IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: ENVIRONMENT

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- So, pollution, overpopulation,

which is connected with this idea of food shortage,

habitat destruction.

Habitat just means where you live.

Waste disposable, sorry, waste disposal.

Waste.

Climate change which includes all of these other ideas.

Energy which includes renewables.

This is something we're gonna look at today.

Biodiversity is just nature, the wildlife, extinction,

farming animals, fishing too much, et cetera, all of that.

So that's just a very short and simple summary.

Let's look at vocabulary.

In particular, I want to look at renewable energy.

That's my focus today.

That's our focus. Okay?

Excellent.

Renewable energy.

So first word, surprise, renewable.

Renewable.

Notice the new.

That's the stress.

Renewable.

Renewable.

Renewable.

Renewable energy.

Well, renewable energy sources include

wind, solar power, things like that.

They are sources that can be renewed.

So to renew is to make new again.

So basically new,

re is again,

and able is you can.

So you can make them new again

because wind...

For example, wind,

you can renew it.

You can make it new again.

It never disappears.

We're never going to run outta wind.

There's always wind.

There's always sun.

So wind and sun are able to renew.

Renewable, they're renewable.

Renewable energy.

That's why it's called renewables.

If you know English, you know re is again,

able is to make it possible.

Right?

Now, whilst that is an adjective,

we often use the word renewables,

renewables, which is the noun in the plural.

So instead of saying renewable energy sources,

which is quite long,

we can just say renewables,

include wind and solar power.

It's much easier.

So let me add that down here.

Renewables.

So it's always in the plural if you use it as a noun.

Renewables include wind and solar power,

and the stress is in the same place.

Renewables.

So we can talk about renewable energy.

So energy from sources that won't run out.

They're always being renewed.

Right, of course.

There are three things we can talk about

which are very, very similar,

and that's renewable energy,

clean energy, and green energy.

Now, to all intents and purposes,

they're the same.

I think in our everyday conversations

we talk about renewable energy,

clean energy, green energy.

And in your IELTS speaking test,

you can use them the same.

If you are speaking to a scientist,

they will say, "Hmm, they're not exactly the same."

Right?

Not all renewable energy is clean energy or green energy.

It's not exactly the same, but don't worry about it.

I don't think it's necessary to go into the detail really.

You can use them all the same.

For your information, the difference is...

So renewable energy is energy sources that won't run out

as we mentioned.

Clean energy is more about clean, so clean air,

so energy from sources that do not,

that don't release air pollutants.

A pollutant is something that pollutes the air.

You've got to pollute, which is the verb.

You've got a pollutant,

which is the noun.

Countable, and then you've got pollution,

which is the noun, uncountable.

Yeah, so to pollute,

pollute the environment, pollute the air.

Pollutant, like CO2 is a pollutant.

There are lots of pollutants you can count.

Pollution is uncountable.

It's just generally

there's a lot of pollution in the street.

There's a lot of pollution in the city.

So that's the difference.

Clean energy just means clean air.

I think the way to remember is clean air.

So the sources don't release pollutants.

Green energy is just energy from natural sources,

from the wind, from the sun, from water.

Okay.

Oh, I do feel like a geography teacher.

It is a little bit strange, but we can't help it.

It's such a unusual topic.

It is quite a bit about the detail.

I don't wanna overwhelm you.

Layla says, "We strive to use renewable energy,

which is not harmful to nature and natural habitats."

Brilliant.

Hey, you have a new cat avatar.

Nice.

Momo says, "Clean energy forms a green economy."

Yeah, very, very good.

Momo, let me help you a little bit

because this is a really,

a common thing that people do.

So form green economy,

you're talking about a specific economy if you like.

You want to say a green economy,

You need the article in there, okay?

Nice.

Excellent. Good.

Green energy like forest.

Well, okay.

Yes, yes.

You could say that.

Yes.

Emissions, non-emissions.

Right, yep.

Good.

"Keith, what is your IELTS speaking score?"

My IELTS speaking score is a nine.

Thank you.

Renewable energies.

Mohsen,

"Rich countries are the biggest source of pollution."

Probably, yes, not the only ones.

I think you're right,

but I think it's connected.

The environment is all connected,

so things we do in different countries are all contributing,

but I understand the sentiment.

Yes. Yes.

Hicham says, "Clean energy sources

are the most important source

that great authority focuses on

to help the earth from their part."

Yep. Good, good.

Chernobyl was the Ukraine...

Excuse me, Alexander, you're right.

Yes, it was in the Ukraine.

Yes.

"Rich country's a source of spreading pollution."

