返回首页

KathyHannun_2020F-_如何用不伤害地球的方式来为你的家供暖_-
[SHAPE YOUR FUTURE] [塑造你的未来]
One of the hallmarks of living in a technologically advanced society is even the little details of life that seem mundane end up being astonishing , like the fact that it takes five gallons of water to produce a walnut , or that half the plastic that's ever been made has been made in the past 15 years. 活在一个技术发达社会的标志之一 便是即使生活看起来平凡的小细节 实际上也十分令人惊奇, 比如说产出一颗核桃 需要19升水这一事实, 或者在所有已经生产出的塑料里 有一半是在过去的15年里被制造的。
My favorite of these examples is what it takes to keep a room room temperature . 这些例子里我最喜欢的是 将一个房间保持室温需要什么。
Allow me to explain. 让我来解释一下。
Heating is generally done by combusting a fossil fuel . 供暖通常是通过燃烧 一种化石燃料来做到的。
hallmarks:印记; technologically:adv.科技地;技术上地; advanced:adj.先进的; v.前进; (advance的过去式和过去分词形式) mundane:adj.世俗的,平凡的;世界的,宇宙的; astonishing:adj.令人十分惊讶的;v.使十分惊讶;使吃惊;(astonish的现在分词) gallons:n.加仑;大量(gallon的复数);一加仑的容器; walnut:n.胡桃;胡桃木;adj.胡桃科植物的; room temperature:室温; generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; combusting:vt.燃烧;消耗;n.燃料; fossil fuel:n.化石燃料(如煤或石油);
So first, we have to find the fuel. 所以首先,我们要找到燃料。
Unfortunately , it tends to be buried more than a kilometer under the earth's surface, and all too often, in inconvenient places, like the Arctic Circle , nations in conflict or under the bottom of the ocean. 不幸的是,燃料通常被埋藏在 地球表面下超过一公里, 而且通常不便触及的地方。 比如说北极圈,战乱国家 或者在海底。
Then there's the fact that the substance takes 60 to 600 million years to form from dead plankton . 除此以外还有这些物质 需要6千万到6亿年的时间 由死去的浮游生物转变而成这一事实。
So there's that issue . 所以那是个问题。
We drill these incredibly deep holes to get it. 为了获取燃料我们钻出这些深深的孔。
Unfortunately:adv.不幸地; inconvenient:adj.不便的;打扰的; Arctic Circle:n.北极圈; conflict:n.冲突;矛盾;争执;抵触;v.抵触; substance:n.物质;实质;主旨;物品; plankton:n.浮游生物(总称); issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行; incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
Then we pipe it, truck it and ship it in tankers across the world to refineries , which are these incredibly expensive industrial facilities that take in crude oil and gas, 之后我们用管道输送, 用卡车还有运油船 送到世界各地的精炼厂。 而精炼厂是一些十分昂贵的工业设施。 它们接收原油和天然气,
which are just a bunch of different hydrocarbon molecules , in order to sort those molecules into refined products. 两者都只是不同的氢碳化合物分子, 精炼厂接收它们 来将那些分子分炼为精炼产品。
Refined natural gas is then delivered to homes and businesses via an invisible interstate highway system millions of miles long. 之后精炼过的天然气 被送到住宅和商业场所, 而这是通过一个长达几百万英里的 隐形州际快速系统做到的。
refineries:n.炼油厂;制糖厂;精制厂;(refinery的复数) industrial:adj.工业的,产业的; n.工业股票; facilities:n.设施;设备;特别装置;特色;场所;(facility的复数) crude:adj.粗略的;简略的;大概的;粗糙的;n.原油;石油; a bunch of:一群;一束;一堆; hydrocarbon:n.[有化]碳氢化合物; molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数); natural gas:n.天然气; via:prep.通过;经由;n.道路;[医]管道; invisible:adj.看不见的;n.看不见的人或物; interstate:adj.州际的;州与州之间的;n.(美)州际公路;
It's invisible because it's underground. 之所以说这系统是隐形的 是因为它在地下。
There's so much pipeline in this system that entire steel mills have been built only to produce pipeline for this system. 这系统里的管道 多到数家钢厂被建造出来 就只为了给这个系统生产管线。
And because there are millions of miles of gas getting pumped beneath us at high pressure at all times, engineers send these intelligent robots called "smart pigs" 而因为有气体以几百万英里范围 在我们脚下被用泵不间断地高压输送, 工程师将这些被叫做 “聪明小猪”的智能机器人
mills:n.磨坊; v.碾碎,磨成粉(mill的第三人称单数和复数) pumped:adj.紧张的; v.用泵输送; (pump的过去分词和过去式) beneath:prep.在…之下;adv.在下方; intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
