Listening
Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.
- adorn / əˈdɔrn / (v.) – to decorate or add something beautiful
Example:Her dress is adorned with pink roses.
- drastically / ˈdræs tɪk li / (adv.) – in a way that is sudden and has extreme effects
Example:The pandemic drastically changed the class setup.
- follow suit / ˈfɒl oʊ sut / (idiom) – to do the same thing that someone has previously done
Example:After some big theaters lowered their prices, the rest followed suit.
- renovation / ˌrɛn əˈveɪ ʃən / (n.) – the act of rebuilding, repairing, or improving a part of or an entire house or building
Example:Their old house will undergo some renovations to have a more modern design.
- embed / ɛmˈbɛd / (v.) – to be a part of something firmly and deeply
Example:Stones were embedded in the cemented part of the house.
Article
Read the text below.
From the outside, the residential high-rise on Manhattan’s Upper West Side looks pretty much like any other luxury building: A doorman greets visitors in a spacious lobby adorned with tapestry and marble.
Yet just below in the basement is an unusual set of equipment that no other building in New York City — indeed few in the world — can claim.
In an effort to drastically reduce the 30-story building’s emissions, the owners have installed a maze of twisting pipes and tanks that collect carbon dioxide from the massive, gas-fired boilers in the basement before that exhaust goes to the chimney where it would normally be released into the air.
The goal is to stop carbon dioxide, a climate-warming gas, from entering the atmosphere. And there’s a dire need for reducing emissions from the city’s skyscrapers. Buildings are by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions here, roughly two-thirds, according to the buildings department. Many of those aging buildings have decades-old boilers in the basement which vent carbon dioxide directly into the air.
So building owners must make dramatic cuts starting next year or face escalating fines under a new city law. About 50,000 structures — more than half the buildings in the city, regardless of age — are subject to the law, known as Local Law 97. Other cities such as Boston and Denver followed suit with similar rules.
As a result, property managers are scrambling to change how their buildings operate. Some are installing carbon capture systems, which strip out carbon dioxide, direct it into tanks and prepare it for sale to other companies to make carbonated beverages, soap or concrete.
They see it as a way to meet emissions goals without having to relocate residents for extensive renovations. In this case, the carbon dioxide is sold to a concrete manufacturer in Brooklyn, where it’s turned into a mineral and permanently embedded in concrete.
Carbon capture technology has existed on an industrial scale for decades, used by oil and gas companies and some manufacturing plants to capture climate-warming carbon dioxide and either sell it or use it to wrestle more oil from underground.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.
Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.
Discussion A
- The new local law threatens building owners with fines if they will not make dramatic cuts starting next year. Do you think this will be effective in making them follow the rules? Why or why not? Discuss.
- Do you think it is possible in the near future that buildings will be powered by renewable energy? Why or why not? Discuss.
Discussion B
- How similar or different is the situation of New York City from that of the megacities in your country? Discuss.
- Do you think buildings in your city/country need to use carbon capture systems? Why or why not? Discuss.