"I'm a beginner. Where do I need to start?"

That's not pollution.

Probably this lesson is not the best place

'cause it's quite a challenging lesson.

Yes.

Monica says it's 3 34 in the morning.

Wow.

I'm impressed that you're here.

I'm guessing you are in South America.

Gosh, thank you so much for joining.

Let me switch back to our vocabulary.

So let's look at renewable energy.

We've got the first one, wind.

Notice the pronunciation wind,

because there's another word which is wind,

which is to wind something.

But wind is (blows air)

the wind from in the sky.

Collocations, wind energy,

wind power, obviously.

Those are the same thing.

Wind turbines,

which if you are not familiar with,

well, let's go and have a look at wind turbines.

Let's have a look together.

Wind turbines.

Get some images up.

These are wind turbines.

So individual one.

Oh, it doesn't show you, but here you go.

So they're huge.

They're really, really huge.

Again, these are becoming very popular in the UK.

We have a lot of wind in the UK, more wind than sun.

So wind turbines are popular,

but again, not without their problems.

They cost a lot of money.

They cost a lot of money to maintain.

There's problems with them killing birds.

So local birds just fly into them and get hit.

So there are issues with them,

but wind turbines.

Wind farms.

Well, let's have a look.

Same thing.

It's just where you put wind turbines

in an organized place.

Of course, it's not a farm as, as you imagine

like farm animals,

but it's just a group of turbines together.

Okay.

In the past, of course, we had windmills.

The windmill is also...

But a windmill is one word.

And that's a slightly, a different...

Well, yeah, it's a slightly different thing.

But if you can see here,

this, if you like, is the more traditional windmill.

The windmill was traditionally...

I don't think...

Again, I'm not an expert,

but I don't think it was used to create energy

for electricity.

It was used to create energy

for that building, for that farm

to grind the grain grains and make the bread.

It was a localized thing.

So it's an old fashioned thing.

A bit like if you look at the windmills in Spain,

going back to Cervantes and "Don Quixote,"

fighting the windmills.

So a windmill is more of an old fashioned word if you like.

Wind turbines are an eyesore.

An eyesore

is something not nice to look at?

Whoops, to look at.

Right, eyesore.

It makes your eye sore.

Makes your eye sore.

Sore means it's hurting.

Ow.

Ooh.

I'm just acting,

but if your eye is sore, it hurts.

When we say that building is an eye sore,

it means it looks horrible.

Because you've got all this nature right in the countryside,

and then, oh, we've got a wind turbine.

It's an eyesore.

It looks horrible.

That's another complaint about wind turbines.

Is that they are an eyesore.

Boya says, "I used to work with a wind energy company."

Right, so you are the expert.

Please keep me in check.

Let me know if I'm making mistakes.

Kadhim, "It's important to involve ecolinguistics

in study language class."

Oh, that is such an interesting statement.

That is so interesting.

I came across a website, Kadhim, the other day

and I don't know if I've still got it.

I'm gonna have a look if I've still got it

'cause I will share it with you.

Have I still got it?

Let me just have a look.

Yeah, look at this.

I've just found it.

Let me share this one with you.

I'll put it in the chat

and let me just show you up here.

It's really, really interesting

because this is by a lady called Helen, I think.

And Helen promotes the use of ecolinguistics

in English language and learning English.

Let me just show you briefly if you're interested.

Ecolinguistics, learning English

and caring for the environment.

Helen Doron, English.

And she talks about the importance of the language.

Greenspeak, she talks about,

how we talk about the environment.

Our choice of words.

And she gives some very good examples.

I'm trying to find an example.

I think one of the examples she gives is

we often talk about fighting climate change.

And she says that's terrible

because when you are fighting something,

it sounds like it's not your responsibility.

Something is attacking you, and so you're fighting.

But, actually, climate change is not attacking us.

We humans caused climate change.

We're responsible.

So to say fighting climate change is misleading.

It's not accurate

because we're responsible.

So she proposes different words

instead of fighting climate change...

I can't remember.

She has another example,

Something like, what was it?

Fighting pollution, fighting global warming.

Yeah, change this into stop global warming,

stop pollution,

which means that we take responsibility.

I thought that was really interesting.

I went down a rabbit hole when I looked at that.

I began exploring.

If you want to investigate, I put the link in the chat.

It's really interesting.

Thank you for highlighting that.

Thank you.

Natalia says, "When studying for IELTS,

I not only learn about the language,

but I also gain general knowledge."

Yeah.

I agree, me too as a teacher.

Very, very, very interesting.

Okay.

