TOEFL統合ライティング

📖 読解文章

The introduction of renewable energy sources is often hailed as a crucial step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, a recent proposal to convert all agricultural land in the United States into solar farms has been met with skepticism. Proponents argue that this transition would significantly lower carbon emissions, but three major concerns undermine this idea. First, solar farms require vast tracts of land, which would displace food production and lead to higher food prices and potential food shortages globally. Second, the production of solar panels involves hazardous materials, such as cadmium and lead, which pose environmental and health risks during manufacturing and disposal, negating some of the environmental benefits. Third, solar energy is intermittent, depending on weather and time of day, which means it cannot provide a stable base-load power supply without expensive storage solutions, making it unreliable compared to fossil fuels.

🎧 リスニング講義

The lecture challenges the reading's claims about converting agricultural land to solar farms. First, the reading overstates the land issue. In reality, solar panels can be installed on non-arable land, such as deserts or rooftops, and dual-use systems like agrivoltaics allow farming and solar generation to coexist, thus avoiding food displacement. Second, the concern about hazardous materials is outdated. Modern solar panel manufacturing increasingly uses non-toxic materials like silicon and has robust recycling programs. Moreover, the risks are manageable and far less severe than the long-term pollution from fossil fuel extraction and combustion. Third, the intermittency problem is being solved by advances in energy storage, such as lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro storage, which are becoming cheaper and more efficient. Grid integration and smart management can also balance supply and demand, ensuring reliable power. Thus, the reading's objections are not insurmountable and ignore current technological progress.