Check some vocabulary before you read the article.

Now skim read the article very quickly and decide on the best title.

Most respected scientists agree – we need to find another source of energy – and quickly.  Oil is running out and anyway, if we continue to burn oil and pump carbon into the atmosphere then the effects on global climate will lead to global catastrophe even before the oil disappears.

The British government has set a target of a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2010.  Central to this policy is the search for alternative, renewable forms of energy production – and this is where the serious disagreement among scientists begins.  Is there truly a source of energy that is clean, safe, and most importantly, renewable (it will never run out) that can replace our current reliance on fossil fuels?

Controversially, the government plans to build a number of wind farms around the UK.  Supporters of wind power say that this is a safe, efficient and clean way of meeting the demand for electricity.  Opponents of wind farms however say that the schemes will disfigure the British countryside while doing little to meet the nation’s energy needs.

Here, 2 people active in the debate about wind farms give their points of view:

Simon Shearman (British Wind Power Group)

Firstly, a few facts about wind power.  Wind is one of the cheapest of the new, renewable forms of energy.  A typical wind farm will produce enough energy to meet the annual electricity needs of 1500 homes.  It is extremely safe – no member of the public has ever been injured at a wind farm.  The shallow waters around Britain are the windiest in Europe – ideal locations for wind farms and by 2010 up to 10% of the electricity used in the UK could be produced by wind power.

I find it annoying and frustrating that the biggest objection that opponents of wind farms can come up with is that wind farms don’t look very nice.  Don’t they realise that the crisis of global warming is real and something must be done urgently?

Alice Evans (Protect the Countryside Association)

The simple, obvious fact is that wind turbines cannot generate electricity if the wind is too light or too strong and it often is.  Many scientists estimate that wind turbines generally produce only 30% of their capacity.  This is not a reliable enough supply to enable us to close down conventional power stations.  In fact, demand for electricity is growing and may increase by 20% in the next 10 years.  Wind power can’t keep up with this growth, let alone replace other sources of power.

These arguments do not justify the destruction and disfigurement of the British countryside.

Check how well you have understood the article.