Read the text and check your answers. - раздел Иностранные языки, К30 Engineering The Future: пособие по английскому языку. /Н.Г. Качановская, Л.М. Морозова, О.А. Шалай. – Минск.: БНТУ, 2009. – 128 с Renewable Energy Is Energy Generated From Natural Resources — Such As Sunligh...
Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources — such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat — which are renewable (naturally replenished).
In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning.
Hydroelectricity was the next largest renewable source, providing 3% (15% of global electricity generation), followed by solar hot water/heating, which contributed 1.3%.
Modern technologies, such as geothermal energy, wind power, solar power, and ocean energy together provided some 0.8% of final energy consumption.
Geothermal energyis energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, usually from kilometers deep into the Earth's crust. Where hot underground steam or water can be tapped and brought to the surface it may be used to generate electricity. Such geothermal power sources exist in certain geologically unstable parts of the world such as Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California.
Wind poweris the conversion of wind energy into a useful form, such as electricity, using wind turbines.It is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually and is widely used in several European countries and the United States. It is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Solar energy refers to energy that is collected from sunlight. Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain.
Solar energy can be applied in many ways, including to:
Ø generate electricity using photovoltaic solar cells.
Ø generate electricity using concentrated solar power.
Ø generate electricity by heating trapped air which rotates turbines in a Solar updraft tower.
Ø generate electricity in geosynchronous orbit using solar power satellites.
Ø
| “In one hour more sunlight falls on the earth than what is used by the entire population in one year.”
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generate hydrogen using photoelectrochemical cells.
Ø heat and cool air through use of solar chimneys.
Ø heat buildings, directly, through passive solar building design.
Ø heat foodstuffs, through solar ovens.
Ø heat water or air for domestic hot water and space heating needs using solar-thermal panels.
Ø solar air conditioning
Energy in water (in the form of kinetic energy, temperature differences or salinity gradients) can be harnessed and used.
Forms of water energy:
Ø Hydroelectric energy is a term usually reserved for large-scale hydroelectric dams. Examples are the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State and the Akosombo Dam in Ghana.
Ø Micro hydro systems are hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power. There are many of these installations around the world, includin g several delivering around 50 kW in the Solomon Islands.
Ø Damless hydro systems derive kinetic energy from rivers and oceans without using a dam.
Ø Ocean energy describes all the technologies to harness energy from the ocean and the sea.
| “Fossil fuels are depleted at a rate that is 100,000 times faster than they are formed.”
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Biofuelis defined as solid, liquid or gaseous fuel obtained from relatively recently lifeless or living biological material and is different from fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Also, various plants and plant-derived materials are used for biofuel manufacturing. Globally, biofuels are most commonly used to power vehicles, heat homes, and for cooking.
Biofuel industries are expanding in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Recent technology developed at Los Alamos National Lab even allows for the conversion of pollution into renewable bio fuel. Agrofuels are biofuels which are produced from specific crops, rather than from waste processes such as landfill off-gassing or recycled vegetable oil.
Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.
Все темы данного раздела:
Read the following information about sustainability, matching questions to the answers.
1) What is sustainability in an ecological point of view?
2) What is the definition of sustainability in the broad sense?
"What
Sustainability
“Our work embraces infrastructure, architecture and product design.
We design by challenging – by asking the right questions.
We believe the quali
Read the following news and try to guess what ideas they have in common and what problems they deal with.
Eco-terraces: Urban jungle
Eco-terraces are the next big thing in rooftop developments – but, says Stephen Kennett, it pays to have green fingers.
Ov
Sustainable Architecture Questions and Answers
1. Read some information about Kelly Hart – a green building professional. Then think of some questions you would like to ask him.
Kelly Ha
Read the first part of the text and answer the questions after it.
Spanning 25 years in the work of Jim Olson of Olson Sundberg Architects, these houses illustrate the evolution of a sustainable design sensibility rooted in the 1960s.
The beginnings.
The first of the three Olson houses, designed in the late 1960s, is on a steep, densely wooded cliff (near a beach where Olson played as a youth) overlooking south Puget Sound and, in the distance,
The Next Generation
The second house, built in 1992 in the suburb of Kirkland east of Seattle, bursts cheerfully from the landscape instead of hunkering into it. Yet the principle of prospect and refuge is at work her
The 1960s Revisited.
