8Ea Engines

There are around 30 million cars on UK roads. Cars

boiler: where fuel
is burnt to produce
steering controls

are self-propelled vehicles, which means they carry steam

their source of energy with them. The energy is
transferred from the energy source to the wheels so
that the car moves.
The first self-propelled vehicle was powered by
steam, which was produced by burning wood to
heat water until it evaporated (photo A). The steam
passed into the engine to produce movement that engine: where energy from the steam causes
drove the wheels. In 1807, the first engine was built movement that is transferred to the wheels
that burnt the fuel inside the engine. The fuel was A | Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first self-propelled
hydrogen gas, but later designs used liquid fuels vehicle in 1769 to carry cannons, but it was too slow and
such as petrol. Combustion is another word for heavy to be useful.
burning, so these kinds of engine are known as
internal combustion engines.
Many fuels release gases and other substances that
B | The Benz Patent-Motorwagen of 1886
cause pollution and damage the environment. New
was the first modern car. Its engine ran on petrol.
car engines are designed to limit the pollution they
cause.

1 What does combustion mean?

2 Why do cars need a source of energy?

3 Give two examples of fuels that are, or have

been, used in vehicles.

4 Explain how the fuel in a car is used to make

it move.

5 Why are the fuels used in most modern cars

harmful to the environment?

6 Cugnot’s steam vehicle had an external

combustion engine. Compare how it worked
with the way an internal combustion
engine works.

C | Several car manufacturers are developing hydrogen-

fuelled cars. These cause less pollution than petrol and
diesel vehicles.

69
 Burning
8Ea fuels
What forms when a fuel reacts with oxygen?

A fuel is a chemical substance from

which stored energy can be transferred
usefully to make things happen.
Hydrogen is a gas that can be used as a
fuel. Most hydrogen-powered vehicles
use fuel cells, in which energy is released
from hydrogen in a carefully controlled
manner and reacts with oxygen.
We can model the reaction in a fuel cell
using a word equation:
hydrogen + oxygen Æ water

Remember: reactants are the substances

that react together in a reaction and
products are the substances that are A | In the hydrogen fuel cell in this bus, hydrogen fuel releases
formed. Energy is not a substance and so energy that is transferred to electricity to make the bus move.
does not appear in word equations.

1 Define the word ‘fuel’.

In the 1930s, airships were built to carry
passengers long distances. Many were filled
with hydrogen, which made them float in air.
In May 1937, the Hindenburg airship burst
into flames. The flames quickly spread as the
hydrogen reacted with oxygen in the air. The
accident killed 35 of the 97 people on board.
B transfer of energy by sound. The reaction continues
2 What is the product of the reaction in a
hydrogen fuel cell?
Hydrogen
combustion
Combustion does not happen in fuel cells, but
hydrogen does also combust with oxygen. For this
to happen, energy from a spark or a flame is needed
to start the reaction. The reaction then continues
without needing any further input of energy.
Instead, energy is released and transferred to the
surroundings.
Some of the energy is transferred by heating, which
we feel. Some is transferred by light, which we see. If
the reaction is very vigorous, we may even hear the
until one or both reactants have been used up.

70
 3 Suggest what could have started the
combustion reaction on the Hindenburg
in 1937.

4 Give three ways in which energy can be

transferred from a fuel to the surroundings
during a combustion reaction.

Most fuels used in car engines also transfer energy

during combustion reactions with oxygen. Petrol
and diesel are fossil fuels because they are
produced from oil that was formed from living C | This 1861 Thomas Rickett steam carriage used
organisms that died millions of years ago. Petrol coal as the fuel.
and diesel are also hydrocarbons, because their
molecules contain only carbon and hydrogen.
During combustion, the carbon and hydrogen 5 Coal is a hydrocarbon fossil fuel. Explain what
atoms react with oxygen. The carbon reacts to this means.
produce carbon dioxide.
6 Write a word equation to model the reaction
We can identify the products of the combustion of carbon with oxygen.
of a hydrocarbon in air using the tests shown in
photos D and E. 7 Write a word equation to model the reaction
of coal with oxygen.

