Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
The challenge of climate change is global, and it demands action on an international scale, such as the
Paris Agreement. But a large part of the solution must be local, involving all of us in the way energy is
produced and consumed.
Very recently, there was a decision made that has allowed the Argentina population to now generate
their own energy through clean and unconventional sources and add surpluses into the public grid.
This is an important novelty in a country beginning a slow and difficult process, with a still uncertain
end, to replace fossil fuels. A new law was born with the aim of increasing the generation and addition
to the grid of clean energy by many small nearby sources, citizens and other private sectors, in what is known as distributed, dispersed or decentralised generation.
Argentina has had a hard time shifting to renewable power sources. They still represent a very small
share of the electric grid, which is made up of 64 percent fossil fuel power plants; fueled by oil or gas.
It is a global issue and other countries, such as the UK could also do more to encourage citizen
generated electricity. In the UK, more people could support the energy transition, and share in the
benefits, by storing power in batteries, electric vehicles and smart boilers. This enables the grid to draw power when it's cheap and plentiful, and temporarily lighten the load if there's a peak in demand. Here,
since 2009, the price of solar panels has fallen by 80% and wind turbines by 40%. And it won't stop
there. Renewable energies are becoming competitive with fossil fuels and new nuclear, but still out of
reach of many of the regular citizens.
Renewable energies and supporting technologies, like storage, are advancing in leaps and bounds. The
old energy companies have been sluggish in catching up so, although there is the ability to produce
more electricity via renewable, investment is still being made in gas and nuclear power. With the right
government policies in the UK there could be great potential for citizen-owned energy.
Take Germany and Denmark as examples in how successful citizen-generated electricity has become.
Recently, Germany produced so much electric power that prices were actually negative. As in, customers
got paid to use the electrical system. However, the average overall percentage produced by renewables
last year was 33%. Neighbouring Denmark already sometimes produces more renewable energy than
the nation's citizens consume on a more regular basis with 40% of the national electricity being
supplied by wind. They are currently 90% self-sufficient for their energy needs.
Electricity generation in Denmark has changed fundamentally over the past two decades and Denmark
has a long tradition of setting ambitious national energy targets. By 2050, Denmark aims to be a lowcarbon
society independent of fossil fuels.
All in all, Europe is performing well in its organisation of renewables. In 2011, renewables created
21.7% of the EU's power. After three years, this figure has achieved 27.5% and is expected to grow to
50% by 2030. The EU's underlying endeavours in advancing the use of renewables encouraged this.
Proceeded by the development, which brought down sustainable costs, renewables have now moved
toward becoming cost-focused, and even sometimes significantly less expensive than fossil fuels.
Denmark has several days in the year when _______.
Aelectricity is free
Bthey don't need electricity
Cthe sun shines all day
Dwhole country needs to heat their homes
