What is the future for fuel?: BBC News Review

What is the future for fuel?

The war in Ukraine has made many people

question their reliance on oil and gas,

and there have been calls for the transition to alternative

and renewable energy sources to be speeded up.

  Hello, I'm Rob. Welcome to News Review

from BBC Learning English.

And to talk more about this story

and the vocabulary behind the headlines,

we've got Roy. Hello Roy.

Hello Rob and hello everybody.

If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,

all you need to do is head to our website

bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.

But now, let's explain more about this news story.

Countries, mainly in Europe, have been trying to reduce

their reliance on Russia's oil and gas

following the invasion of Ukraine.

The EU gets roughly 40% of its gas from Russia.

That's according to figures from research group

Transport and Environment.

This dependence costs around $118 million a day.

The EU has now laid out a strategy that could cut reliance

on this fuel source by two thirds within a year.

The REPowerEU Plan aims to make Europe independent

of Russian fossil fuels by 2030.

Yeah, and you've picked three words and expressions

from the news headlines about this story. What are they please?

We have 're-energise',

'mitigate' and 'seeing sense'.

So, that's 're-energise', 'mitigate' and 'seeing sense'.

OK. Well, let's have a look at that first headline then please.

OK. So, our first headline comes from Reuters and it reads:

So that's 're-energise' — give new energy and life to something.

So, 're-energise': R-E, hyphen, E-N-E-R-G-I-S-E.

Now, notice when I spelt it, I spelt it with an 's'.

In British English we spell this word with an 's',

whereas in American English it is spelt with a 'z'.

And it means to give new vitality or energy to something,

but let's break this word down.

Let's first of all talk about that prefix 're-'.

Yeah, 're-'. I mean, I've seen lots of words that begin with 're-'.

For example, related to movies,

you can get a 'remake' or a 're-release', yeah?

Yeah, absolutely. So, what 're-' means is 'again':

that prefix means 'again'.

So, if you 'remake' a film, you take an original film —

maybe the same story with different actors and a different director —

and you make it again: you 'remake' the film.

You also said 're-release'.

That's when we take the original film and release it again: to 're-release'.

Now, let's move away from movies in, sort of...

If you write an essay and your teacher — they...

they don't like your essay.

You could 'rewrite' it: write it again.

Or 'redo' it — do it again.

'Re-energise' means give new energy to something.

Yeah, and in the headline we were talking about a situation being 're-energised',

but of course people can be 're-energised'.

When I'm feeling a bit low or a bit tired,

I might have a strong cup of coffee to 're-energise' myself.

Absolutely. Yes, people can. And if you're really, really tired,

maybe you should take some more holidays.

Now, often when we go away, it's time that we can use to de-stress and relax

and that means that we then feel more energised.

We feel energised again or 're-energised'.

We have another expression that we can use to say this

and it means... we say: 'Recharge your batteries.'

So, you go on holiday to 'recharge your batteries'.

It's like we have batteries inside of us and again it...

it adds charge again, so it 'recharges our batteries'.

And of course you can actually 'recharge' batteries.

Recyclable or — sorry — rechargeable batteries:

you can 're-energise' those, can't you? Is that how we say it?

You can 're-energise' a battery, but it is not a common way of saying it.

It would be more natural to say 'recharge' a battery,

but both of the words 're-energise' and 'recharging'

are both about adding energy again.

So, it's got a similar idea.

OK Roy. Thanks for that. Let's have a summary:

In our 6 Minute English programme,

we looked at smart tech and climate change — an interesting topic.

How can we watch that video again, Roy?

All you need to do is click the link in the description below.

Yeah, it's down there below. OK.

Let's move on to your next headline please.

OK. So, our next headline comes from New Civil Engineer and it reads:

That's 'mitigate' — lessen negative effects.

OK. So, 'mitigate' is a verb

and it is spelt: M-I-T-I-G-A-T-E.

And it means to lessen or lower the bad effects of something.

And we often use this word in connection with business these days, don't we?

Yes, we do. Now, let me give you an example.

