Band 7 IELTS Advantages Disadvantages

Essay

Band 7 IELTS advantages and disadvantages essay.

Question

Renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, have shown great promise. However, they
have often disappointed in practice. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these forms of
power generation compared to fossil fuels?

In this question, you need to compare the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energy
(not just just solar and wind) with the advantages and disadvantages of fossil fuels.

Be careful when you talk about fossil fuels. Dont only refer to one kind.

You would probably brainstorm something like the following: for this IELTS Task 2 question:

Advantages / disadvantages
Renewable resources

Positives

+ will never run out

E.g. Solar and wind never end

+ have no carbon emissions (CO2 emissions)

E.g. wave power

Negatives

Some kinds cause other kinds of environmental damage. E.g. wind farms may interfere with
birds. Hydroelectric dams require large areas to be flooded

Most do not generate constant power. Wind is sometime strong or weak.

The demand for electricity is often nowhere near where the electricity is generated, so a lot of
power lines need to be built

Fossil fuels

Positives

+ there is a lot of it. E.g. natural gas.

+ it is very cheap to produce in some places

+ it is easy to transport

negatives

carbon emissions (CO2)

environmental damage from spills and accidents from transportation e.g. Oil spills

fossil fuels will eventually run out or be too expensive to get

Lets see how the student deals with it. Remember, I have not changed anything about this essay.
All the errors are still there.

Student Answer
Over the years, there has been enormous research underway throughout the world to find a
perfect solution for ever increasing energy demand; renewable energy is one of them. The
question is, is it better than traditional gasoline?

On the one hand, there are several benefits of using renewable energy than fossil fuel. One of
them is it is more environment friendly. For instance, a recent study conducted by Harvard
University shows that air pollution is less in Netherland due to extensive use of renewable
energy such as wind power, whereas China facing difficulties to control pollution for high use of
so-called petroleum. Another bright side is less costly to produce power. Typically, solar, wind
and water are being used to generate power to be converted to renewable energy. Such
arrangements need lesser production cost in compare to traditional power generation. As a result,
developed countries are becoming increasingly interested to use those alternative forms of
energy.

On the other hand, renewable power is not entirely free from drawbacks. The biggest issue is
over dependency on nature. As formation of this type of energy is heavily reliant on availability
of sun and wind, it could hinder possible production target. As a result, it is not always
trustworthy in compare to conventional power generation. Another shortcoming is it cannot
produce large amount of energy to meet the current demand. Therefore, even if a government
wants to produce such energy at a large scale, it has its own limitations. To illustrate, solar panel
is not able to work when the sun is down whereas, fuel can produce energy 247.

In conclusion, I think renewable energy has the potential to become mainstream source of energy
in future although it needs a lot of transformation and technological advancement.

Words: 293

Writing Feedback

Task Achievement: 7

In the introduction, dont just refer to gasoline because this is only one of many kinds of fossil
fuels. Also, in the conclusion try to summarize your main points as well as answer the question
directly. (See the sample answer).

Referencing: Them these

In the second body paragraph, the way the ideas are joined are a bit clunky. You introduce your
second point like this Another shortcoming is
So you mean to organize the paragraph this way:

1. Dependency on nature
More detailed explanation about this problem
 Result: Unreliable
2. Another shortcoming is it is not trustworthy compared to traditional power generation

However, I think you really mean:

1. Dependency on nature
More detailed explanation about this problem
Result: Unreliable
Result: It is not trustworthy compared to traditional power generation
So, you need to change the Linker / Linking phrase. I suggest This also means that

Coherence and Cohesion: 7

Referencing: Them these

In the second body paragraph, the way the ideas are joined are a bit clunky. You introduce your
second point like this Another shortcoming is
So you mean to organize the paragraph this way:

1. Dependency on nature
More detailed explanation about this problem
Result: Unreliable
2. Another shortcoming is it is not trustworthy compared to traditional power generation

However, I think you really mean:

1. Dependency on nature
More detailed explanation about this problem
Result: Unreliable
Result: It is not trustworthy compared to traditional power generation
So, you need to change the Linker / Linking phrase. I suggest This also means that

Lexical Resource (Vocabulary): 7

Environment friendly environmentally friendly

Check how you use compare. Either write in comparison to or compared to

Bright side . We use this to introduce the positive aspects of something. Such as It was
raining. On the bright side, it wasnt hot. We dont use it to introduce one specific point.
Instead, you could write Another positive point

Grammatical range and accuracy : 7

Remember to use the present simple tense to talk about what is normal or typical.
Typically, solar, wind and water are being used to Typically, solar, wind and water are
used to

Sometimes, there are missing words such as a subject. E.g.