D | The test for carbon dioxide involves bubbling the E | Cobalt chloride paper is used to show the
gas to be tested through limewater. presence of water.

limewater
water
before
Wear eye protection
carbon when carrying out
dioxide is these experiments.
added
dry cobalt
limewater chloride paper
after a lot
of carbon
dioxide has
limewater after some carbon bubbled
dioxide has bubbled through it through it

8 What happens in the test for carbon dioxide, if

the gas is present?

9 What happens in the test for water, if water is

present?

10 If you touch bubbles that are full of hydrogen I can …

with a lighted splint, they burst into flames. ■■ describe the reactions of hydrogen and hydrocarbons
The flames continue when the lighted splint with oxygen
is removed but then go out. Explain these
observations.
■■ use word equations to model combustion reactions.

71
 8Eb Oxidation
How do metals react with oxygen?
one hydrogen
Water is so familiar that we use its everyday name. molecule
A chemical name that refers to the elements in it H H
H H
would be hydrogen oxide. This name makes it easier
H
to see that hydrogen reacts with oxygen to form a H O
one oxygen O
compound called an oxide. This kind of reaction is H H
molecule
known as oxidation. O O
one water
1 Carbon reacts with oxygen to form an oxide. molecule

a| What is the name of the oxide?
b| What is a reaction like this called?
2 One carbon atom reacts with one oxygen
molecule to produce one molecule of the
product. Draw a diagram like diagram A to
show this reaction. (Hint: A carbon atom is
shown as a single ball).
A | During the oxidation of hydrogen, two molecules
of hydrogen react with one molecule of oxygen to
produce two molecules of water.
Wear eye protection
when carrying out
this experiment.

Hydrogen and carbon are both non-metals.

burning
However, many metals also react with oxygen to magnesium
produce metal oxides: metal ribbon
metal + oxygen → metal oxide
magnesium oxide
3 Write word equations for the reaction of each formed when
of these metals with oxygen: magnesium
combines with
a| magnesium  b| iron  c| copper.
oxygen

4 Describe one way in which energy is

B | Magnesium reacts vigorously with oxygen,
transferred when magnesium combusts.
releasing a lot of energy.

Conservation of C | The masses

of zinc and
mass oxygen (on the
left) before they
Mass is never gained or lost in a chemical reaction. react are the
This idea is known as the law of conservation of same as the zinc + zinc
mass. No new atoms are created and no atoms mass of the oxygen oxide
can disappear. The atoms in the reactants are just zinc oxide (on
rearranged to form different substances. the right) that is
produced in the oxygen
reaction. zinc

72
In some reactions mass may seem to increase. For
example, when you heat zinc in air you get a white
powder. The mass of the white powder is greater than
the initial mass of zinc. This increase in mass is because
the zinc has combined with oxygen from the air to form
zinc oxide. The mass of the zinc and of the oxygen that
reacted is the same as the mass of the zinc oxide formed.
Where a product is a gas that can easily escape into the
air, the mass may seem to decrease during the reaction.

5 If a mass of 2.4 g of magnesium is burnt in air,

4.0 g of magnesium oxide is formed.
a| What kind of reaction is this? Explain your
answer.
b| What was the mass of oxygen that reacted D | Three grams of zinc metal react with oxygen to
with the magnesium? Explain your answer. form 3.7 g of white zinc oxide powder.

