Seville's Oranges - Advanced Article.pdf

Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2021.
Home >> Adults >> General English >> NEWS LESSONS
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Level: Advanced
‘A role model’: how Seville is turning leftover oranges into electricity
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Warmer
Put these forms of energy production in order from 1 (best for the environment) to 6 (worst for the
environment). Give reasons for your choice.
wind farms
solar power
oil-fired power stations
coal-fired power stations
nuclear power
hydroelectric power
Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.
blossom deposited ferments fertilizer fructose grove
hazard landfill methane purification resistant squash
surplus sustainability waste
1. All the flowers that grow on a tree are known as .
2. If a substance is on the streets, it gradually gathers there and
forms a layer.
3. A is something that could be dangerous or could cause damage
or accidents.
4. is a gas with no colour or smell that is used as a fuel.
5. If food or drink , chemical changes in it produce gas and alcohol.
6. is the process of making something clean by removing dirty or
harmful substances from it.
7. is a type of sugar found in some fruits.
8. consists of the useless materials or substances that are left
after you use something.

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Level: Advanced
9. energy is more than is needed.
10. is a large hole in the ground where waste from people’s homes
or industry is buried.
11. is a natural or chemical substance added to soil in order to help
plants grow.
12. is the process of using methods that do not harm the
environment.
13. If you something, you damage it by pressing or crushing it and
making it lose its normal shape.
14. If something is to pollution, it is not harmed or affected by it.
15. A is a group of trees of a particular type, especially trees
arranged in lines.

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Level: Advanced
Pilot scheme will use methane
from fermenting fruit to create
clean power for city water plant
Stephen Burgen
23 February, 2021
In spring, the air in Seville is sweet with the
scent of azahar, orange blossom, but the 5.7m
kilos of bitter fruit deposited on the streets by
the city’s 48,000 trees in winter are a hazard
for pedestrians and a headache for the city’s
cleaning department.
Now a scheme has been launched to produce
an entirely different kind of juice from the
unwanted oranges: electricity. The southern
Spanish city has begun a pilot scheme to use
the methane produced as the fruit ferments
to generate clean electricity.
The initial scheme launched by Emasesa, the
municipal water company, will use 35 tonnes
of fruit to generate clean energy to run one of
the city’s water purification plants. The oranges
will go into an existing facility that already
generates electricity from organic matter.
As the oranges ferment, the methane captured
will be used to drive the generator.
“We hope that soon we will be able to recycle
all the city’s oranges,” said Benigno López, the
head of Emasesa’s environmental department.
To achieve this, he estimates the city would
need to invest about €250,000.
“The juice is fructose made up of very short
carbon chains and the energetic performance
of these carbon chains during the fermentation
process is very high,” he said. “It’s not just
about saving money. The oranges are a
problem for the city and we’re producing added
value from waste.”
While the aim for now is to use the energy
to run the water purification plants, the
eventual plan is to put surplus electricity back
into the grid. The team behind the project
argues that, given the vast quantity of fruit that
would otherwise go into landfill or be used as
fertilizer, the potential is huge. They say trials
have shown that 1,000kg will produce 50kWh,
enough to provide electricity to five homes
for one day, and calculate that if all the city’s
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oranges were recycled and the energy put back
into the grid, 73,000 homes could be powered.
“Emasesa is now a role model in Spain for
sustainability and the fight against climate
change,” Juan Espadas Cejas, the mayor of
Seville, told a press conference at the launch
of the project. “New investment is especially
directed at the water purification plants that
consume almost 40 per cent of the energy
needed to provide the city with drinking water
and sanitation,” he said.
“This project will help us to reach our targets for
reducing emissions, energy self-sufficiency and
the circular economy.”
The oranges look pretty while on the tree
but, once they fall and are squashed under
the wheels of cars, the streets become sticky
with juice and black with flies. The city council
employs about 200 people to collect the fruit.
The bitter oranges, which originate in Asia,
were introduced by the Arabs around 1,000
years ago and have adapted well to the
southern Spanish climate.
“They have taken root here, they’re resistant to
pollution and have adapted well to the region,”
said Fernando Mora Figueroa, the head of the
city’s parks department. “People say the city
of Seville is the world’s largest orange grove.”
© Guardian News and Media 2021
First published in The Guardian, 23/02/2021
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Level: Advanced
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Comprehension check
Answer the questions using information from the article.
1. What problems do oranges create in Seville in winter?
2. What gas is produced when oranges ferment?
3. How much fruit will be used in the pilot scheme?
4. How much will it cost to create a system to recycle all the oranges in Seville?
5. How will the energy produced by the oranges be used at first?
6. What is the eventual plan for this energy?
7. How many homes could be powered if all the oranges in Seville were recycled and turned
into energy?
8. What percentage of Seville’s energy is consumed by water purification plants?
9. Where did the bitter Seville oranges originally come from?
10. When were they introduced to southern Spain?
Using key language
Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns or noun phrases in the right-hand column.
1. launch a. emissions
2. reach b. root
3. recycle c. a new scheme
4. reduce d. energy
5. consume e. a target
6. take f. waste
Discussion
Discuss these statements.
• “All waste products should be recycled.”
• “Landfill is bad for the environment.”
• “Waste isn’t the problem. People are the problem.”
In your own words
The text describes a way of generating electricity from waste oranges. Search online for other
innovative ways of generating electricity. Find at least four different ways and write a short report
describing each method and its potential. Choose one method and justify your choice.

