SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 18 September 2025, Shift 1 · English Comprehension · Question 19 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

The accelerating depletion of fossil fuels, coupled with mounting ecological degradation, has propelled renewable energy from a peripheral concern to a central component of global energy discourse. Yet, the conversation often fixates on production rather than application. A nuanced understanding of renewable energy must include not only its sources—solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass—but also the multifaceted domains in which it can transform economies, decentralize power structures, and promote environmental justice. In the domain of electricity generation, renewables have already begun to displace conventional energy systems. Solar photovoltaic installations now power not only urban rooftops but remote rural hamlets long excluded from centralized grids. Micro-hydel projects have enabled mountain communities to harness perennial streams for electricity without the ecological upheaval of large dams. Similarly, wind energy has emerged as a significant contributor in coastal and arid zones, transforming local economies by creating decentralized, sustainable employment ecosystems. Beyond electricity, renewable energy finds compelling applications in transportation, industrial heating, and agriculture. The rise of biofuels—especially second-generation variants derived from agricultural waste—offers a pathway to decarbonize aviation and freight transport, sectors that have traditionally been resistant to electrification. In agrarian contexts, solar-powered pumps have reduced farmers’ dependence on erratic grid supply and diesel generators, enhancing irrigation autonomy while mitigating carbon emissions. Industries, often vilified for their carbon intensity, are also experimenting with renewable alternatives. Concentrated solar thermal technologies, for instance, are being employed in textile processing, food dehydration, and even metallurgy, demonstrating that clean energy need not be confined to low-intensity applications. Furthermore, geothermal energy is increasingly being harnessed for space heating in colder regions and for cooling through absorption chillers—thereby offsetting conventional HVAC loads. However, the significance of renewable energy transcends utility. At a deeper level, it challenges existing geopolitical hierarchies shaped by fossil fuel dependency. While oil-rich nations have historically wielded disproportionate influence, renewable resources—abundant yet diffuse—enable energy sovereignty for resource-scarce regions. This democratization of energy, if properly managed, can catalyze more equitable development paradigms. Nevertheless, integration challenges persist. Intermittency, storage limitations, land use conflicts, and upfront costs are not insignificant barriers. A hasty transition without resilient infrastructure or community consent could replicate the very injustices renewables seek to redress. Therefore, the question is not merely how to produce renewable energy, but how to embed it meaningfully across sectors, geographies, and social hierarchies.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on the passage : Why is geothermal energy cited in the passage?

(a)To highlight a rare and impractical solution
(b)To show its political implications
(c)To exemplify its industrial cooling and heating utility
(d)To criticize its high cost

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The passage says geothermal energy "is increasingly being harnessed for space heating in colder regions and for cooling through absorption chillers".

That sentence opens with Furthermore, adding one more example to a run of uses beyond electricity. Its job is to show what geothermal does, heating and cooling, which is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
To highlight a rare and impractical solution — The passage says geothermal is "increasingly being harnessed", a use that is growing, not rare. Nothing in it calls geothermal impractical.
(b)
To show its political implications — The politics starts at "However, the significance of renewable energy transcends utility" and concerns renewables in general. Geothermal sits before that turn, on the utility side.
(d)
To criticize its high cost — The geothermal sentence carries no criticism. Upfront costs appear later as a barrier to renewables in general, never tied to geothermal.

Concept

This is a purpose question. "Why is X cited?" asks what job the mention does in the argument, not what X is.

Read the connector that introduces it. Furthermore adds to what came before, here a run of non-electric uses: biofuels for transport, solar pumps on farms, concentrated solar thermal in industry. Geothermal heating and cooling is the next item, so it is cited as an example.

The option's word industrial is looser than the passage, which speaks of "space heating in colder regions" and cooling that offsets "conventional HVAC loads".

The sentence does follow the industry examples, and (c) is the one option that names the heating-and-cooling use.

Key facts

Geothermal uses in the passage: space heating in colder regions and cooling through absorption chillers.
The effect it names: offsetting conventional HVAC loads.
The sentence opens with Furthermore, which adds an example to the list before it.
The political point begins at However and concerns renewable energy as a whole.

Study next

Purpose questions: "Why does the author mention X?"Reading connectors (for instance, furthermore, however) to map a passage's structure

Common traps

Picking the political option because geopolitics is the passage's next big idea, although it belongs to the sentences after However
Rejecting (c) over the word industrial when the other options contradict or ignore the geothermal sentence

Also asked 18 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.19, which asks why the author mentions career choices (keyed To illustrate the illusion of self-determination shaped by societal filters).

19 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.17 asks why the author mentions the Salt March and Rosa Parks (keyed To illustrate when legal disobedience is morally valid).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Reading comprehension — all 128 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.

The accelerating depletion of fossil fuels, coupled with mounting ecological degradation, has propelled renewable energy from a peripheral concern to a central component of global energy discourse. Yet, the conversation often fixates on production rather than application. A nuanced understanding of renewable energy must include not only its sources—solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass—but also the multifaceted domains in which it can transform economies, decentralize power structures, and promote environmental justice. In the domain of electricity generation, renewables have already begun to displace conventional energy systems. Solar photovoltaic installations now power not only urban rooftops but remote rural hamlets long excluded from centralized grids. Micro-hydel projects have enabled mountain communities to harness perennial streams for electricity without the ecological upheaval of large dams. Similarly, wind energy has emerged as a significant contributor in coastal and arid zones, transforming local economies by creating decentralized, sustainable employment ecosystems. Beyond electricity, renewable energy finds compelling applications in transportation, industrial heating, and agriculture. The rise of biofuels—especially second-generation variants derived from agricultural waste—offers a pathway to decarbonize aviation and freight transport, sectors that have traditionally been resistant to electrification. In agrarian contexts, solar-powered pumps have reduced farmers’ dependence on erratic grid supply and diesel generators, enhancing irrigation autonomy while mitigating carbon emissions. Industries, often vilified for their carbon intensity, are also experimenting with renewable alternatives. Concentrated solar thermal technologies, for instance, are being employed in textile processing, food dehydration, and even metallurgy, demonstrating that clean energy need not be confined to low-intensity applications. Furthermore, geothermal energy is increasingly being harnessed for space heating in colder regions and for cooling through absorption chillers—thereby offsetting conventional HVAC loads. However, the significance of renewable energy transcends utility. At a deeper level, it challenges existing geopolitical hierarchies shaped by fossil fuel dependency. While oil-rich nations have historically wielded disproportionate influence, renewable resources—abundant yet diffuse—enable energy sovereignty for resource-scarce regions. This democratization of energy, if properly managed, can catalyze more equitable development paradigms. Nevertheless, integration challenges persist. Intermittency, storage limitations, land use conflicts, and upfront costs are not insignificant barriers. A hasty transition without resilient infrastructure or community consent could replicate the very injustices renewables seek to redress. Therefore, the question is not merely how to produce renewable energy, but how to embed it meaningfully across sectors, geographies, and social hierarchies.