Phlogiston
phlogiston in air
Until 1772, many scientists thought that substances
contained something they called phlogiston wood
(‘flo-jist-on’). When the substances burned, the (phlogiston rich)
phlogiston escaped leaving a solid ash called a calx. This
theory explained why the mass after burning fuels was
less than the original mass.
Careful experiments that measured the masses of gases
showed that the phlogiston theory was wrong. This led
to the discovery of oxygen. However, some scientists
continued to believe in phlogiston. They thought this ashes
explained the heat and light given off in combustion (no phlogiston)
reactions. Today we see this as evidence of the transfer
of energy to the surroundings. E | Substances that combust were once thought to
contain phlogiston.
6 A supporter of the phlogiston theory says that
when petrol burns in air phlogiston is lost to the air
so the mass decreases. Write a letter to this person
explaining why the phlogiston theory is wrong.

I can …
■■ describe oxidation reactions of metals and
Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794) was the first to prove
non‑metals
that oxygen gas was the cause of an increase in mass
during oxidation. He burnt jets of hydrogen and ■■ explain changes in mass seen in oxidation
oxygen in a sealed jar and showed that fixed masses reactions
of the gases produced a predicted mass of water. ■■ compare how phlogiston and oxygen explain
combustion.

73
 8Ec Fire safety
How do you stop a combustion reaction?

Combustion reactions are exothermic, which

means they release energy that we can feel as heat.
This transfer of energy increases the temperature
of the surroundings, which is measured using a
thermometer. Some fuels release more energy
than others, and so will increase the temperature of
the surroundings more than other fuels.

1 Why is a combustion reaction exothermic?

Once started, a combustion reaction usually A | temperature being measured using an infrared
continues even if the initial source of heat (such as thermometer
a flame or spark) is removed, because heat from the
burning fuel makes unburnt fuel start to react. Three factors allow combustion
to continue and these are
B | A grassland fire spreads as the grass (the fuel) is shown in the fire triangle.

N
heated to a temperature at which it combusts.

HE
E
To put out a fire, you must

YG

AT
OX
remove at least one factor.
FUEL

C | the fire triangle

2 Which three things are needed for a fire?

3 Use the fire triangle to help explain why the

fire in photo B has gone out in the burnt area.

Substances that are particularly likely to cause fires are

labelled with a hazard symbol to show why they are
dangerous.
flammable oxidising explosive
(easily bursts (releases (contains enough
Large forest fires can be controlled by starting into flames) oxygen) stored energy to
more small fires in front of the main fire. This explode if not
handled correctly)
‘back burning’ clears dry wood and grass so
that, when the main fire reaches the area, there D | Fire is particularly dangerous when using
is no fuel left to burn. substances labelled with these hazard symbols.

74
 4 Look at diagram D. For each symbol, explain as
fully as you can why a substance labelled with
that symbol should be kept away from fire.

Fire
extinguishers
Fire extinguishers work by cooling a fire or by
stopping oxygen getting to the fuel. It is important E | Different types of fire extinguisher have
different coloured bands.
to choose the right type of fire extinguisher for
each type of fire. Using the wrong type may be
dangerous and can even make the fire spread.
Water can put out fires because it takes away the
heat, but it should never be used on burning oil. The
water sinks through the hot oil and turns to steam.
The steam rises quickly, pushing the burning oil out
of the way and making the fire spread out. Petrol or
oil fires should be extinguished with foam or a fire
blanket, to keep oxygen away.
F | Fire crews use foam to stop oxygen
Water should also never be used on an electrical
reaching burning liquid fuels, such as petrol,
fire because it conducts electricity, and so you may and solids. Foam also cools the fire.
get a serious electric shock. The electricity should
be turned off at the mains, and the flames covered
using a powder or carbon dioxide gas extinguisher. 5 Which side of the fire triangle is taken away if
Carbon dioxide is heavier than air, so it pushes the you put out a fire with:
air (containing oxygen) away from the flames. a|  water   b|  a fire blanket?

6 Explain why an oil fire should not be treated

with a water-filled fire extinguisher.

7 Use the fire triangle to explain why carbon

dioxide puts out an electrical fire.

8 How should each of these kinds of fire be put

out? Explain your choices fully:
a| a chip pan full of burning fat
b| a bonfire of wood and paper
c| a fire caused by sparks from a damaged
electrical cable.