Yet the third house discussed here returns to many of the themes of the first – a “return to roots” brought about in not a small part by the client’s close collaboration in its design.
Lik
Keeping it Simple
The client would have none of it – no illusions, no architectural tricks. She wanted simplicity; the living room roof would be flat, its windows perceptible as such. The cross axis would be straigh
Decide whether the following statements are true or false according to the text.
1. These three houses are interesting both for their commonalities and their differences.
2. One thing the houses have in common is relevance to the theory of energy conser
Language development
14. Fill in the gaps with the words below:
a) inserted b) refuge
c) elaborate d) low-key
e) ingrained f) watchwords
Complete the sentences with the suitable preposition, if necessary.
1. respond … the images
2. affinity … a place
3. to be interesting … their commonalities
4. to burst … the landscape
5. suffused … light
Follow-up
18. Look through some information about underground construction and answer the following questions:
1. Is it possible to build underground
Advantages of building underground
Houses can be built on steep surfaces and can maximize space in small areas by going below the ground. In addition the materials excavated in construction can be used in the buildin
Do this questionnaire to find out how green you are. Make use of the list of unknown words at the end of it. Then discuss the results in class.
"Going green" has become as mainstream as baseball and apple pie, and Earth Day has morphed from an also-ran government holiday to a full-fledged internati
Builder in Hell
A builder dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks his dossier and says, "Ah sorry, you're in the wrong place." So the builder reports to the gates
Read the following news and try to guess what ideas they have in common and what problems they deal with.
A 13th Century village church is aiming to install solar panels as part of an environmentally friendly fund-raising scheme.
Parish officials hope the panels will produce
Read the text and answer the questions after it.
What is a passive house?
“Maximising the use of solar energy
and minimising heat loss is our credo.”
R
Elements of passive solar design
Every passive solar building includes five distinct design elements (see diagram 1):
1. An aperture or collector — the large glass area through which sunlight enters the building.
Lighting and electrical appliances
To minimize the total primary energy consumption, low-energy lighting (such as compact fluorescent lamps), and high-efficiency electrical appliances are normally used.
Read the following information and try to guess what type of house is described in each paragraph.
The term passive house refers to the rigorous, voluntary, Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency in buildings. This can be achieved by a mixture of energy conservation technolog
Reading task C
1. Go over the vocabulary list. Consult a dictionary if you need.
assembly (n)
proprietor (n)
r
Building for the future
Houses without heating? Long considered only a subject for research projects, this idea has now become a practical reality. Zero-energy houses obtain electricity and heat from the sun free of ch
Read part two and answer the questions after it.
In conjunction with the local college and other businesses, Fritz is attempting to combine high-technology and ecology in an “intelligent house” in Rosenheim. The windows close when
Comprehension check
9. Decide whether the following statements are true or false according to the text:
1. Hubert Fritz is a famous German economist.
Language focus
Match the words to their synonyms:
1) proprietor 6) breakthrough a) overlook f) support
2) estimate 7) squander b) stab
Language development
Fill in the gaps with the words below making all necessary changes to them:
a) to fulfill low-energy standards b) to lay off
Villa Girasole
The oldest rotating house we have found is Angelo Invernizzi's Villa Girasole (Villa Sunflower) near Verona, Italy. "The two storied and L shaped house rests on a circular base, which is over
Three men and a genie
A project manager, a superintendent, and a field engineer are in Ft. Lauderdale for a two-week period helping out on a project. About midweek they decide to walk up and do
The Cathedral Construction
There's this cathedral that's still being worked on, and the workers have rigged a "cage elevator" inside so they can get material up and down to the upper floor
Warming up
1. Work with a partner. Which of these people have you heard of? Why are they famous?
2. Read their quotations. Which do you agree with?
The History of Skyscrapers
The word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. The skyscraper, in name and social function, is a modern expression of the age-old symbol of the world cent
Choose any of them to describe. Use additional information.
Building
City
Height
Floors
Built
Burj Dubai
Dubai, UAE
Sustainability
The skyscraper as a concept is a product of the industrialized age, made possible by cheap energy and raw materials. The amount of steel, concrete and glass needed to construct a skyscraper is vast
Read the following news and try to guess what ideas they have in common and what problems they deal with.
Europe's Tallest Skyscraper Bid
A proposal for the tallest residential skyscraper in Europe to be built in Leeds has been submitted to planners.