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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Article summary: The article describes how
waste oranges could be used to generate
electricity.
Time: 60 minutes
Skills: Reading, Speaking, Writing
Language focus: Vocabulary
Materials needed: One copy of the
worksheet per student
1. Warmer
There is no correct answer to this activity as the order
will depend on each student’s individual ideas about
which methods of generating power are better for the
environment and which cause more environmental
damage. However, energy production that is based on
fossil fuels (e.g. coal and oil) is generally considered
worse for the environment. Check that students
understand the meaning of hydroelectric power (where
water power is used to generate electricity, usually after
building a large dam). Make sure that students give
reasons for their choice. You could also ask students to
think of at least one advantage and one disadvantage of
each method before they put them in order.
2. Key words
Ask students to do the exercise individually and
then compare their answers in pairs or small groups.
Encourage students to use some of this vocabulary
actively by asking them questions such as ‘What are
the advantages and disadvantages of using fertilizer
on agricultural land?’, ‘What might happen if bacteria
become resistant to antibiotics?’ and ‘What kind
of hazards do people encounter in their everyday
lives?’ Point out that orange grove, lemon grove and,
particularly, olive grove are the most common uses of
the word ‘grove’. In the text, trees deposit oranges on
the streets. You could also mention that you can deposit
money in a bank. Note that the text describes ‘a different
kind of juice’. The word juice here is a slang term for fuel
or electrical power.
Key:
1. blossom
2. deposited
3. hazard
4. methane
5. ferments
6. purification
7. fructose
8. waste
9. surplus
10. landfill
11. fertilizer
12. sustainability
13. squash
14. resistant
15. grove
3. Comprehension check
The answers given are only suggested answers
and students may correctly answer the questions in
different ways.
Key:
1. They are a hazard for pedestrians and a problem for
Seville’s cleaning department.
2. methane
3. 35 tonnes
4. €250,000
5. to run one of the water purification plants
6. to put surplus electricity back into the grid
7. 73,000
8. almost 40 per cent
9. Asia
10. around 1,000 years ago
4. Using key language
Students could be asked to do this exercise individually
and then compare their answers in pairs. Note that both
electricity and energy could collocate with generate but
energy is needed later with consume. Point out that
launch can also be used with other nouns in the sense
of starting something, e.g. a project, a programme, a
new product, a campaign. If a plant takes root, it begins
to grow somewhere, but ideas, beliefs and systems can
also take root, in the sense that they become established
and accepted.

Level: Advanced – Teacher’s notes
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Key:
1. c
2. e
3. f
4. a
5. d
6. b
5. Discussion
Allow students time to note down their ideas about each
statement and encourage them to say why they agree or
disagree with each one.
6. In your own words
Students should search on the internet using the phrase
“new ways of generating electricity”. Ask students to
choose four or more different ways and write a short
report comparing their potential. They should also
highlight the one they think is the most interesting
or which has the most potential. Encourage them, if
possible, to include statistics in their report. This activity
is probably best done as a homework task.

Seville's Oranges - Advanced Article.pdf

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Seville's Oranges - Advanced Article.pdf