of 1999, there were 11,368 wind turbines in California. These turbines are grouped together inwhat are called wind "farms," like those in Palm Springs in the picture on the right. These windfarms are located mostly in the three windiest areas of the state:•••Altamont Pass, east of San FranciscoSan Gorgonio Pass, near Palm SpringsTehachapi, south of BakersfieldTogether these three places in California make enough electricity to supply an entire city the size ofSan Francisco! About 11 percent of the entire world's wind-generated electricity is found inCalifornia. Other countries that use a lot of wind energy are Denmark and Germany.Once electricity is made by the turbine, the electricity from the entire wind farm is collectedtogether and sent through a transformer.
There the voltage is increase to send it long distances overhigh power lines.3. Renewable Energy vs. Fossil FuelsIn Chapter 8, we discussed the world's supply of fossil fuels — oil, coal and natural gas and how it is beingdepleted slowly because of constant use. Fossil fuels are not renewable, they can't be made again. Once theyare gone, they're gone.In Chapters 11 to 16, we learned that there's no shortage of renewable energy from the sun, wind and waterand even stuff usually thought of as garbage — dead trees, tree branches, yard clippings, left-over crops,sawdust, even livestock manure, can produce electricity and fuels — resources collectively called "biomass."The sunlight falling on the United States in one day contains more than twice the energy we consume in anentire year.
California has enough wind gusts to produce 11 percent of the world's wind electricity. Cleanenergy sources can be harnessed to produce electricity, process heat, fuel and valuable chemicals with lessimpact on the environment.In contrast, emissions from cars fueled by gasoline and factories and other facilities that burn oil affect theatmosphere.
Foul air results in so-called greenhouse gases. About -81% of all U.S. greenhouse gases arecarbon dioxide emissions from energy-related sources.Renewable energy resource development will result in new jobs for people and less oil we have to buy fromforeign countries. According to the federal government, America spent $109 billion to import oil in 2000. Ifwe fully develop self-renewing resources, we will keep the money at home to help the economy.Continued research has made renewable energy more affordable today than 25 years ago. The cost of windenergy has declined from 40 cents per kilowatt-hour to less than 5 cents.
The cost of electricity from the sun,through photovoltaics (literally meaning "light-electricity") has dropped from more than $1/kilowatt-hour in1980 to nearly 20cents/kilowatt-hour today. And ethanol fuel costs have plummeted from $4 per gallon in theearly 1980s to $1.20 today.But there are also drawbacks to renewable energy development.17For example, solar thermal energy involving the collection of solar rays through collectors (often times hugemirrors) need large tracts of land as a collection site. This impacts the natural habitat, meaning the plants andanimals that live there. The environment is also impacted when the buildings, roads, transmission lines andtransformers are built.
The fluid most often used with solar thermal electric generation is very toxic and spillscan happen.Solar or PV cells use the same technologies as the production of silicon chips for computers. Themanufacturing process uses toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals are also used in making batteries to store solarelectricity through the night and on cloudy days.. Manufacturing this equipment has environmental impacts.Also, even if we wanted to switch to solar energy right away, we still have a big problem. All the solarproduction facilities in the entire world only make enough solar cells to produce about 350 megawatts, aboutenough for a city of 300,000 people.
that's a drop in the bucket compared to our needs. California alone needsabout 55,000 megawatts of electricity on a sunny, hot summer day. And the cost of producing that muchelectricity would be about four times more expensive than a regular natural gas-fired power plant.So, even though the renewable power plant doesn't release air pollution or use precious fossil fuels, it still hasan impact on the environment.Wind power development too, has its downside, mostly involving land use. The average wind farm requires17 acres of land to produce one megawatt of electricity, about enough electricity for 750 to 1,000 homes.However, farms and cattle grazing can use the same land under the wind turbines.Wind farms could cause erosion in desert areas.
Most often, winds farms affect the natural view because theytend to be located on or just below ridgelines. Bird deaths also occur due to collisions with wind turbines andassociated wires. This issue is the subject of on-going research.Producing geothermal electricity from the earth's crust tends to be localized. That means facilities have to bebuilt where geothermal energy is abundant. There are several geothermal resource locations in California.The Geysers area north of San Francisco is an example. In the course of geothermal production, steamcoming from the ground becomes very caustic at times, causing pipes to corrode and fall apart. Geothermalpower plants sometimes cost a little bit more than a gas-fired power plant because they have to include thecost to drill.Environmental concerns are associated with dams to produce hydroelectric power. People are displaced andprime farmland and forests are lost in the flooded areas above dams.