G | This trained firefighter is demonstrating in a

controlled environment that water added to burning I can …
fat or oil can cause a fire to spread explosively. Do ■■ use the fire triangle to explain how to control a fire
not attempt this. 
■■ identify hazard symbols for substances likely to cause fires.

75
 8Ec Fair testing
why are fair tests carried out?
A variable is any factor that can change and have
different values. In an experiment you are usually
interested in two variables:
different
■■ the independent variable, for which you choose volumes of
the values the same fuel
to be burnt
■■ the dependent variable, which varies as the
independent variable changes and is the variable
you are measuring.

1 In the experiment shown in photo A, which

is the independent variable and which is the A | Two variables in this experiment are the volume of
dependent variable? Explain your answer. fuel burnt and the time it takes for all the fuel to burn.

In many experiments, you want to test the effect of a single variable on another, that is,
you want to find out how the independent variable affects the dependent variable. So,
you do not want any other variables affecting the dependent variable. It is important to
control these other variables as far as possible, and so they are called control variables.
Controlling variables is also very important in industry. MMT is a substance added to
petrol to reduce pollution. Scientists found the best way of making MMT by changing
the amount of one reactant and measuring how much MMT was produced. They also
discovered that it was important to control the temperature during this reaction. In
2007, in Florida, USA, something went wrong with an MMT factory cooling system. The
temperature rise caused an explosion that spread debris up to a mile away.

2 Look at photo A.
a| One variable that should be controlled is the
type of fuel. Explain how using different fuels
might affect the dependent variable.
b| Describe one other variable that should be
controlled in this experiment and what effect it
might have if it were not controlled properly.

3 In the experiments to find the best way to make MMT:

a| which was the independent variable
b| which was the dependent variable
c| which variable was not controlled properly and
B | the remains of the MMT laboratory caused the explosion?

76
 WORKING
SCIENTIFICALLY
Planning a fair test
A fair test is an experiment in which all the control variables are controlled. This means that
these variables do not change, and so cannot affect the dependent variable.
When you plan an experiment, you first identify the independent and dependent variables.
Then you must identify all the other variables that could affect the dependent variable.
Finally, you need to plan how to control these other variables.
The Method below describes how to carry out an experiment using the equipment in photo C.

Method
A | Place one tea light on a heat-resistant
mat and another tea light on a block on
a heat-resistant mat.

B | Measure the height between the

surface and the base of the wick of both
tea lights and record the values.

C | Light both tea lights and cover them

both immediately with heat-resistant
glass containers. Start the stopwatch.
Wear eye protection
D | Measure the time taken for each flame C when carrying out
to go out and record the values. this experiment.

You usually record results from experiments in a table independent Don’t forget dependent
(see D). It is a convention that the independent variable variable the units! variable
goes in the left-hand column.

Identify the independent and dependent variables Height of Length of time

4
in the experiment described in the Method above. wick (cm) it burned (s)
1
5 Use your answer to question 4 to state the question 2
this experiment is set up to answer. 3
D
4
6 a| Suggest at least two other things that could vary
in this experiment and affect the dependent
variable.
b| Explain your answer to part a.
I can …
■■ identify control variables in an experiment and
c | Describe how you could control each of the
describe how to control them
variables you identified in part a.
■■ explain why it is important to carry out a fair test.

77
 8Ed Air pollution
How can burning fuels cause pollution?

A exhaust gases
When carbon burns in plenty of air, only carbon dioxide and soot
is formed. This is called complete combustion because
all the carbon reacts as fully as it can with oxygen.
However, if there is not enough oxygen, the carbon will
undergo incomplete combustion. This can happen in
vehicle engines.
Incomplete combustion of carbon results in a mixture
of products:
■■ carbon dioxide gas from carbon that reacts
completely with oxygen
■■ carbon monoxide gas from carbon that reacts partly
with oxygen
■■ soot particles, made up of carbon that has not
reacted with oxygen.

