Summer 2013

ENVIRONMENT

RESEARCH AND REVIEW 2

Biodiversity | a2bitnickel
1

Research and Review

Before you start each story do some research.
Where should you look?
The title helps you find the ideas. In this title we find three (3) words
that will help us.
The url is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5353118.stm
Biodiversity ~ Biofuels ~ Next Generation
Now go find some information about air pollution
to answer these three questions
Find some ideas like ~
What are three biofuels?
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
Why are they called next generation?
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
What solutions can you find to stop air pollution?
1. ___________________________________
2. ___________________________________
3. ___________________________________
Discuss this when you get to class.
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Topic ~ Biodiversity 5x5

Step 1 ~~ Think about 5 different ideas that biodiversity. Look
at your research to help you.
1.___Biofuels ____
2._________________
3._________________
4._________________
5._________________
Step 2 ~~ Make 5 questions about each idea. There is one example for
you to look at.
1.___ Biofuels ________
i)
What is the biggest concern about biofuels on ecosystems?
ii) Which next generation fuels are the cleanest?
iii) Why do biofuels cause pollution?
iv) Who gains the most from biofuels?
v)
What advantages are there to bioscience?
2._________________
i)
_______________________________________________
ii)

_______________________________________________

iii)

_______________________________________________

iv)

_______________________________________________

v)

_______________________________________________
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3._________________
i)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
ii) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
iii) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
iv) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
v)
_______________________________________________
4._________________
i)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
ii) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
iii) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
iv) _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
v)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
5._________________
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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Step 3 ~~ Make longer one sentence answers for each question.

1.___Biofuels ________
i)

What is the biggest concern about biofuels?

___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
ii) Which next generation fuels are the cleanest?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iii) Why does biofuels cause pollution?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iv) Who gains the most from biofuels?
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
v)
What advantages are there to bioscience?
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
2._________________
i) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
ii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

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iv) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
v) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
3._________________
i) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
ii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

iv) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
v) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

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4._________________
i) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
ii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iv) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
v) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
5._________________
i) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
ii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

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iii) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
iv) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
v) ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Read the story

Biofuels look to the next generation
By Mark Kinver / Science and nature reporter, BBC News

Biofuels are being hailed by politicians around the globe as a salvation from the twin evils of
high oil prices and climate change. The boom in biofuels in the US stems from President Bush's
drive to reduce dependence on imports of foreign oil; in Europe it has a more environmental
dimension. Transport is responsible for a quarter of the UK's total emissions; four-fifths of that
quarter comes from road vehicles.
Realizing this could threaten to undermine efforts to meet Kyoto Protocol commitments, the UK
government announced earlier this year the introduction of a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
(RTFO). It requires fuel companies to add 5% biofuel to all petrol and diesel sold on their forecourts
by 2010.
Environmental concerns
When the plant-derived biofuel is burned in an engine, the CO2 released is offset by the amount
of the gas absorbed by the plants when they grew. It is, in principle, approximately carbon
neutral; though the energy needed to plant, tend, harvest, process and transport the finished
product can make the equation less favorable.
The two main players in the market, bioethanol and biodiesel, are made from
crops such as cereals, soybean, rape seed oil, sugar cane and palm oil. While
governments embrace what they see as a key player in a low-carbon future, there

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are concerns over some potential unwanted consequences. Demand for land to grow these crops
could put pressure on valuable ecosystems such as rainforests, and reduce the area available for
subsistence food crops in developing countries.
Jeremy Tomkinson, chief executive of the UK National Non-Food Crop Centre (NNFCC), shares
these concerns. "If you are chopping down huge areas of rainforest in order to grow palm oil, not
only is the palm oil not very environmentally friendly, think of the damage to the area's
biodiversity. "This is a problem with some biodiesel, but the fuel we are using now is only a
transitory thing."
The next generation
Mr Tomkinson predicts that within a decade, current biofuel production methods could be
replaced by "second generation" fuels. "To me, this is the answer," he says. "It opens up a whole
new ball game. What we are calling second generation, when it comes to gasoline, is the use of
lignocelluloses.
"Lignocellulose is a clever, technical way of saying biomass - it means anything that comes out
of the ground." Mr Tomkinson says it will more than double yields: "Instead of just taking the
grain from wheat and grinding that down to get starch and gluten, then just taking the starch, we
are going to take the whole crop - absolutely everything."
Second generation fuel will also have a smaller carbon footprint because the amount of energyintensive fertilizers and fungicides will remain the same, he adds, for a higher output of useable
material. Because the technology will allow biofuel to be produced from any plant material, there
would be no conflict between the need for food and the need for fuel.
"We can let the lads who grow wheat grow it for nutritional value, and we can have another
sector that is growing non-food crops for fuel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals," Mr Tomkinson
suggests. "Because we are going to break everything down anyway, we can look at a whole new
range of crops that really are energy crops, not short-rotation coppice crops that we are using
now." He says two possible energy crops are sunflowers and fodder maize.
Early days
"There have been major improvements to food yields and productivity by applying plant science
to agriculture," says spokesman David Nicholas, "but it has not been done yet in terms of
applying that science to the yielding of energy crops." BP is investing money into research in
India, where it is looking at whether it can derive biodiesel from plants that can be grown on soil
not suitable for food crops. "Biofuels are a reality and will become an increasing part of our
industry, but we are at the early stages of what are the most efficient and advanced biofuels," Mr
Nicholas observes.
There are two sizeable barriers that need to be tackled before second generation biofuels arrive at
the pumps - technology and cost. "It is technically far more complicated than current production