Now, when we talk about 'mitigating' something —

I come from an island

and it's quite a popular place for tourists

and in the summer a lot of people come here for tourism.

Now, there are lots of benefits to the economy of tourism,

but also for some there's a negative impact

because there's a lot more people and things are busier.

Now, to get to the island where I live

you need a boat to get here

and that means that in the summer when the tourists come, it's a lot busier.

So, the company can 'mitigate' the effects of more people

by running more boats.

OK. Got it.

But in the headline here when we're using the word 'mitigate',

we're talking about reducing the reliance on fossil fuels from other places,

but can 'mitigate' have other uses?

Yeah. So, for example, you could 'mitigate' damage to the environment

by starting to use renewable energy sources

or you could 'mitigate' pollution in rivers

by changing the way in which you... your drainage systems.

There are lots of different ways that you can use 'mitigate'.

And we use the word, it seems, for things that have big impacts

or big changes and it's quite a formal word as well.

Absolutely. It's not commonly used in everyday situations.

So, for example, you said earlier when you're tired you...

you... you drink a coffee.

I wouldn't say, for example: 'I'm mitigating the effects of tiredness.'

It would be very strange.

Alternatives to 'mitigate': you could say maybe

'ease', 'lessen' or 'weaken'.

OK. Very interesting. Thank you, Roy. Let's have a summary:

In one of our News Review programmes,

we talked about countries trying to change the UN climate report.

How can we find out more, Roy?

All you need to do is click the link in the description below.

OK. Thanks. Let's now have a look at your next headline please.

OK. So, the next headline comes from the Guardian and it reads:

So, that's 'seeing sense' — understanding something logical.

OK. 'Seeing sense' — it's a fixed expression.

We usually say 'see sense'.

In this case, it's spelt: S-E-E-I-N-G, S-E-N-S-E.

And it means understand... to understand something logical.

Now, an example of this is a while ago I was struggling with my old phone.

It had a cracked screen.

Even the letter 'p' wouldn't work on the keyboard.

I was really struggling and you kept saying:

'Buy a new phone, Rob! Buy the latest phone.'

Eventually I gave in to your nagging

and I bought a new phone and it's changed my life.

I've 'seen sense', Roy.

Yeah, you finally 'saw sense'.

Now, 'sense' in this… this sort of situation means logic or a good idea,

or the idea that you're coming round to my way of thinking.

And I'm using 'see sense' — you 'saw sense' —

to mean that you finally agreed with me.

And we, kind of, use this phrase

when we think someone's doing something a bit foolish.

We want them to 'see sense'.

Yeah, that's right. We commonly use it when we're talking about...

when we think somebody's behaviour is maybe a bit silly

or it's not correct and we want them to...

to change or to agree with something that most people believe is sensible.

Now, we have another expression

when we talk about what most people believe is a sensible idea

and that is 'common sense'.

It's something that everyone knows or thinks is a good idea.

Yeah, I guess it's... for example, you're using a train.

It's a very busy train. When it comes into the station,

you want all the people to get off the train before you get on the train.

That's… that's 'common sense', isn't it?

Yeah, absolutely. Now, my father always says,

'Common sense isn't that common,'

which means that, although it's logical

and a lot of people should understand that,

not everybody gets that idea,

which is why I always see people not letting other people get off

and there's... there's a real struggle and it makes it difficult for people.

I think they need to 'see sense', yeah?

Yes.

OK. Very sensible advice.

Let's have a look at a summary:

Well, it's time now for you to recap the words and expressions

we've talked about today please, Roy.

Yes. We had 're-energise' — give new energy and life to something.

We had 'mitigate' — lessen negative effects.

And we had 'seeing sense' — understanding something logical.

Now, if you want to test your understanding of today's vocabulary,

just go to the quiz that's on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

And that's the place to go to to find all our Learning English resources.

And of course we're on social media as well so check us out.

Well, that's all for today's News Review.

Thank you for watching and we'll see you next time.

Goodbye.

Bye!