through the pipelines to check for safety defects . 送进这些管道来检查安全上的瑕疵。
Doing this is called "pigging the pipeline." 这个过程被叫做“小猪清管”。
(Pig snort sound) (哼哧)
Yeah, that's a real thing. 没错,这是真事儿。
But even with these precautions , there are accidents. 但即便有这些预防措施, 还是有事故发生。[02:00]
defects:n.缺点;瑕疵;不合格品(defect的复数);v.叛变(defect的三单形式); snort:v.喷出蒸汽声;喷出;发哼声;吸毒品;n.喷鼻息;一小杯酒; precautions:n.防范;预防措施;预警(precaution的复数);
In 2010, the San Bruno natural gas pipeline exploded in California. 在2010年,圣布鲁诺天然气管道 在加利福尼亚州发生了爆炸。
Eight people died. 八人死亡。
Eyewitnesses reported the blast looked like a wall of fire 1,000 feet tall. 目击者报道说爆炸看起来 像是一堵1000英尺高的火墙。
More recently , in 2018, excess pressure in natural gas pipelines in Massachusetts resulted in explosions that killed somebody and forced 50,000 others from their homes. 更近的一次,在2018年,位于 马萨诸塞州的天然气管道里的过量压力 造成了致一人死亡的多起爆炸, 该事件还使其他五万人被迫从家撤离。
exploded:adj.分解的; v.爆炸; (explode的过去分词和过去式) Eyewitnesses:n.目击者;见证人;(eyewitness的复数) blast:n.爆炸; v.爆破; recently:adv.最近;新近; excess:n.超过,超额;过度,过量;无节制;adj.额外的,过量的;附加的; explosions:n.[力]爆炸;爆发(explosion的复数);怒气大作;
But, you know, despite all of this, we're actually jealous of people who live close enough to these insane pipelines to get gas into their homes, because everyone else is stuck with even worse options , like fuel oil and propane . 但你知道,即便如此, 我们实际上还羡慕那些 住在离这些危险管道足够近的人们, 因为管道能把天然气送到他们家里, 而其他所有人则不得不接受 更糟的选项, 比如燃油和丙烷。
These fuels don't have pipelines in place for delivery , so instead, tens of thousands of trucks go from home to home in neighborhoods throughout the country, pumping these fuels into tanks in homeowners ' basements and yards. 这些燃料没有管道来运送, 所以取而代之的是数以万计的 卡车挨家挨户 在乡间的各个社区里, 将这些燃料泵到屋主们 位于地下室和院子里的储存罐里。
despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; jealous:adj.妒忌的;猜疑的;唯恐失去的;戒备的; insane:adj.疯狂的;精神病的;极愚蠢的; options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式) propane:n.[有化]丙烷; delivery:n.[贸易]交付;分娩;递送; throughout:adv.自始至终,到处;全部;prep.贯穿,遍及; pumping:v.用泵输送;涌出;奔流;快速摇动;(pump的现在分词) homeowners:n.私房屋主;自己拥有住房者;
And regardless of what heating fuel you use -- gas, propane or oil -- you better have a carbon monoxide detector so your heating system doesn't accidentally kill you in the night, because hundreds of Americans die in exactly that way each year. 而不论你用哪种供暖燃料-- 天然气、丙烷或者燃油-- 你最好要有一个一氧化碳检测器 来保证你的供暖系统 不会在夜里意外把你杀死, 因为每年数以百计的美国人 恰恰就是以这种方式丧命的。
So that's the system we have today. 这就是我们现今所有的系统。
Safe to say, it has some downsides . 可以肯定地说,它有一些缺点。
Don't get me wrong -- it's a marvel of human ingenuity , but with some pretty serious drawbacks . 别误解了,它是人类智慧的一大成就, 但是也有些严重的缺点。
regardless:adj.不管的; v.不顾后果地; carbon monoxide:n.一氧化碳; detector:n.探测器;检测器;发现者;侦察器; accidentally:adv.意外地:偶然,偶然地; downsides:下降趋势;消极面,缺点(downside的复数); marvel:n.奇迹;vt.对…感到惊异;vi.感到惊讶; ingenuity:n.心灵手巧,独创性;精巧;精巧的装置; drawbacks:n.缺点;退税(drawback的复数);
And the rigamarole of conventional heating feels even more over the top when you consider that every home is already sitting right on top of a vast reservoir of renewable energy: geothermal energy. 而传统制暖带来的繁琐 甚至更加令人感到夸张, 因为当你考虑到每座住宅 其实都正好已经被建造在 一片广大的可再生能源储备库上: 那就是地热能。
Let's talk about geothermal energy. 让我们来谈谈地热能吧。
Starting a few feet under the earth's surface, the ground is awash in thermal energy. 从地表以下几英尺开始, 大地浸满了热能量。
This is why caves and wine cellars , they never get too hot or too cold. 这就是为什么山洞和酒窖 永远不会变得太热或太冷。
