Напрямки концепції Smart Grid

Генерація електроенергії

Проблеми зміни клімату на Землі і прогнозований дефіцит органічних видів палива стимулює розвиток альтернативних джерел електроенергії, впершу чергу таких, як вітрогенератори, сонячні фотоелектричні системи, генератори які працюють на біопаливі, приливні і хвильові генератори, генератори, що використовують тепло надр планети і т.д. Новий розвиток отримають і гідроакумулюючі станції, які дозволяють більш ефективно використовувати вже вироблену електроенергію. Очікується, що в майбутньому кількість таких джерел буде неухильно зростати і підключатися до загальної електричної мережі вони будуть у різних її точках. Тобто генеруючі потужності в майбутній системі електропостачання будуть більш розподіленими, ніж концентрованими, як зараз. Характерною особливістю таких джерел є їх відносно невелика потужність і нестабільність параметрів потужності генерування. Очевидно, що для стабілізації параметрів таких джерел і їх автоматичної синхронізації з мережею необхідний досить «інтелектуальний» керуючий пристрій. Розробка принципово нових і підвищення техніко-економічної ефективності вже існуючих систем генерації електроенергії, пристроїв автоматичного керування ними, систем зв'язку, що забезпечують інформаційний обмін таких джерел з іншими елементами енергосистеми є одним з напрямків концепції Smart Grid.

Передача і розподіл електроенергії

Іншим напрямком концепції Smart Grid є, знову ж таки, вдосконалення існуючих та створення нових, але вже систем не генерації, а передачі та розподілення електроенергії. Основною проблемою цих систем з точки зору екології (та й енергетики також) є втрати електроенергії. Чим вони більші, тим більше природних ресурсів витрачається дарма, не приносячи користі людству та наносячи шкоду навколишньому середовищу. До того ж, величина втрат прямо пов’язана з тарифами на електроенергію. Уникнути втрат повністю неможливо, їх можна лише зменшити. Заходи по зменшенню втрат передбачають впровадження нових технічних рішень в систему передачі та розподілу електроенергії. Найбільш ефективні з них входять до концепції Smart Grid.

Споживання електроенергії

Технологія Smart Grid працює через систему спеціальних «розумних» лічильників, встановлених на підприємствах і в житлових приміщеннях. Вони інформують про рівень споживання енергії, що дозволяє коригувати використання електрообладнання в часі і розподіляти електрику в залежності від потреб. Простий приклад: є сенс запускати пральну машину вночі, коли енергоспоживання в місті спадає і тарифи знижуються. Втім, переконати користувачів перейти до оптимального споживання енергії, що може увійти в конфлікт з їх комфортом, буде непросто. Значить, треба навчити пральну машину включатися вночі автоматично. Тому, на додаток до всього, створюються автоматичні системи контролю, які зможуть оптимізувати домашнє споживання.

Unit 5 terrorism

TERRORISM IN RUSSIA

PRE-LISTENING SECTION

Exercise 1. Discuss the following issues. Be guided by the information below.

• Can you define the meaning of the word TERRORISM?

• What do you know about TERRORISM IN RUSSIA?

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. At present, the International community has been unable to formulate a universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians). Some definitions also include acts of unlawful violence and war. The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged, and this greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition. Studies have found over 100 definitions of “terrorism”. The concept of terrorism may itself be controversial as it is often used by state authorities to delegitimize political or other opponents, and potentially legitimize the state's own use of armed force against opponents (such use of force may itself be described as "terror" by opponents of the state).

Terrorism in Russia has a long history starting from the times of the Russian Empire. Terrorism, in the modern sense, means violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological objectives by creating fear. Terrorism tactics, such as hostage-taking, were widely used by the Soviet secret agencies, most notably during the Red Terror and Great Terror campaigns, against the population of their own country, according to Karl Kautsky and other historians of Bolshevism. Starting from the end of the 20th century, significant terrorist activity has taken place in Moscow, most notably apartment bombings and the Moscow theater hostage crisis. Many more acts of terrorism have been committed in Chechnya, Dagestan, and other parts of the country. Some of them became a matter of significant controversy, since journalists and scholars claimed them to be directed by the Russian secret services, often through their Chechen agent provocateurs.

Exercise 2. Match these words and collocations to their definitions (synonyms). Translate them into your native language.

