Sources of power

The industrial progress of mankind is based on power: power for industrial plants, machines, heating and lighting systems, transport, communication. In fact, one can hardly find a sphere where power is not required.

At present most of the power required is obtained mainly from two sources. One is from the burning of fossil fuels, i. e.¹ coal, natural gas and oil. The second way of producing electricity is by means of generators that get their power from steam or water turbines. Electricity so produced then flows through transmission lines to houses, industrial plants, enterprises, etc.

It should be noted, however, that the generation of electricity by these conventional processes is highly uneconomic. Actually, only about 40 per cent of heat in the fuel is converted into electricity. Besides, the world resources of fossil fuels are not ever-lasting. On the other hand², the power produced by hydroelectric plants, even if increased many times, will be able to provide for only a small fraction of the power required in the near future. Therefore much effort and though is being given to other means of generating electricity.

One is the energy of hot water. Not long ago we began utilizing hot underground water for heating and hot water supply, and in some cases, for the generation of electricity.

Another promising field for the production of electric power is the use of oceans tides. Our engineers are engaged in designing tidal power stations of various capacities. The first station utilizing this principle began operating in Russia on the Barents Sea in 1968.

The energy of the sun which is being used in various ways represents a practically unlimited source.

Using atomic fuel for the production of electricity is highly promising. It is a well-known fact, that one pound of uranium contains as much energy as three million pounds of coal, so cheap power can be provided wherever it is required. However, the efficiency reached in generating power from atomic fuel is not high, namely 40 per cent.

No wonder, therefore, that scientists all over the world are doing their best³ to find more efficient ways of generating electricity directly from the fuel. They already succeeded in developing some processes which are much more efficient, as high as 80 per cent, and in creating a number of devices capable of giving a higher efficiency. Scientists are hard at work⁴ trying to solve these and many other problems.

Notes on the Text:

1. i. e. (лат. id est) = that is – то есть

2. on the other hand – с другой стороны; on the one hand – с одной стороны

3. to do one’s best – делать все возможное

4. hard at work – упорно работают (трудятся)

Words to be learnt:

Ex. 1Answer the questions.

1. What is the industrial progress of mankind based on?

2. Which is the first widely applied method of producing electricity at present?

3. Which is the second way of generating power?

4. What (how high) is the efficiency of these two methods?

5. What do we use the energy of hot water for?

6. When and where did the first power station using ocean tides begin operating in Russia?

7. What can you say about the energy of the sun?

8. What fuel is the most promising for the production of electricity?

9. Is the efficiency of generating power from atomic fuel high or not?

10. What problem do scientists pay great attention to?

Ex. 2Define the parts of speech.

to exist – existence; to require – requirement; efficient – inefficient – efficiency; to resist – resistance – resistant; possible – impossible – possibility; to investigate – investigation – investigator; to apply – application – applicable; to act – active – activity – actor; long – length – to lengthen; to differ – different – indifferent – difference; to desire – desire – desirable – undesirable; to divide – division – divisible – indivisible; science – scientist – scientific – scientifically; product – production – productive – unproductive – productivity; to create – creation – creative – creator – creatively; to vary – variety – various – variable - unvariable.

Ex. 3Translate the sentences and remember the synonyms of the verb to work.

Ex. 4Translate the sentences paying attention to the different meanings of the word way.

1. The turbine produced by the Metal Plant last month is on its way to the construction site.

2. Full-scale construction will start next year, preparations, however, are under way.

3. My brother is a really capable man, he always tries to solve any problem in his own way.

4. In many ways this method was different from the ones used before.

5. There exist various ways of obtaining power.

Ex. 5Translate the sentences.

to find (found) a solution (the best way, mineral resources, etc.)

to found (founded) a town (an institute, a scientific school, etc.)

1. The geologists found great deposits of coal in a northern region.

2. The scientists want to found a laboratory of precision instruments at the institute.

3. Academician Kurchatov was one of the founders of the Russian atomic industry. His name was given to the Beloyarskaya power station founded in the eighties.

Ex. 6Translate the phrases.

Ocean tides, hydrogen fuel, liquid hydrogen, energy supply, road construction plan, year’s construction programme, promising energy source, the country’s power generation potential, oil and gas industry enterprises, power transmission lines, present-day requirements.

Ex. 7Form the Gerund, using these verbs (to convert; to create; to utilize; to generate; to run) and translate.

1. The world’s first nuclear power station in Obninsk began (вырабатывать) electricity in 1954.

2. In fact, (превращение) conventional kinds of fuels into electricity is not economic enough.

3. The idea of (использования) the energy of oceans is not new, but tidal stations are still few.

4. Recently scientists have succeeded in (создании) a few kinds of generators for (превращения) heat directly into light.

5. This machine tool is capable of (работать) at very high speeds.

Ex. 8Explain the meaning of the words with –ing and define the form.

Revision

Ex. 1Compare the using and give the translation of the Participle and the Gerund.

Ex. 2 Define the function of the words with –ing and translate the sentences.

1. Applying the method will give the results desired. Applying the method the technologists will get the results desired.

2. Dividing a unit of distance by a unit of time we get a unit of speed. Dividing a unit of distance by a unit of time gives a unit of speed.

3. Producing power is dependent mainly on the fuel and machinery available. Producing electricity by means of generators we get rather low efficiency.

Ex. 3Compare the functions of the Participle and the Gerund in phrases and translate.

1. Making use of radioactive isotopes biologists are able… Making use of radioactive isotopes opens up…

2. Our scientists are investigating new kinds of… The purpose of this research is investigating new kinds of…

3. (While) describing the process the researcher… In describing the process the researcher…

4. Having investigated the phenomenon the scientist… After having investigated the phenomenon the scientists… The scientist’s having investigated the phenomenon led him to…

Ex. 4Define the form of the verb with –ing and translate the text. Find Gerundial Objects and Absolute Participle constructions.

Using electricity on a large scale opens up great possibilities in various fields of science and everyday life. Using electric light in our homes we seldom think of those who were the pioneers in electrical engineering.

Several remarkable Russian scientists have made a great contribution to the science, Yablochkov and Lodygin being the best known to everyone. Lodygin’s having produced the first incandescent lamp is a generally recognized fact. His first lamps (1872), consisting of a glass bulb with a carbon rod serving as a filament, however, were imperfect, their life being only 30-40 minutes. Having introduced several carbon rods instead of one the scientist made the lamp serve a longer period.

After having seen Lodygin’s lamp Edison took great interest in the invention. We know of his having worked at the improvement of the lamp for several years. In 1879 Edison succeeded in creating an improved lamp which solved the problem of getting cheap electricity on a wide scale.

However, the carbon filament not being efficient and economic enough, Lodygin turned to the study of metals. Soon the necessary metal having a high melting point was found, it was tungsten. Many difficulties having been overcome, the problem of lighting our streets, plants and homes was solved.