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methods," says Mr Tomkinson. "All the different [sugars] in the plant need their own enzymes to
break them down. "A number of companies are looking at something called 'cellulose accessing
packages' that will allow us to take a bag of enzymes and pour it on to lignocellulose and ferment
the whole lot," he explains.
The NNFCC is about to carry out a feasibility study to find out whether the UK could have a
Biomass-To-Liquid (BTL) processing plant, which can produce the fuel. "Currently, a 250,000tonne biodiesel plant costs about 50m ($94m), so that is a big difference for the same amount of
fuel. But because of its environmental advantages, Mr Tomkinson says governments all over
Europe are paying close attention to this technology, "because BTL really could be the way
forward".

Vocabulary check
Find the colored words and look them up in the dictionary. There
are ten (10) of them.
__________
1. ______________________________________________________
__________
2. ______________________________________________________
__________
3. ______________________________________________________
__________
4. ______________________________________________________
__________
5. ______________________________________________________
__________
6. ______________________________________________________
__________
7. ______________________________________________________
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__________
8. ______________________________________________________
__________
9. ______________________________________________________
___________
10. ______________________________________________________
__________
11. ______________________________________________________
__________
12. ______________________________________________________
__________
13. ______________________________________________________
__________
14. ______________________________________________________
__________
15. ______________________________________________________
__________
16. ______________________________________________________
__________
17. ______________________________________________________
__________
18. ______________________________________________________

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__________
19. ______________________________________________________
___________
20. ______________________________________________________
__________
21. ______________________________________________________

Step 4
Step 4 is to put all the answers into paragraphs. Each of the five (5)
in section one (1) is a paragraph. You will have a 5 paragraph essay
now.
1. Biofuels
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
2.______________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
3.______________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
4.______________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
5.______________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
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Step 5 is to add an introduction and a conclusion. Do this for your

essay homework.

Graphic Organization ~
Main topic = 5 Paragraph Topics

paragraph 1
____________
____________
____________
____________
paragraph 5
____________
____________
____________
____________

Main
topic

paragraph 4
____________
____________
____________
____________

paragraph 2
____________
____________
____________
____________

paragraph 3
____________
____________
____________
____________

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Discussion Graphic ~ How is biodiversity linked to biofuels?

Answer ~ I think biodiversity (is / is not) an easy problem to fix because

Problem /
Biodiversity

Biofuels take away food

from people in poor
countries.

Respond

Respond

Biofuels on unuseable land

will damage the natural
ecosystem, so should be
banned from them.

Respond

Respond

~ 15 ~

Biofuels create more

polution to make than
conventional fuel.

Respond

Respond

graphic ~ choose one statement from the

list

above.
Write it here _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________

To make your argument you should understand that they are connected.
In the next two charts (1) list your argument facts and ideas, (2) show how your argument
connects to both the center point and the other points.

Facts
For

Against

~ 16 ~

graphic ~ choose one statement from the

list above.

If this -- then
If this -- then

Write your statement position here.

____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
If this -- then

____________________________________

If this -- then

______

If this -- then

Now start the

As a team choose which points they will speak about.

Each person will listen for the opposite point and create a new
response to what the other person has said.
A: point 1
B: responds to the point and give a new point.
C: responds to B and give a new point.
After all persons have spoken each person can respond to any point given by the
opposite team, or add more points from their team which will need responding to from
the opposite team.

~ 17 ~