Downstream, dams change the chemical,physical and biological characteristics of the river and land.Unlike fossil fuels, which dirties the atmosphere, renewable energy has less impact on the environmentRenewable energy production has some drawbacks, mainly associated with the use of large of tracts of landthat affects animal habitats and outdoor scenery.
Renewable energy development will result in jobs and lessoil imported from foreign countries.4. Energy for TransportationIn California, about one-half of ALL the energy we use goes into transportation – cars, planes,trucks, motorcycles, trains, buses. And of all the oil we use in the state about three-quarters of all itgoes into making gasoline and diesel fuel for vehicles.As we know, oil goes through a refinery where it is made into many different products. Some ofthem are used for transportation: aviation fuel, gasoline and diesel fuel. From the refinery and largerstorage tank farms, transportation fuels are usually trucked to service stations in tanker trucks.
Thesetrucks can hold 10,000 gallons in each tank. The tanker trucks deliver the gasoline to the servicesstations.At service stations, the two grades of gasoline, regular and premium, are kept in separateunderground storage tanks. When you pump the gasoline into your car, you are pumping it fromthose tanks below ground. Mid-grade gasoline is a combination of the two types. Other vehicles,such as trucks and some cars use diesel fuel, which is also made from oil. It is brought to servicestations the same way.18California has more than 26 million vehicles on its roads. All the vehicles in the state used 14.4billion gallons of gasoline in 2001.
That's more gasoline that all other countries except for theUnited States and the former Soviet Union. This makes California the third-largest user ofgasoline in the world!Fourteen billion gallons of gasoline is enough to fill a line of 10,000 gallon tanker trucks stretchedbumper to bumper from San Francisco to San Diego, back to San Francisco, and then part of theway to Sacramento!Burning gasoline, however, creates air pollution. That's why oil companies are creating newer typesof gasoline that are cleaner than the kind we use today. Beginning in 1996, all the gasoline sold inCalifornia will be this newer, cleaner type called "reformulated gasoline." The main ingredient inthat gas, however, MTBE was found to hurt water supplies if it leaked.
So, that additive is beingremoved by 2005.Another concern about using oil for transportation is that a lot of oil used comes form the MiddleEast. This makes the U.S. very vulnerable if there is political unrest. During the 1970s, Americanssaw long lines at the gas pumps because oil from the Middle East was turned off by the OilProducing Exposting Countries - OPEC. And we're in in worse shape in 2002 because we'reimporting more and more oil form the Middle East than ever before.Because of concerns about air pollution and petroleum-dependence, new clean-burning fuels madefrom fuels other than oil are being introduced. These fuels include methanol, ethanol, natural gas,propane and even electricity.
The car on the right uses methanol, the same fuel used in IndianapolisSpeedway race cars.All these fuels are called alternative fuels because they are an alternative to gasoline and diesel. Carsand trucks that use them are called Alternative Fuel Vehicles or AFVs.Right now, there are only a small number of cars and trucks that are running on fuels other thangasoline and diesel. Energy officials hope, however, that one-quarter of all the vehicles will run onalternative fuels by the year 2025.5. Saving Energy and Energy ConservationSome of the energy we can use is called renewable energy. These include solar, wind, geothermaland hydro.
These types of energy are constantly being renewed or restored.But many of the other forms of energy we use in our homes and cars are not being replenished.Fossil fuels took millions of years to create. They cannot be made over night.And there are finite or limited amounts of these non-renewable energy sources. That means theycannot be renewed or replenished. Once they are gone they cannot be used again. So, we must all doour part in saving as much energy as we can.In your home, you can save energy by turning off appliances, TVs and radios that are not beingused, watched or listened to.You can turn off lights when no one is in the room.By putting insulation in walls and attics, we can reduce the amount of energy it takes to heat or coolour homes.Insulating a home is like putting on a sweater or jacket when we're cold... instead of turning up theheat.The outer layers trap the heat inside, keeping it nice and warm.19New space-age materials are being developed that insulate even better.
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