Another bright side is [subject] less costly to produce power Another bright side is it less
costly to produce power

There are quite a few unnecessary words in the second paragraph. If possible, dont use modals
(could, maybe), try to use factual statements instead.
As formation of this type of energy is heavily reliant on availability of sun and wind, it could
hinder possible production target.
As this type of energy is heavily reliant on availability of sun and wind, it hinders production.

Overall : 7

This essay is a solid 7. If the introduction was a bit better and the second paragraph was
organized a little more directly, it would probably get a 7.5

IELTS Task 2 Sample Answer

This sample answer is mainly the same essay with some corrections, especially in the second
paragraph.

Over the years, there has been enormous amount of research underway throughout the world to
find a perfect solution for ever increasing energy demand; renewable energy is one of these. The
question is, is it better than traditional gasoline?

On the one hand, there are several benefits of using renewable energy than fossil fuel. One of
them is it is more environmentally friendly. For instance, a recent study conducted by Harvard
University shows that air pollution is less in Netherland due to extensive use of renewable
energy such as wind power, whereas China faces difficulties controlling pollution for high use of
so-called petroleum. Another positive point is it less costly to produce power. Typically, solar,
wind and water are used to generate electricity. Such arrangements have lower production costs
than traditional power generation. As a result, developed countries are becoming increasingly
interested in using these alternative forms of energy.

On the other hand, renewable power is not entirely free from drawbacks. The biggest issue is
over dependency on nature. As this type of energy is heavily reliant on availability of sun and
wind, it hinders production. As a result, it is not always trustworthy compared to conventional
power generation. This also means that it cannot produce large amounts of energy to meet the
current demand. Therefore, even if a government wants to produce such energy at a large scale,
there are limitations. To illustrate, solar panels are not able to work when the sun is down,
whereas burning gas or coal can produce energy 24 hours a day.

In conclusion, while renewable forms of energy are currently limited by the need for sunlight or
wind, they are better for the environment and in some cases are cheaper than fossil fuels.
Therefore, despite these limitations, I think renewable energy has the potential to become
mainstream source of energy in the future.

Words: 311
What do you think of this question?

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Alternative energy sources that use the

natural power of the wind, waves and sun are
too expensive and complicated to replace the
coal, oil and gas that we use to power our
cities and transport.
To what extend do you agree or disagree with
this opinion?

It is assume that the implementation of environmentally and friendly energy resources like wind,
waves, and sun are costly. This is aimed to reduce dependence society on fossil fuel sources such
as coal, oil and gas as a power to city and transportation system. While this statement leads to a
great deal of controversy, I would argue that alternative energy sources basically require more
money to build its plants. This contrasts to scientists who have developed plenty of research to
create these forms of energy more efficient and it can generate much more power for the worlds
inhabitants needs.
Admittedly, a cleaner and greener alternative power consumes more money, since it is
inexpensive to run, but high-priced to construct its infrastructure. In Britain, for instance,
electricity from wind costs twice as much as that from conventional sources like coal, and nearly
all the wind turbines are produced by a single firm. This, in a fact, is vulnerable to change the
cost of energy consumption in the capital city. As a result, the government remains to extend the
life of fossil resources to meet societys energy needs.

Standing in contrast, the vast number of the renewable energy resources must be expanded to
diminish reliance on fossil fuels even though it digs deep to fund them. The main reason for this
is that an enormous number of experts are continuing to research newer and better forms of
energy. To exemplify, a new water battery which is being created at MIT will be able to power a
car for hundreds of miles. Next, natural power stations provide more powerful energy. A study
found that the use of photovoltaic cell for solar power plant could supply energy for more than
one billion people by 2020 and 26 percent of global energy introduces by 2040. Therefore, this is
sustainable and a viable solution in terms of producing power to cities and transport sector.

The aforementioned evidence reveals that alternative power sources are important to develop. It
can also be seen that although the governments may totally spend more cost to construct
alternative power plants, the citizens will obtain benefits from natural reserves for a long-term
need.