ENVIRONMENT

1. LEAD IN We need change

How effective do you consider these ways of addressing problems related to the
environment?

2. VOCABULARY GLOBAL ISSUES
a. Work in pairs. Match words from box A to words from box B and create word
partnerships related to environmental issues.

b. Which of these partnerships describe something good for the environment?
Which are harmful?

 3. READING Eco-Friendly Houses
a. Work in pairs. Read the title and introduction to the article below and look at
the words in the box. How do you think each word is significant in the article?

b. Individually, read the article and check your predictions.

c. Individually, read the text again and answer the questions.

1. How is a passive house mainly heated? ________________________________________________________

2. What is the advantage of moveable walls? _____________________________________________________
3. How will the plants in the fish tank help the fish? ________________________________________________
4. What can the energy created by the fish tanks be used for? ______________________________________
5. Why will there be no more swimming pools? ____________________________________________________
6. What two things will clever fridges be able to do? _______________________________________________

d. Work in pairs. Which of the predictions do you think are likely to happen?
 4. LANGUAGE Probability

a. Work in pairs. Complete the rules in the box with some of the words
underlined in the article. Then, answer the questions.

b. Work in pairs. Choose the correct option in each sentence.

1. Technology WILL PROBABLY/PROBABLY WILL become less expensive.

2. We DEFINITELY WILL/WILL DEFINITELY be able to do more and more online.
3. We PROBABLY WONT/WONT PROBABLY use so much water.
4. We MIGHT NOT/COULDNT have our own cars.

c. Work in pairs. Look at sentences about 25 years ago and change them to
make predictions about 2050. Make at least two predictions per sentence.

Example: People wrote a lot of letters.

People definitely wont write many letters.
Some might still write them in special occasions.

1) Most people didnt have the Internet.

2) People watched a lot of TV.
3) People didnt worry about wasting water.
4) Most people didnt have mobile phones.
5) People didnt buy organic food.



 5. LISTENING/VIDEO Solar Power in Sunny Italy

a. Work in pairs and answer the following questions.

Do you think your country is a good example for the rest of the world when it
comes to eco-friendliness? Why?
Do you think Italy, one of the sunniest countries in Europe, takes advantage
of its climate and exploits solar power successfully?
What Italian region/area do you think exploits solar energy the most?

b. Listen/watch the news report and check your predictions.

N. Niksadat (BBC Reporter) A. Segre (Centro AgroAlimentare Bologna)

d. Listen/watch the news report again and answer the questions below.

1) What percentage of Italys energy comes from solar power?

2) How many solar panels are on the markets roofs?
3) How many football fields could the solar panels cover?
4) How many producers do business at AgroAlimentare?
5) What does the reporter give as three qualities of solar power?
6) What has the Italian government stopped doing?
7) Why does A. Segre say its important to think outside the box?
8) What happened when AgroAlimentare wanted to buy the solar panels from
an Italian manufacturer?
9) What are the two choices now that the Government incentives are gone?
10) What are some of the benefits of electric delivery cars?

e. Work in pairs. Discuss the following.

Do you think Italy will keep its role as a leader in solar energy in the next 10
years?
How do you think Italian government policies will affect eco-friendly business
in the next 10 years?

VIDEO/AUDIO SCRIPT


NICHOLAS NIKSADAT:
As the sun shines on the shingled red roofs of Bologna, it may not come as a surprise that Italy is
a world leader in solar energy. In 2014, 8% of its energy came from solar power: more than any
other country. Quite an achievement, considering that installing solar panels on characteristic
historical buildings is not an option.
But you can see the desire to capture the power of the sun when you move out of the city centre.
Centro AgroAlimentare is Italys third biggest fruit and vegetable market. It has about 45,000
solar panels on its roofs, covering an area equivalent to 14 football fields: they call it Europes
biggest solar roof. Underneath, 290 producers offer their fruit and vegetables. The market itself
consumes only a fraction of the 16 gigawatt/hour energy produced here. The rest feeds the
national grid.
Solar energy is clean, is low-maintenance, it can even be spectacular. But the question is, how
do you keep it economically viable when heavy incentives are withdrawn? When government
stops buying your electricity at a special price, operators like this need to think about new ways
to keep their business in profit.

ANDREA SEGRE/INTERPRETER:
Bisogna inventarsi sempre qualcosa diciamo questo, che
You always need to think outside the box, because the incentives dont last forever and,
unfortunately, in our country they havent affected the entire production chain in the same
manner. For example, when we wanted to buy solar panels, Italian manufacturers didnt have
enough of them to sell.
I tempi necessari ad acquistarli in Italia.

NICHOLAS NIKSADAT:
And this is one way to get your solar power to go further: electric cars to deliver fruit and
vegetables to the consumer. With the government incentives gone, you either have to sell your
electricity at a cheaper market price or store it until the prices rise. As storage units are
prohibitively expensive, a fleet of electric cars can be a practical alternative.
Today we are delivering to hotels in the city centre. Electric cars are not subject to the congestion
charge so it makes delivery cheaper for the consumers too. Theres also no sound pollution and
the small electric vehicles are easier to drive in the narrow winding streets of the medieval
quarters.
The success of this project can encourage the municipality to install a network of charging
stations around the city. This will boost the market for electric cars, whether the source of their
power is solar or not.
Nicholas Niksadat, BBC news, Bologna.