Transcript
Could your garden power your mobile phone?
Scientists at Cambridge University are investigating how plants can give us sustainable energy.
They do this by collecting electrons released naturally by plants and turning them into electricity. You can even create your own algae solar panel.
But a lot of work needs to be done to make the process more efficient.
Vocabulary
power (verb)
provide energy to make something work
investigating
researching
sustainable energy
energy created from sources that will not run out, such as wind and the sun
electrons
tiny parts of atoms that move round the atom’s centre and have a negative electrical charge
solar panel
a piece of equipment that changes energy from the sun into electricity
To do
Use one of the words or phrases below to complete each of these sentences from news reports.
Note that you may have to change the form of a word to complete the sentence correctly.
power (verb) / investigating / sustainable energy / electrons / solar panel
1. A bus _________ by cow manure has set a land speed record for a regular bus by driving at 77mph.
Reading Buses’ “Bus Hound” was recorded doing a lap speed of 76.785mph (123.57 km/h) at Bedford’s Millbrook Proving Ground.
2. “If the _________, those tiny planets of the atomic systems, were induced to combine with the nuclei in the hydrogen the horsepower liberated would be 120 times greater still. There is no question among scientists that this gigantic source of energy exists. “
3. Archaeologists are _________ a mound of burnt material eroding from a cliff on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
4. “The Renaissance Dam project represents a source of development for the millions of Ethiopia’s citizens through producing green and _________, but for their brothers living on the banks of that very Nile in Egypt, and who approximately equal them in numbers, it represents a source of concern and worry,” he said.
5. His family watch television, his six children do their homework without candles. There is no need for expensive kerosene lamps – all because of a single _________ on his tin roof.
“When we started using the solar panels, life changed in a good way,” says Mr Lodio.
Answers
1. A bus powered by cow manure has set a land speed record for a regular bus by driving at 77mph.
Reading Buses’ “Bus Hound” was recorded doing a lap speed of 76.785mph (123.57 km/h) at Bedford’s Millbrook Proving Ground.
2. “If the electrons, those tiny planets of the atomic systems, were induced to combine with the nuclei in the hydrogen the horsepower liberated would be 120 times greater still. There is no question among scientists that this gigantic source of energy exists.”
3. Archaeologists are investigating a mound of burnt material eroding from a cliff on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset.
4. “The Renaissance Dam project represents a source of development for the millions of Ethiopia’s citizens through producing green and sustainable energy, but for their brothers living on the banks of that very Nile in Egypt, and who approximately equal them in numbers, it represents a source of concern and worry,” he said.
5. His family watch television, his six children do their homework without candles. There is no need for expensive kerosene lamps – all because of a single solar panel on his tin roof.
“When we started using the solar panels, life changed in a good way,” says Mr Lodio.