1 Name the carbon-containing compounds produced
by an engine that burns hydrocarbon fuel.
2 Explain why the truck in photo A is producing a lot
of soot in its exhaust.
Hydrocarbon fuels such as petrol and diesel
contain impurities, which are small amounts
of other substances. These impurities also
react in the very hot conditions in engines. For
example, sulfur is a common impurity and is
oxidised to sulfur dioxide gas.

B | Pollutants from vehicle exhausts can form a hazy
smog – a harmful mixture of particles and gases.
•  Carbon monoxide is poisonous and can kill.
•  Carbon dioxide is linked to global warming and climate
change.
•  Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are acidic gases that
can cause acid rain.
•  Soot particles can damage lungs and trigger asthma
(a breathing problem).
High engine temperatures also cause nitrogen
and oxygen from the air to react and form
several kinds of nitrogen oxide.
Many of the products of burning fuels in
vehicle engines are pollutants. This means
they can harm living things and damage the
environment.
3 Write a word equation for the formation
of sulfur dioxide in an engine.

4 a| Suggest an example of a nitrogen

oxide and draw a diagram of it.
b| Explain why vehicle engines produce
nitrogen oxides.

5 What is meant by a pollutant?

78
 Silencer

Controlling pollutants carbon dioxide,

water and nitrogen
Exhaust gases can be treated to reduce
pollution. Diesel vehicles usually have
a filter to capture soot. Most vehicles
carbon monoxide, steel housing containing
also have a catalytic converter in their nitrogen oxides precious metals such as
exhaust systems. This causes carbon and hydrocarbons platinum
monoxide gases to react with more
C | Catalysts are substances that speed up reactions but are not
oxygen to form carbon dioxide, and used up themselves. The catalysts in a catalytic converter cause
nitrogen oxides are broken down to exhaust gases to react more easily.
oxygen and nitrogen.

2 The gases dissolve in Controls:

Controls: water vapour. Acidic soil and water
Neutralisation reactions 3 Rain is more acidic can be neutralised by
1 Sulfur dioxide and
are used to remove than normal. adding substances
nitrogen oxides from
acidic gases from such as calcium
vehicles, power stations
chimney smoke. carbonate.
and factories rise
into the air.

Controls:
Catalytic converters
on vehicles remove 4 Acid rain can harm
nitrogen oxides. plants and animals.
Only low-sulfur fuel is
burnt in engines.

D | acid rain: its causes, effects and controls

Diagram D shows how the effects of acidic gases from

6 Identify a trigger for asthma in vehicle
fossil fuel combustion can be controlled. In Europe, these
exhaust gases.
controls are required by law and mean that air pollution
is now much less of a problem. Parts of the world where 7 a| Describe how burning fossil fuels in
industry is rapidly growing may have increasing air vehicle engines causes pollution.
pollution problems. b| Describe how this pollution can be
reduced.

8 a| What is acid rain and how is it caused?

In an asthma attack the tubes
in the lungs get narrower,
making it difficult to breathe.
Attacks are usually caused
by triggers, such as tobacco
smoke, soot or pollen. Over
5.4 million people in the
UK and many pets need
treatment for asthma.
b| Explain how pollution from power
stations is reduced.
I can …
■■ describe pollutants that are formed by
burning fuels
E | asthma treatment
■■ explain how these pollutants cause problems
and how their effects can be reduced.

79
 Global
8Ee warming
Is pollution causing climate change?

Most of the energy that

Some energy is reflected back into space.
causes the Earth’s surface to
Energy is
warm up is transferred to the transferred
Earth from the Sun. Some of from the Sun. Some emitted energy is
the energy is trapped within transferred to space.
the Earth’s atmosphere
by greenhouse gases,
including carbon dioxide.
This warming effect is called
the greenhouse effect. A | the reaches surface
Without it, the surface of the greenhouse The warm Earth
Earth would be too cold for effect emits energy.

most living things.

