IELTS essay question
The chart below shows a comparison of different kinds of energy production in France in 1995 and 2005.
Plan your answer
Sample answer
The two pie charts compare energy generation from five different sources in France in two years. Overall, fossil fuels were the dominant type of power in both years given. Although nuclear and other kinds of energy experienced noticeable increases, they remained comparatively insignificant sources.
Regarding fossil fuels, in 1995 the vast majority of energy in France came from coal, gas, and petrol, with each constituting a relatively similar proportion, nearly 30%. By 2005, while the proportion of energy production from coal and gas had risen minimally, that from petrol had dropped by nearly 10%. The order in terms of the most common energy sources, however, remained the same, with coal top of the list, while gas followed closely behind and petrol ranked third.
Turning to the sources that produced the least amount of energy, in 1995 nuclear was responsible for producing 6.4% of total energy production in this country, and by 2005, this figure had increased to 10.10%. The other sources of energy followed a similar pattern, nearly doubling to 9.1% during the same period.
Useful vocabulary
- dominant (adj) = more important, powerful or easy to notice than other things
- insignificant (adj) = not big or valuable enough to be considered important
- vast majority = the greatest part of something
- minimally (adv) = in a way that is very small in amount
- responsible for something = being the cause of something
- double (v) = to become, or make something become, twice as much or as many
