Wind power by Chris Cavey

Pre-reading task

1 What is your opinion of renewable forms of energy?
2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of wind power?
Now, read the article and compare your experiences with those outlined in the article.

Most respected scientists agree that we need to find another source of energy - and quickly. Oil is running out and anyway, if we continue to burn oil and pump carbon into the atmosphere then the effects on global climate will lead to global catastrophe even before the oil disappears.

The British government has set a target of a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2010. Central to this policy is the search for alternative, renewable forms of energy production - and this is where the serious disagreement among scientists begins. Is there truly a source of energy that is clean, safe, and most importantly, renewable (it will never run out) that can replace our current reliance on fossil fuels?
Controversially, the government plans to build a number of wind farms around the UK. Supporters of wind power say that this is a safe, efficient and clean way of meeting the demand for electricity. Opponents of wind farms, however, say that the schemes will disfigure the British countryside while doing little to meet the nation's energy needs.
Here, two people active in the debate about wind farms give their points of view:

Simon Shearman (British Wind Energy Association): 'First, a few facts about wind power. Wind is one of the cheapest of the new, renewable forms of energy. A typical wind farm will produce enough energy to meet the annual electricity needs of 1,500 homes. It is extremely safe - no member of the public has ever been injured at a wind farm.
The shallow waters around Britain are the windiest in Europe - ideal locations for wind farms and, by 2010, up to ten per cent of the electricity used in the UK could be produced by wind power.
I find it annoying and frustrating that the biggest objection that opponents of wind farms can come up with is that wind farms don't look very nice. Don't they realise that the crisis of global warming is real and something must be done urgently?'

Alice Evans (Campaign to Protect Rural England): 'The simple, obvious fact is that wind turbines cannot generate electricity if the wind is too light or too strong and it often is. Many scientists estimate that wind turbines generally produce only 30 per cent of their capacity. This is not a reliable enough supply to enable us to close down conventional power stations.
In fact, demand for electricity is growing and may increase by 20 per cent in the next ten years. Wind power can't keep up with this growth, let alone replace other sources of power. These arguments do not justify the destruction and disfigurement of the British countryside.'

It's a topic that is causing heated debate around the country - but one we must address before it's too late - before the oil runs out.

Exercise 1

Comprehension: True/False. Read the article and decide if the following sentences are true or false:

1 There may be a global catastrophe before the world runs out of oil.

2 The British government wants people to use 20 per cent less electricity by 2010.

3 Scientists are confident of finding
a renewable energy source.

4 Opponents of wind farms think they
are ugly.

5 Supporters of wind farms say they are less expensive than other energy sources.

6 Supporters say that Britain is a parti-cularly suitable place for wind farms.

7 Supporters feels that their opponents don't understand how serious the situation is.

8 Opponents of wind farms say they will not produce enough electricity.

Exercise 2

Vocabulary: Matching. Match each word in the first column (a to h) with its definition in the second column (1 to 8):

a turbine 1 will never run out
b global warming 2 the maximum amount something can produce
c fossil fuels 3 gases released by factories, etc. that damage our atmosphere
d carbon emissions 4 an increase in the world's temperature
e generate 5 produce
f capacity 6 a large machine that produces power
g conventional 7 e.g. coal, oil and petrol - all containing carbon
h renewable 8 traditional, not new or different

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