(Keith laughs)

Here's a comment because...

Can I explain this because this is quite funny?

I know it's not appropriate.

It's not appropriate, but it's funny

'cause I was listening to the news this morning.

People sometimes have put problem with winds

because the news this morning was talking about the weather.

They would say we have some sunny spells today,

but there'll be some problem with wind.

And I had to laugh because

problem with wind means (blows air)

but it also means when you're farting.

If you eat too many beans and you're farting,

problem with wind.

I know, not appropriate, but quite funny, I think.

Let's come back to the lesson.

Wind.

The next one, solar.

So solar energy.

So remember we're focusing on renewable energy.

Solar just means from the sun basically,

right, from the sun.

Whoops.

Solar.

So it's a O, solar.

It's not solar.

It's solar.

Solar.

However, if the next word is an E,

then you will pronounce the R.

Solar energy.

Can you hear that?

Solar energy.

We pronounce the R.

It's linked, solar energy.

Solar panels, we don't pronounce it.

Solar panels.

Solar panels.

Solar heating.

Don't pronounce the R.

So only when there's a vowel in the next word

you will pronounce that R.

Okay, solar.

Solar energy, solar power.

Solar panels, I'm sure you know,

but just in case,

let's go and explore together.

Solar panels are these that you put on the roof

or in the garden.

Wow, look at these in the garden

My friend recently put some solar panels.

He lives in Belgium,

and they've put solar panels on the roof.

Interesting.

Actually, I have a friend who lives in Brighton,

which is in the south of England

and they've put solar panels.

He says it's great

because it gets the energy when the sun's shining,

the energy goes into a battery,

and that then is delivered to the community storage,

and then it's redistributed.

and they can earn money.

If they collect more energy than they use,

then their energy bill is not only zero,

but they can get money

because they're contributing to the community energy.

So it costs money to put the solar panel up,

but actually you can earn money.

I think, this is not a promotion.

It's just what he told me.

This is not professional financial advice.

Solar heating,

so that's when you're getting heating from the sun,

solar heating from the solar panels.

It's not cheap to install.

So you can say to put up or to install solar panels.

To install

equals here to put up

or to connect.

You could say to connect solar panels,

to put up, to connect solar panels

in this context.

Good.

Markus says, "In terms of climate change,

we are playing with fire."

Nice idiom, very good, very, very good.

Yes.

Parent Loves, "Hello, from Bangladesh."

The idiom of to go down a rabbit hole.

Yeah, when you start discovering more and more things.

Okay.

Gabor says, "Very important problem is with renewables,

particularly the solar, the energy storing.

Sun is not shining at night."

It's a challenge, rather than a problem.

I think it is a challenge,

but I think there are ways of doing it.

I'm sure there are.

Yes.

"Solar energy is a nice topic to discuss,

but I'm sure it will take too much time

to get ins and outs."

Yes, I agree.

I agree. Yes.

Eva says, "We have installed

the solar panels on the roof of our house."

Well done. Great.

Elvira, yes, you can say a solar cell as well.

Yes.

Okay.

Brian, "Installing solar panels

could be profitable in the long run?"

Maybe. I'm not an expert.

Maybe.

Jack says, "I think solar energy is a sustainable power."

Agreed. Yes.

And Kristen, hello Kristen,

"I saw some solar panels on the roof

in the suburb of Edinburgh."

Interesting, right, Edinburgh,

'cause it doesn't...

It doesn't shine very much in Scotland.

The sun doesn't shine very much.

Kristen, by the way, I just saw your email before.

I will get back to you soon, sounds very exciting.

Solar power.

Let's look at hydropower.

Hydropower, in case you don't know, is power from water.

Hydropower.

Hydro, water, hydropower.

You can have hydropower energy.

Hydropower normally is one word.

You may see it sometimes with a hyphen.

It is possible with a hyphen,

but normally it's one word.

Hydropower energy, hydropower plant, hydropower dam.

Okay.

So the hydropower plant is just

the kind of the factory that organizes the energy.

The dam, you probably know, but let me show you.

Again, let's go down the rabbit hole of Google.

Let's go and have a look at a hydropower dam.

This is what it looks like.

It's basically a dam on a river or a lake

that stops the water and controls the pressure,

and that's where you get the energy.

I don't know the ins and outs,

but it looks like this.

I don't how it works.

That's a nice expression.

Somebody just used that.

Let's add that.

I don't know the ins and outs of hydropower.

It seems to be popular in many areas.

Okay, I like that 'cause that's a nice natural thing

you can say in your conversation.

I dunno the ins and outs.