The pl
Translate the following word-combinations from the text. Consult a dictionary if you need.
To rise majestically, to enjoy breathtaking views, to express concern, to whisk up, to come up with something, to lead the way in skyscraper building, downtown Chicago, a proud and
Buildings that Scrape the Sky
One of the wonders of the modern American city is that architectural marvel called the skyscraper. From New York to Miami from Chicago to Dallas, from Seattle to Los Angeles, these
Read the dialogue and fill in the blanks using the words from the box below.
antenna gargoyles marshy elevator excavated architecture skyscrapers decorated observatory tallest population
Go over the vocabulary list. Consult a dictionary if you need.
Developer(s) joint venture step down
Walk-up(s) affiliate u-shaped pattern
Predecessor partner townhouses
Crowd-pleaser neighborhood of impact ring
Large-scale e
Adding a Notch to the City Skyline
Commercial-residential complex in Manhattan steps down to nearby walk-ups
Introduction. The developers of a $545-million complex on
Read part III and answer the questions after it.
Demolition. A three-story brick building in a corner of the site was quickly demolished in two days. But when excavation of the rest of the 200 x 800-ft site began,
Read part IV and answer the questions after it
Bracing. Gary R. Steficek, SOM's project engineer for the commercial tower, adds that not all of the core bracing continues to the top of the building, either. Some
Read part V and answer the questions after it
Wind forces. Most skyscrapers have an impermeable envelope. This building project is unusual because both the arcade at grade level and the copper-clad roof are ope
Comprehension check
15. Decide whether the following statements are true or false according to the text:
1. The commercial-residential complex in Manhattan is
Make sure you can explain the following terms and word combinations from the part called Wind Forces
Impermeable envelope
Wind forces
Research director
Wind tunnel
Boundary layer
Round dormers
Roof space
A four-sto
Language focus
Match the words to their synonyms:
1) walk-up 6) surround a) access f) tenement
2) design 7) adjacent b) beam g) reflec
Language development
Fill in the gaps with the words below making all necessary changes to them:
a) to fulfill low-energy standards b) to lay off
Questions Regarding Skyscrapers
The dictionary says (and I trust it’s no lie),
a SKYSCRAPER's a VERY TALL BUILDING. Why,
howtall, then, is VERY TALL? What rule to apply?
Would twenty-si
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The ancient Greeks were probably the first to make up a list of the Seven Wonders—those marvelous structures that no traveler would want to miss. Through the ages, others added to or subtracted fro
Working with Concrete
Concrete (as dry cement) is available in many dry forms and comes as a raw powder in many sizes – in small sacks for the home user, or in huge containers for builders, construction engineers, and m
Disposing of Concrete
In its final form, as waste, concrete is far from being either biodegradable or environmentally friendly. It generally has to be smashed up and removed in chunks. One of the benefits of working wit
Concrete facts
· Global cement production accounts for about 2 billion tonnes of CO2 every year – that’s 5%of all CO2 emissions
· Global cement production in 2007 =
The Bed ZED Project, London
The Bed ZED Project, or Beddington Zero Energy Development, is the UK's largest carbon-neutral eco-community in the UK. It was built in 2002 in Wallington, Surrey, Within the London Borough of Sutt
The Findhorn Foundation Eco-Village
On Scotland's north-east coast, near the town of Forres, is the Findhorn Foundation, an intentional community, based upon the values of spirituality and sustainable living. Part of its project is a
Sustainable Architecture Can Help Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions
By Roger K. Lewis
Saturday, June 10, 2006; F05
Carbon dioxide is in the air like never before, but not just as measurable parts per
GKK Design Corporatist Frankfurt Skyscraper
Published on 27-05-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
Approval has been given for a conservatively designed twin towers to be located in the heart of Frankfurt's skyscraper distric
Milan Convention Centre Offers Glacial Roof
Published on 27-05-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
Plans are afoot in Milan to build what will be Europe's largest ever indoor convention centre, a building that will be draped
Artotel Eyes Up Shoreditch Hotel Site
Published on 26-05-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
Scott Brownrigg has designed this futuristic glass clad hotel to stand in Hoxton, currently one of the trendiest areas of East
Skinny Tower Nears Completion In Paraguay
Published on 26-05-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
Construction is currently underway on an insanely skinny skyscraper which will will be Paraguay's tallest residential tower wh
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