1	mayhem	a	admit
2	sorrow	b	the action of an armed force that surrounds a fortified place and isolates it
3	condemnation	c	the willful and unlawful crippling or mutilation of another person
4	siege	d	a serious or formal promise
5	take smth in one’s stride	e	bribe in order to secure improper cooperation or gain exemption from a regulation or legal consequence
6	marauding	f	treat calmly
7	perpetrator	g	an expression of strong disapproval
8	pledge	h	an emotion of great sadness associated with loss or bereavement
9	conundrum	i	characterized by plundering or pillaging
10	concede	g	culprit
11	buy off	k	susceptible to attack
12	vulnerable	l	severely repressive actions
13	crackdown	m	puzzle

Exercise 3. Tell what you know about the following personalities

Ramzan Kadyrov, Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev

Be guided by the following information.

Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov (born 5 October 1976, Tsentoroi, RSFSR, USSR) is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel. Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post. He has the support of former Russian President Vladimir Putin and was awarded the Hero of Russia medal, the highest honorary title of Russia. Kadyrov was engaged in violent power struggles; with fellow Chechen government warlords Sulim Yamadayev and Said-Magomed Kakiev for overall military authority, and with Alu Alkhanov for political authority. As President of Chechnya, Kadyrov has been credited for bringing peace and stability to the region. He has also launched federally-sponsored renovations of the Chechen capital Grozny, which have completely transformed the war-ravaged city. On the other hand, he has come under heavy criticism from international press and even at times, Russia, for allegations of massive human rights violations.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when president Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move, and then Putin won the 2000 presidential election. In 2004 he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008. Due to constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive Presidential term. After the victory of his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the 2008 presidential elections, he was then nominated by the latter to be Russia's Prime Minister; Putin took the post on 8 May 2008. Throughout his presidential terms and into his second term as Prime Minister, Putin has enjoyed high approval ratings from the Russian public. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing the rule of law. Analysts have described Putin's economic reforms as impressive.

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is the third and current President of the Russian Federation, inaugurated on 7 May 2008. He won the presidential election held on 2 March 2008 with 71.25% of the popular vote. Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government on 14 November 2005. Formerly Vladimir Putin's Chief of Presidential Staff, he was also the Chairman of Gazprom's board of directors, a post he had held for the second time since the year 2000. Medvedev's candidacy was backed by then President Vladimir Putin. On 10 December 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by the largest Russian political party, United Russia and several pro-presidential parties, and officially endorsed by United Russia on 17 December 2007. A technocrat and political appointee, Medvedev had never held elective office before 2008.

LISTENING SECTION

Exercise 1. Listen to the recording and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1. In 2010 when terrorist bombings on the Moscow metro killed at least 39 people and injured the emergency services was better co-ordinated than in the past.

2. Muscovites took the attack in their stride, and even the authorities responded more humanely.

3. Thanks to the imposition of Ramzan Kadyrov as an autocrat in charge of the republic and Vladmir Putin’s earthy pledge “to rub out the terrorists in the shithouse”, violence across the region has abated.

4. The lawless and brutal behaviour of Russia’s security forces and widespread corruption allows the terrorists not only to move with mystifying ease around Russia but also to secure a steady source of income.

5. A big change in policy might stop terrorist attacks.

Exercise 2. Listen again and answer the questions with the grounds provided.

1. What are the responses to the deaths of innocent people at the hands of terrorists, whether in London and New York or in Madrid and Moscow?

2. Why was the work of the emergency services better co-ordinated that time than in the past?

3. What measures were taken to abate violence across the region?

4. What problem did Mr Medvedev identify as Russia’s biggest domestic problem?

5. What are the two obvious transmitters of terrorism through the north Caucasus and into the Russian heartland?

6. What actions of Russia’s leaders would only make the state more vulnerable?

DISCUSSION SECTION

Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What do you know about the acts of terrorism in Ukraine?

2. What should be the reaction of the authorities and average men to terroristic actions?

Exercise 2. Comment on the statements below.

1. Terrorism has become the systematic weapons of a war that knows no borders or seldom has a face. Jacques Chirac

2. Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past you. Paul Wilkinson

3. If inciting people to do that is terrorism, and if killing those who kill our sons is terrorism, then let history be witness that we are terrorists. Osama Bin Laden

4. I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists. I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am admired by the very people who said I was one. Nelson Mandela

5. We do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists. We invite terrorism by ignoring them. George W. Bush

6. Our enemies are fully aware that they can use oil as a weapon against America. And if we don't take this threat as seriously as the bombs they build or the guns they buy, we will be fighting the War on Terror with one hand tied behind our back. Barack Obama

TRANSLATION SECTION

Exercise 1. Make the transcript of the recording and translate it into your native language.

Exercise 2. Present a translation-oriented analysis of the text.

Exercise 3. Translate the information below into Ukrainian and analyze the basic transformations.