Most of the energy is Some emitted energy is absorbed by
absorbed, causing an carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
increase in temperature. gases and can be transferred back to
the Earth’s surface.

1 Where does most of the energy that warms the

Earth’s surface come from?
2 What is meant by the greenhouse effect?
3 Explain how carbon dioxide in the air helps to
cause the greenhouse effect.
About 36 000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide
are released into the air each year. China and the
United States together release more than 40 per
cent of this. The largest source of carbon dioxide
in industrialised countries is from burning fossil
fuels to generate electricity and in vehicles.

The temperature of the Earth’s surface varies over time for many reasons.
These include the tilt of the Earth’s axis and the amount of energy that is
transferred from the Sun to the Earth.
How the Earth’s surface temperature
has changed over time 4 Look at graph B.
Difference in temperature

2
a| What does 0 on the x-axis mean?
from today (°C)

0 b| How long ago was the Earth’s

highest temperature according
–2 to this graph?
–4
5 Humans only started to change
–6 the environment a few thousand
250 200 150 100 50 0 years ago. What is the most likely
Time (thousands of years before the present) explanation for the shape of graph B?
B

80
The burning of large amounts of fossil How global emissions of carbon dioxide
fuels began in the late 1700s, when coal 35 000
have changed since 1900
was used as a fuel in factories and for the

(million tonnes CO2 per year)

first vehicles. Since then, the amount of 30 000

coal and other fossil fuels being burned

Carbon emissions
25 000
has greatly increased. This has led to an
increase in the amount of carbon dioxide 20 000

released into the air. 15 000

As carbon dioxide is one of the 10 000
greenhouse gases, scientists predict
that increasing the amount of it in the 5000
air will increase the greenhouse effect 0
and so make the Earth’s surface warmer.

00

10

20

30

50

60

70

80

90

00

10
40
19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

20

20
19
This increase in the greenhouse effect is C Date
known as global warming. This could
lead to climate change, including
changes to weather patterns, causing 6 Use graph C to help you describe as fully as you can how
more storms, floods or droughts. the amount of carbon dioxide in the air has changed since
1900.
There is now plenty of evidence that
global warming is happening. This 7 Suggest a reason for the change shown in graph C.
evidence includes an increase in average
temperatures of the atmosphere and 8 What is meant by global warming?
oceans. We can also see the effect this is
having on ice caps and glaciers. Most scientists agree that global warming is mostly
due to the release of large amounts of greenhouse gases from human activity.

9 Describe
changes that
may be caused
by global
warming.

10 Explain how
human activity
could be
causing global
D | Two photos of the same glacier in the USA show melting over 100 years. warming.

I can …
E | Rising sea levels ■■ describe the greenhouse
as a result of global effect and how it is caused
warming could ■■ explain how human
flood many major activity may be causing
cities of the world, global warming.
including London.
81
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Most of the texts that you read and 24/03

/2014
199
12:19

write will include some information

A | These texts present information and explanation in different ways.
and some explanation. Understanding
how texts are written can help you
write more clearly. It can also help Information Explanation
you use texts more easily to answer
– who – what – how
questions.
– where – when – why

B | what information and explanation texts tell you

C
Climate change This paragraph is all
information text. It tells
you what climate is, what
Climate is the weather we have. The UK tends to have a it is like in the UK and
mild, wet climate. Scientists say this could all change due to what scientists think. The
global warming. information text at the start
introduces the context for
A lot of the weather is caused by large-scale movement of the rest of the article.
air. Hot air rises, reducing the air pressure near the ground.
As the air rises it cools, and as it cools it sinks again. Due to The other paragraphs are
the spinning of the Earth, the air usually sinks in a different a mixture of information
place from where it rises. Where it sinks it causes high and explanation. The
text in green type shows
pressure near the ground. The air then moves from the high explanation, because it
pressure area to the low pressure area, causing wind across explains how weather is
the Earth’s surface. If that wind passes over oceans, it will caused.
pick up water vapour. That may cool and fall as rain later.
The greater the difference in pressure between two places, Remember, explanation
may show a correlation
the stronger the winds. If global warming increases heating (link) between two things, or
in some places, winds could become stronger and could cause and effect.
collect more water. This could result in greater storms and
floods than we used to have.

