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1. 1. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

2. Reducing methane emissions is a top priority in the fight against climate change because of its propensity to trap heat in the atmosphere: Methane’s warming effects are 84 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year timescale (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

4. Based on the italic sentence above, why is reducing methane emissions a top priority?

• Because by reducing methane emissions, we participate in the fight against climate change

• Because reducing methane emissions is trendy

• Because reducing methane emissions is interesting

• Because reducing methane emissions is good

2. 2. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

3. Reducing methane emissions is a top priority in the fight against climate change because of its propensity to trap heat in the atmosphere: Methane’s warming effects are 84 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year timescale (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

5. Based on the italic sentence above, which one is stronger in warming effects over a 20-year timescale?

• atmosphere

• methane

• CO2

• emission

3. 3. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

4. And yet, as the main component of natural gas, methane is also a valuable fuel and a precursor to several important chemicals. The main barrier to using methane emissions to create carbon-negative materials is that human sources of methane gas — landfills, farms, and oil and gas wells — are relatively small and spread out across large areas, while traditional chemical processing facilities are huge and centralized. That makes it prohibitively expensive to capture, transport, and convert methane gas into anything useful. As a result, most companies burn or “flare” their methane at the site where it’s emitted, seeing it as a sunk cost and an environmental liability. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, methane has benefits. Here are the benefits, except ...

• to trap heat in the atmosphere

• 3. the main component of natural gas

• 3. a valuable fuel

• 3. a precursor to several important chemicals

4. 4. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

5. And yet, as the main component of natural gas, methane is also a valuable fuel and a precursor to several important chemicals. The main barrier to using methane emissions to create carbon-negative materials is that human sources of methane gas — landfills, farms, and oil and gas wells — are relatively small and spread out across large areas, while traditional chemical processing facilities are huge and centralized. That makes it prohibitively expensive to capture, transport, and convert methane gas into anything useful. As a result, most companies burn or “flare” their methane at the site where it’s emitted, seeing it as a sunk cost and an environmental liability. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, what do most companies see when they burn or "flare" their methane at the site where it's emitted?

• They see it expensive

• They see it prohibited

• They see it as a sunk cost and an environmental liability

• They see it huge and centralized

5. 5. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

6. The MIT spinout Emvolon is taking a new approach to processing methane by repurposing automotive engines to serve as modular, cost-effective chemical plants. The company’s systems can take methane gas and produce liquid fuels like methanol and ammonia on-site; these fuels can then be used or transported in standard truck containers. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, how is the MIT spinout Emvolon taking a new approach to processing methane?

• 5. by making new automotive engines to serve as modular, expensive chemical plants

• 5. by reusing automotive engines to serve as modular, expensive chemical plants

• 5. by purchasing new automotive engines to serve as modular, cost-effective chemical plants

• 5. by repurposing automotive engines to serve as modular, cost-effective chemical plants

6. 6. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

7. "We see this as a new way of chemical manufacturing,” Emvolon co-founder and CEO Emmanuel Kasseris SM ’07, PhD ’11 says. “We’re starting with methane because methane is an abundant emission that we can use as a resource. With methane, we can solve two problems at the same time: About 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from hard-to-abate sectors that need green fuel, like shipping, aviation, heavy heavy-duty trucks, and rail. Then another 15 percent of emissions come from distributed methane emissions like landfills and oil wells.” (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, the following statements are true, except ...

• One of the problems is about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from hard-to-abate sectors that need green fuel, like shipping, aviation, heavy heavy-duty trucks, and rail

• There are two problems at the same time that can be solved with methane

• 6. Emvolon co-founder and CEO is Emmanuel Kasseris

• Methane is an abundant emission that can be used as a resource

7. 7. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

8. By using mass-produced engines and eliminating the need to invest in infrastructure like pipelines, the company says it’s making methane conversion economically attractive enough to be adopted at scale. The system can also take green hydrogen produced by intermittent renewables and turn it into ammonia, another fuel that can also be used to decarbonize fertilizers. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, what makes methane conversion economically attractive enough to be adopted at scale?

• 7. Ammonia

• Taking green hydrogen

• 7. Using mass-produced engines and eliminating the need to invest in infrastructure like pipelines

• 7. Intermittent renewables

8. 8. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

9. By using mass-produced engines and eliminating the need to invest in infrastructure like pipelines, the company says it’s making methane conversion economically attractive enough to be adopted at scale. The system can also take green hydrogen produced by intermittent renewables and turn it into ammonia, another fuel that can also be used to decarbonize fertilizers. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, what is another fuel that can also be used to decarbonize fertilizers?

• pipelines

• methane

• intermittent renewables

• ammonia

9. 9. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

10. “In the future, we’re going to need green fuels because you can’t electrify a large ship or plane — you have to use a high-energy-density, low-carbon-footprint, low-cost liquid fuel,” Kasseris says. “The energy resources to produce those green fuels are either distributed, as is the case with methane, or variable, like wind. So, you cannot have a massive plant [producing green fuels] that has its own zip code. You either have to be distributed or variable, and both of those approaches lend themselves to this modular design.” (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, what are approaches lending themselves to the modular design?

• zip code

• green fuels

• distributed and variable

• energy resources

10. 10. Turning automotive engines into modular chemical plants to make green fuels

11. Kasseris first came to MIT to study mechanical engineering as a graduate student in 2004, when he worked in the Sloan Automotive Lab on a report on the future of transportation. For his PhD, he developed a novel technology for improving internal combustion engine fuel efficiency for a consortium of automotive and energy companies, which he then went to work for after graduation. (Source: https://news.mit.edu/2024/emvolon-turns-automotive-engines-into-green-fuel-chemical-plants-1119)

Based on the italic sentences above, which one of the following statements is true?

• 10. For his PhD, Kasseris developed a novel technology for improving internal combustion engine fuel efficiency for a consortium of automotive and energy companies

• In 2004, Kasseris worked in the Sloan Chemical Lab on a report on the future of transportation

• 10. In 2006, Kasseris worked in the Sloan Automotive Lab on a report on the future of transportation

• 10. Kasseris first came to MIT to study mechanical engineering as a graduate student in 2005