What is Electrical Energy System Engineering?

• Electrical Energy Systems Engineering (EESE) is a branch of Electrical
Engineering which deals with all aspects of supply, control and use of
electrical energy.

• Energy is vital to modern life: for powering industry and transport;
providing heating and lighting; and operating the domestic, recreational,
healthcare, business and personal items of equipment on which we have
come to rely.

• Electrical energy is one of the most important forms of energy because it
can be:

- Derived (converted) from other energy forms such as heat, light,
chemical energy, mechanical work, nuclear energy.

- Easily derived in large or small amounts

- Controlled

- Clean, quite and safe when used correctly.

The need for electrical energy continues to increase as it replaces other forms for space heating, industrial processes and road\rail\sea transport. It is vital that this energy is made available at the minimum cost to our planet's resources and the environment. The challenge for engineers is to supply the energy and save the planet.

 

Comprehension:

3.4 Find the English equivalents from the text to the word combinations given below:

Электроэнергетика; энергетическая промышленность; энергетический баланс государства; острая потребность в специалистах по технике высоких напряжений; высоковольтное оборудование; электрическая мощность; современные средства автоматизации и телеконтроля; предоставление тепла и света; потребность в электроэнергии; снабжать электроэнергией.

 

3.5 Expand on the following:

1. Power engineering is the basis for the whole national economy.

2. There is an acute need for specialists in high voltage technique.

3. It is important to train specialists in operation, design, construction and adjustment of thermal stations power equipment.

4. Engineers graduating from the Electric systems automatic control department are very highly-qualified specialists.

5. The challenge for engineers is to supply the energy and save the planet.

 

Grammar revision

Look through the text above and find sentences with the verbs in the Passive Voice.

Open the brackets and put the verb in the Passive Voice.

 

1. Electric power (to generate) by several types of power stations.

2. Complicated tasks (to solve) by students who do research work.

3. Modern means of automation and telecontrol (to base) on microelectronics and computer
technology.

4. High-voltage devices (to use) in power and electrical engineering.

5. Master's Degree (to receive) after six years of training.

6. Systems of telecontrol (to develop) successfully.

7. Necessary knowledge and skills (to acquire) at the Faculty of Power Engineering.

 

Speaking

Work in pairs. Make up dialogues on the topic “The Future of Power Engineering Faculty Graduates”.

 

Unit 4

Before you read

4.1 Discuss with your partner exhaustible energy sources. Answer the question: “For how long will they be able to exist?”

Read the text and answer two questions asked in it.

RENEWABLE ENERGY.

By Kent S. Markle.

When you plug an electrical appliance into the wall socket, do you know where your electricity comes from? Probably the local public utility company. But how does the utility company generate the electricity you use at home? If it is like most power companies, it produced electrical power by burning fossil fuels - coal, natural gas, or oil - to make steam, which turns turbines to generate electricity at the power plant. To take one example of dependence on these three types of fossil fuel, in the United States in 2004, 88 percent of all the electricity generated came from coal, natural gas, and oil. They are non-renewable fuels, originating from organic matter of the late Paleozoic Era (several hundred million years ago) and estimated by most scientists to run out during this century. When coal, natural gas, and oil supplies are depleted, how will people see to read at night? What will power their computers and factories? Fortunately, there are renewable, alternative sources of energy for electrcity and transportation that have well-developed technology.

Some renewable energy sources are well known and already in wide use. For example, hydroelectric power is generated by water in dams. In the U.S., hydroelectric power provides 10 percent of all electricity. Other alternative sources of energy are not well known to the public or are still in the development stages. The World Energy Council has identified six sources of energy to pursue as alternatives to non-renewable fossil fuels:

Solar (energy from the sun)

Wind (energy from moving air)

Geothermal (energy from heat inside the earth)

Modern biomass (energy from plant and animal residues)

Ocean (energy from seawater movement and temperatures changes)

Small hydroelectric (energy from small dams, such as those filled by

melting snow)

It is worth pointing out why large hydroelectric (large dams that block rivers) and traditional biomass (firewood and charcoal) were excluded from the Council's focus. These two renewable sources of energy often cause environmental problems and other adverse effects. Large hydroelectric projects usually require long planning and construction, which delays their benifit, and sometimes results in social problems, such as displacement of people living near rivers that are dammed. Traditional biomass (burning trees) results in air pollution and deforestation. A combination of these six other alternative sources of energy may prove to be our best hope to fill the energy void created as supplies of fossil fuels gradually diminish.

 

Speaking