82
 LITERACY &
COMMUNICATION
1 Look at article C.
a| What is the topic of the article?
b| Where in the article are you first informed
about the topic?
c | Why do you think that information is placed
there?

2 Look at the sentence in article C beginning ‘Due

to the spinning of the Earth,…’ .
a| What is the information contained in this
sentence?
b| What is the explanation? D | The winter storms of early 2014 caused damage
worth over £1 billion. Could global warming make
c| What are the words that signal cause and effect? this worse in the UK?

Answering questions on texts

While you are reading, try to identify sentences that give information and those that give explanation (and
what kind of information or explanation they are giving). Then you will find it easier to find quickly what
you need in the text to answer questions.
Some questions begin with ‘State…’. These questions expect
3 State the ways in which
information in the answer, for example question 3: ‘State the ways
winds could change due
in which winds could change due to global warming’. To answer this to global warming.
question, look at the last paragraph in article C where it says what
changes could happen to winds.
Questions that begin with ‘Explain…’ need explanation in the answer, Explain how winds
4
for example question 4: ‘Explain how winds changed by global changed by global
warming could affect us’. To answer this question, look at the end of warming could affect us.
the last paragraph in article C where it says how changed winds could
affect us.
Remember, when writing an explanation, use conjunctions that 5 State what effect global
signal cause and effect, such as ‘because’, ‘if’, ‘when’, ‘as’, to help you warming could have on
structure your answer clearly and concisely. our climate.

Now try questions 5 and 6. For each question: 6 Explain why global
warming might change
■■ first identify where article C gives you the information you need
our climate.
to write your answer
■■ then use what you have found to answer
the question. I can …
■■ identify information text and explanation text
■■ use the structure of a text to help with answering questions.

83
 Reducing
8Ee pollution
How can we reduce pollution from cars even further?
Air pollution from transport has been reduced by
using filters, catalytic converters and new engines
that use less fuel. To reduce it even further, people
will need to change the way they travel.
Governments use a range of ways to persuade
people to change their travel habits.
■ Road tax: cars are taxed based on engine size,
fuel type and carbon dioxide emissions. The
lower the pollution, the less you pay.
■ Annual tests: all cars over 3 years old are tested
for road-worthiness. If exhaust emissions are too A | Electric cars reduce pollution from the car but
high, the car must not be driven. electricity power stations release pollution.
■ Congestion charges: in some cities drivers must
pay to use their vehicles at busy times of day. Governments may make other changes that affect us.
For example, the European Union has decided that at
■ Fuel prices: higher taxes on fuel can make
least 5.75 per cent of fuel used for transport should be
people decide to use cheaper forms of transport. biofuel (fuel made from plants).
■ Travel restriction: some countries restrict the

1 Identify one advantage and one disadvantage, in

number of days drivers can use their cars.
terms of pollution, of choosing an electric car rather
than a diesel or petrol one.

2 Give one advantage and one disadvantage of using

hydrogen as a fuel for cars.

3 Some new cars have stop–start technology, where

the engine stops when the car is not moving (such
as at traffic lights). Explain how this is useful:
a| for the driver   b| for the local population.

4 For each of the bulleted points in the list on the left,

explain why this could help reduce pollution.

B | At this factory, waste material from making
sugar is used to produce bioethanol (a biofuel).
Using ethanol can reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by up to about 70 per cent.
Should the government try to persuade
people to buy cars that cause less harm
to the environment by increasing taxes
on fuel and on vehicles that produce
more pollution?

84