Методическая разработка "Wind Power"
Медведева Ольга Анатольевна,
учитель английского языка первой категории,
школа № 323 г.Санкт-Петербург
Данная работа создана ученицей 9 класса как текстовое сопровождение к презентации на школьной конференции "Окно в науку".
Our world is in the middle of a serious energy crisis! We are desperately in need of a new form of energy which will be capable of generating enough power to see the country s homes, businesses and industries into the twenty-first century. But, that’s not all! This new alternative source of energy must also be practical cheap to set up and maintain, highly productive and above all kind to our planet. This is certainly a tall order!
At the moment, more than 90% of world’s energy needs are met by burning fossil fuels or generated in nuclear power stations. Unfortunately, these are not renewable sources of energy, and once they have run out, that s it. More importantly, though, these methods of electricity generation are harmful to the environment. They emit harmful greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming and climate change.
How then can we produce enough energy to power an entire country without damaging the environment? What can we use as an alternative, reliable form of energy, which will generate as much power as fossil fuels and nuclear energy, but have none of the drawbacks? Well, as people are increasingly coming to realize, the answer is all around us. Wind power!
Wind power is an alternative energy source which has been used for many years in countries like Holland and Denmark. In fact, today it is the world’s fastest-growing source of energy. Strangely enough, even though it is one of the windiest countries in Europe, Britain has been slow to take advantage of wind power. The strong winds which blow around Britains coastline could easily be used to provide us with all our energy needs. All we need to do is set up some wind farms.
Wind farms are actually arrays of electricity-generating wind turbines, which are tall, slim towers with two or three rotor blades at the top. The wind turns the blades, which spin a pole. This pole is connected to a generator, where the electricity is made. There can be as few as one and as many as thousands of wind turbines in a single array. Computers monitor the wind direction and speed, and can shut down the turbines if the wind becomes too strong.
What is more, wind turbines make hardly any noise and they are not unpleasant to look at, certainly not as ugly as nuclear power stations! Although wind farms do take up a lot of space, they are often located on unoccupied sites or in areas that can also be used for farming. Building wind farms at sea is also possible. In fact, the stronger winds generated at sea make offshore wind farms a practical alternative. Offshore wind farms also mean that much larger turbines can be built, without objections from the public.
A single wind turbine can produce enough electricity to power 375 homes and these wind farms are already making a small but significant difference. At the moment there are only around sixty wind farms in Britain both on land and offshore. At this number increases, we may well see wind power supplying as much as 10% of world’s electricity demands and up to 20% of Britain’s total.
So, why delay? Wind power offers a solution to all our energy problems by being a renewable, clean and safe source of energy which is easy to live and work with. Isn’t it about time we started building more wind farms in the world and protecting our environment for future generations?
