Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 543
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 543 – PASSAGE – 3
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 543
READING PASSAGE – 3
The Possibilities of Biofuels
A.There has been a lot in the news recently about a plane flying from Australia to the United States using biofuel from mustard seeds blended with regular aviation fuel. The flight has opened new dialogue over whether biofuels are a feasible and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
B. Renewable hydrocarbon biofuels are fuels produced from biomass sources through a thermochemical process. These products are similar to petroleum gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel in chemical makeup and are therefore considered infrastructure-compatible fuels. They can be used in vehicles without engine modifications and can utilise existing petroleum distribution systems. Biofuels are usually transportation fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, which are made from biomass materials.
IELTS General Reading Test
Using ethanol or biodiesel means less gasoline and diesel fuel is burned, which can reduce the amount of fossil fuels used. Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from the sugars found in grains, such as corn, sorghum, and barley, and biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oils, fats, or greases, such as recycled restaurant grease. Pure biodiesel is non-toxic, biodegradable, and produces lower levels of most air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel fuels, because they are cleaner-burning fuels.
C. Nearly all of the gasoline now sold in the United States is about 10 per cent ethanol by volume. Any gasoline-powered engine in the United States can use E10 (gasoline with 10 per cent ethanol), but only specific types of vehicles can use mixtures with fuel containing more than 10 per cent ethanol. Biodiesel fuel can be used in diesel engines without changing the engine and it is usually sold as a blend of biodiesel and petroleum-based diesel fuel.
IELTS General Reading Test
D. Biofuel is created using a thermochemical process that can be used with a variety of biomass. This enters the system through a feeder, from where it’s pumped through to a heat exchanger that in turn feeds a bio liquefaction reactor, which is where the transformation to a biofuel takes place. After heat recovery, which is where hot oil is extracted and pumped back to the heat exchanger, the crude biofuel is drawn off in a separator tank and pumped off to storage. Excess water is treated to either be recycled and reused, or discharged as effluent. Biogas is also created in the separator tank and this is reused to fuel the hot oil heater.
E. Replacing fossil fuels with biofuels has the potential to generate a number of benefits. In contrast to fossil fuels, which are exhaustible resources, biofuels are produced from renewable feedstocks. Thus, their production and use could, in theory, be sustained indefinitely. There are, however, some disadvantages to producing biofuels. Biofuel feedstocks include many crops that would otherwise be used for human consumption directly, or indirectly as animal feed.
IELTS General Reading Test
Diverting these crops to biofuels may lead to more land area being devoted to agriculture, increased use of polluting inputs, and higher food prices. Biofuel production and processing practices can also release greenhouse gases and research suggests that the production of biofuel feedstocks, particularly food crops like corn and soy, could increase water pollution from nutrients, pesticides, and sediment. Also, increases in irrigation and ethanol refining could deplete aquifers.
F. In other terms, unless done on a very large scale, the economics of biofuel production do not easily add up. Therefore, government subsidies substantially affect the commercial viability of growing biodiesel crops for most farmers, as otherwise the costs per gallon produced would make a product that is too expensive in world markets. However, one central motivation for government biofuel policy is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels by shifting to renewable energy sources. Thus, the private cost or return per gallon of biofuel is not an adequate measure of progress toward this objective, for two reasons.
IELTS General Reading Test
First, biofuel production makes energy available to consumers, but it also uses energy during production and processing. So, it is necessary to take into account the energy used to produce biofuels, especially fossil fuel energy, when we evaluate their net contribution to reducing use of fossil fuels. Second, there are alternative approaches to reducing society’s use of fossil fuels, and so it is also necessary to compare the cost of achieving those goals by promoting biofuels with the cost of achieving them by other means.
G. The economics of biodiesel encompass both a private and a public dimension. In the private dimension, success requires that incentives for producers, blenders, and consumers be sufficient to compete in the marketplace with the alternatives available (e.g. alternative uses of land, labour, and capital, and alternative fuel choices for consumers). In the public dimension, success is defined in terms of the public goals that motivate governments’ intervention (i.e. grants) and whether biodiesel will achieve the public goals in a cost-effective manner, when compared to other options. It is important to evaluate both dimensions.
IELTS General Reading Test
If the public evaluation is highly favourable, but the market incentives are inadequate, no biodiesel will be produced. On the other hand, if market prices generate strong interest among producers and consumers, but the social gains are very small, or the costs are very high compared to other approaches, then the activity may not represent a good use of scarce public resources. Biofuels are popular in the media, but the issues are not as simple as sometimes they are made out to be.
Questions 28-34
The text on the previous pages has 7 paragraphs (A-G).
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-x.
i. New Government Policy
ii. Alternative Biofuels Blended with Fossil Fuels
iii. Financial and Other Issues
iv. Biofuel Drawbacks
v. Media Story Fuels Discussion
vi. Problems with Engines
vii. Origins, Uses and Eco-advantages
viii. Weighing up Two Important Considerations
ix. Making Biofuels
x. A Fuel for the Future
IELTS General Reading Test
28. Paragraph A
29. Paragraph B
30. Paragraph C
31. Paragraph D
32. Paragraph E
33. Paragraph F
34. Paragraph G
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 35-37
Label the diagram below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 38-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending (A-F) below.
Write the correct letter (A-F).
38. Biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel are
39. The benefits of biofuels are
40. The production of biofuels is
A. not only measured with economic criteria.
B. found naturally in some locations.
C. often mixed with other more traditional fuels.
D. not significant when compared to the disadvantages.
E. to take place in countries with lower capital costs.
F. conditional on the provision of government subsidies.
IELTS General Reading Test
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
28. v
29. vii
30. ii
31. ix
32. iv
33. iii
34. viii
35. A FEEDER
36. HEAT RECOVERY
37. BIOGAS
38. C
39. A
40. F
IELTS General Reading Test