rigamarole:n.冗长的废话; conventional:adj.符合习俗的,传统的;常见的;惯例的; over the top:adj.过多的;言过其实的;夸大其词的; reservoir:n.水库;蓄水池; renewable:adj.可再生的;可更新的;可继续的;n.再生性能源; geothermal:adj.[地物]地热的;[地物]地温的; awash:adj.被浪冲打的;与水面齐平的;充斥的; cellars:n.地窖;地下室;(cellar的复数)
They're just bathed in this low-grade heat. 它们就这样被这种低位热量包裹着。
Geothermal heating systems draw on this heat, using what are called "ground loops ," 地热供暖系统汲取这种热量, 使用这些被称为“地环路”的
which are just simple plastic pipes buried under the yard. 埋在庭院里的简单塑料管道。
These ground loops are then connected to a heat pump that sits inside the home, typically where a furnace once was. 然后这些地环路被连接到 放置在住宅里的一台热泵, 通常在之前火炉的位置上。
bathed:adj.沐浴的;淋漓的,湿透的;沉溺的;v.沐浴;(bath的过去分词); low-grade:adj.低级的;品质低劣的; loops:n.[计]循环(loop复数); v.使...成环,以圈结,以环连结(loop的第三人称单数形式); typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; furnace:n.熔炉;v.在炉中烧热(金属);
More and more homeowners are choosing geothermal over fuel-based options. 越来越多的房主选择使用地热能而不是基于燃料的选项。
I see this shift up close every day, because I cofounded a company to create a new kind of ground-up utility by making it as easy and inexpensive as possible to switch from conventional heating to geothermal. 我每天都能近距离地看到这个改变, 因为我联合创办了一家公司, 通过将从传统制热方式换为地热 变得尽可能简单和便宜 来创造出一种新型地面设施。
We've done this by creating a service where homeowners can fill out a form on our website, we design a geothermal heating system for them, and then we install that system using purpose-built tools and equipment. 我们通过创造出一项服务做到了这一点。 在这项服务中,业主们 能在我们的网站上填出一张表, 我们为他们设计一套地热制暖系统, 然后我们使用特制工具和装备 来安装那个系统。
shift:n.移动;变化;手段;轮班;v.移动;转变;转换; utility:n.公用事业;实用;实用程序;adj.多用途的;多效用的; inexpensive:adj.廉价的;不昂贵的; install:v.安装;设置;安置;建立(程序); purpose-built:adj.为特定目的建造的;
Once the installation is done, that home will have moved on from fossil heating forever, because those ground loops, they'll last as long as the home itself. 在安装完成后, 那栋房子将会永远脱离化石燃料制暖, 因为那些地环路的寿命 将和房屋本身一样持久。
As each home switches over, a new kind of utility is taking hold -- a distributed utility, made up of homes exchanging renewable energy with the ground. 在每家更换的同时, 一项新的公共事业正在扎根: 一项被分布的公共事业, 由住宅与大地交换可再生能量构成。
installation:n.安装;设施;设置;安装的设备(或机器); as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然; distributed:adj.分布的;分散的;v.分发;分配;使分布(distribute的过去分词和过去式) made up of:由…组成,由…构成;
This new infrastructure is simple, local and inexpensive to operate, and it represents a permanent and wholesale shift away from fossil fuels. 这个新基础设施是简单、 本地化以及低操作成本的, 它还代表着一次永久且大规模的 自使用化石燃料向其它方式的转变。
The groundwork is being laid, so to speak , for the idea that maybe we don't need to destroy the world in order to keep our rooms at a comfortable temperature. 可以这么说, 为了我们或许不需要 毁掉世界来让我们的房间 保持在一个舒适温度的理念, 基础工作正在进行。
infrastructure:n.基础设施;公共建设;下部构造; represents:v.代表;维护…的利益;相当于;(represent的第三人称单数) permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发; wholesale:n.批发; v.大量地,大批地; v.批发; adj.批发的; groundwork:n.基础;地基,根基; so to speak:可以说;打个譬喻说;
Let's leave the Arctic Circle and the seafloor alone, bypass the refineries and the pipelines and stop worrying that our families will accidentally be poisoned in the night. 让我们避开北极圈和海底, 避开炼油厂和输油管, 并停止担心我们的家人 会在夜里意外中毒。
Instead, let's use the massive amounts of energy that are already right there for the taking, right beneath every building on earth. 取而代之的,让我们使用 就存在于地球上每栋建筑底下的 大量现成能源。
Thank you. 谢谢。
seafloor:n.海底; bypass:vt.绕开;忽视;设旁路;迂回;n.旁路;[公路]支路; massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;