Energy Sources & Power — B2 Essential Words
Ten essential B2 words (Environment) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
coal /kəʊl/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: A black rock from underground that is burned for heat and electricity; historically the fuel of factories and trains.
Example: The old plant burned coal.
Another example: Coal mines once employed whole towns.
Collocations: coal power · coal mine · burn coal
Synonyms: fuel, fossil fuel
Word family: coal (uncountable) · coals (n pl — pieces)
⚠ Common mistake: Bad children fear it in Christmas stockings; industry ran on it for two centuries. Its decline is energy's biggest modern story.
🗣 In spoken American English: Steam trains drank it across continents.
Register: Neutral — energy essential.
nuclear /ˈnjuːkliər/ adjective B2 Environment
Meaning: Relating to the energy released by splitting atoms; using or producing this energy (nuclear power, nuclear weapons).
Example: Nuclear power provides clean-air electricity.
Another example: The country tested nuclear weapons.
Collocations: nuclear power · nuclear plant · nuclear energy
Synonyms: atomic, reactor-based
Antonyms: solar, fossil
Word family: nucleus (n) · nuclear (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Say NYOO-klee-er carefully (a famous mispronunciation haunts presidents). It splits opinion like its atoms: zero-carbon power vs waste and risk.
🗣 In spoken American English: Submarines and aircraft carriers run on it for decades per fueling.
Register: Formal — energy essential.
solar /ˈsəʊlər/ adjective B2 Environment
Meaning: Relating to the sun; using the sun's energy (solar power, solar panels).
Example: Solar panels cover the roof.
Another example: Solar energy is growing fastest.
Collocations: solar panels · solar power · solar system
Synonyms: sun-powered, photovoltaic (technical)
Antonyms: lunar (moon)
Word family: solar (adj) · sol (n — Latin sun, in science)
⚠ Common mistake: The SOLAR SYSTEM is the sun's family of planets; solar panels are its technology grandchildren. Calculators ran on it before roofs did.
🗣 In spoken American English: Deserts are its future farms — Arizona and Nevada lead.
Register: Neutral — energy essential.
turbine /ˈtɜːrbaɪn/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: A machine with blades that spin when water, steam, wind, or gas passes through, producing power.
Example: Wind turbines line the hill.
Another example: Steam turbines drive the generators.
Collocations: wind turbine · a turbine spins · turbine blades
Synonyms: generator (its partner), rotor
Word family: turbines (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Say TUR-bine (rhymes with shine in US use). Wind farms are its forests; jet engines are its loudest cousins.
🗣 In spoken American English: One blade can be longer than a basketball court.
Register: Formal — energy essential.
atmosphere /ˈætməsfɪər/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: The layer of gases around the Earth (or another planet); also the feeling or mood of a place.
Example: The atmosphere protects us from the sun's rays.
Another example: The café has a warm atmosphere.
Collocations: the atmosphere · atmosphere of the room · upper atmosphere
Synonyms: air layer, mood, ambience
Word family: atmospheres (n pl) · atmospheric (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: Science and restaurants share it: gases around a planet, feelings around a room. Both are invisible and both decide everything.
🗣 In spoken American English: Weather lives in its lowest ten miles.
Register: Formal — science essential.
dam /dæm/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: A strong wall built across a river to hold back water, creating a lake for water supply or electricity.
Example: The dam holds back a huge lake.
Another example: Beavers build dams too.
Collocations: a dam · dam wall · hydroelectric dam
Synonyms: barrier, reservoir wall
Word family: dams (n pl) · dam (v)
⚠ Common mistake: Hoover Dam is its American icon — concrete, desert, and a state line in the middle. Beavers are its original engineers.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its failures and triumphs both make history chapters.
Register: Neutral — energy essential.
grid /ɡrɪd/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: The network of wires and stations delivering electricity to homes and cities; also a pattern of crossing lines, and a system of squares on maps.
Example: The storm knocked out the grid.
Another example: Solar homes feed power into the grid.
Collocations: the power grid · grid failure · off the grid
Synonyms: network, power system, lines pattern
Word family: grids (n pl) · grid (adj)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Off the grid' means living beyond its reach — no bills, no wires, total independence. Football fields and graph paper share its lines.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its failures (blackouts) make national news within minutes.
Register: Formal — energy essential.
geothermal /ˌdʒiːəʊˈθɜːrməl/ adjective B2 Environment
Meaning: Relating to heat from inside the Earth, used to make electricity and heat buildings.
Example: Iceland heats homes with geothermal energy.
Another example: Geothermal plants tap underground steam.
Collocations: geothermal energy · geothermal plant · geothermal heat
Synonyms: earth-heat, ground-source
Word family: geothermal (adj) · geothermally (adv)
⚠ Common mistake: Geo (earth) + thermal (heat). Iceland is its poster country — swimming in snow at the Blue Lagoon is its advertisement.
🗣 In spoken American English: Yellowstone's geysers are its wild showroom.
Register: Formal — energy staple.
fuel /ˈfjuːəl/ noun B2 Environment
Meaning: A substance burned to produce heat or power — gas, coal, wood, oil; also anything that increases a feeling or argument.
Example: The car needs fuel.
Another example: Prices of fuel rose again.
Collocations: fuel prices · fuel for · fossil fuel
Synonyms: gasoline, energy source, propellant
Word family: fuels (n pl) · fuel (v)
⚠ Common mistake: 'Add fuel to the fire' means make a bad situation worse. Planes, arguments, and economies all consume it.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its station signs are America's most-watched prices.
Register: Neutral — energy essential.
hydroelectric /ˌhaɪdrəʊɪˈlektrɪk/ adjective B2 Environment
Meaning: Producing electricity using the force of flowing or falling water.
Example: The hydroelectric plant supplies the valley.
Another example: Hydroelectric dams are renewable power.
Collocations: hydroelectric power · hydroelectric dam · hydroelectric plant
Synonyms: water-powered, hydro power
Word family: hydroelectric (adj) · hydroelectricity (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Hydro (water) + electric: the oldest renewable at scale — Niagara Falls lit cities with it in the 1890s.
🗣 In spoken American English: Its reservoirs double as lakes for summer boats.
Register: Formal — energy essential.
Practice — Energy Sources & Power
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