Okay, to know the ins and outs...

Let me scroll down.

To know the ins and outs of something

is to know the details of something.

It's great when you're talking about

a subject where you are not an expert,

like the economy or environment.

You can say, well, I don't know the ins and outs,

but I think it's a good thing.

Yeah, I don't know the ins and outs of solar panels,

but a lot of people are using them.

Nice little expression, to know the ins and outs of that.

Thank you for that.

I forgot who it was,

but somebody shared that and just reminded me.

Hydropower dams, they're good,

but they do need some deforestation.

To make them you, you are gonna destroy some of the habitat,

the natural habitat.

And as Mayrush says, "Hydropower dam,

one of the cause of the floods."

In some countries, that's true.

Yes.

"There are many hydropower in Vietnam."

Right.

Now, hydropower

is a noun but it's uncountable.

So this is really good

'cause it helps you and everybody just be aware.

Because it's uncountable,

you cannot say there are many hydropowers

'cause you can't put the S.

So because you cannot count it,

it's uncountable like pollution.

There is a lot of pollution

So you have to say there is a lot of hydropower.

There is a lot of, excuse me, of...

There's a lot of hydropower in Vietnam.

There's a lot of solar power in Vietnam.

And I've just noticed

I'm making all the mistakes, Nguyen Van,

but hydropower as one word.

Perfect.

That's great. That is a big help to everybody.

Thank you so much.

Let's see.

We've got here.

I can't pronounce your name,

but even the solar panel cost fortune anyway,

it is beneficial.

Yes,

Yes. True.

It costs a fortune.

To cost a fortune, great expression.

Well done.

To cost a fortune, yes.

Anna is laughing about the wind joke.

The water will turn the turbine,

and the turbine will generate electricity.

Brilliant.

Nice. Good.

I don't know the ins and outs, but you do, which is great.

Farshid, We have so...

Okay, I'm gonna do the same thing.

This is really useful.

I think it's really useful for everybody.

Solar, also here,

let's put solar energy,

is uncountable like pollution, hydropower, solar energy.

So Farshid, what do you think it should be?

We have so much,

so much.

'Cause many, you can count.

Much, uncountable.

Lovely grammar class.

Thank you, Farshid, for sharing that.

That's really, really good.

Okay.

Brian, very funny, very funny.

Great. One more.

Kalyani says, "In my city, we have hydropower dam.

On rainy season, we usually visit there,

but, you know, I, most of the time, drop the ball

while it comes to study about that dam."

Nice. I love it.

Good.

Thank you very much for sharing.

That's nice. Good.

Okay, hydropower.

The last one, the last two,

we've got zero emission.

This is vocabulary you will hear a lot

when you're talking about climate change,

about the governments.

Zero emission means...

So as an adjective,

it's energy sources that give off no waste, no pollutants.

Remember pollutants, the countable noun,

things that pollute?

For example, scientists are developing zero-emission motors.

Okay, so you'll hear, as an adjective, zero-emission motors,

zero-emission cars,

zero-emission engines,

things like that.

Giving no pollutants.

So a lot of the Tesla electric vehicles,

I don't know...

I don't know if they are zero-emission cars yet,

or if they're trying to produce zero-emission cars.

I don't know the ins and outs.

Does anybody know?

Net zero basically means

the carbon we put into the air will be less,

or at least no more than the carbon we take out.

So the balance is zero.

So there's the carbon we take out

and the carbon we put in

is is no more.

If the carbon we put into the air is too much,

that's pollution.

But if it's less or no more, net zero,

and the result is total greenhouse gas emissions in the air

would never increase.

So that's why, a while ago,

many countries agreed

or they aim to be net zero by 2050.

Net zero is an adjective, okay, as well.

Great. Good.

That's my geography lesson.

Vietnam commits to net zero by 2050.

Great. Good.

Yes, Eva, geothermal energy also.

I was just keeping it brief, but you're right.

So creating energy from the...

It's from the heat in the earth if I understand correctly,

that's geothermal energy.

Yeah.

There is more we can talk about, you're right.

"EV will something along the lines

bring zero emission in a manner of speaking."

Electric vehicles, right.

Brian says, "Can there ever be zero emission humans?"

That is a very, very good question Brian,

and I'm not sure.

Alexander says, "The problem of Tesla

is that their battery is not renewable

and would damage ecology after usage."

And I understand the batteries are quite expensive as well.

Leila, very good.

Governments are making an effort

to reduce their carbon footprint to net zero.

Carbon footprint is another good collocation.

It's how much carbon you put into the air.

Yes.

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