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TEDEd_HowMuchOf51Billion_2020E-_世上最大的电池有多强？_-
As of 2020, the world’s biggest lithium-ion battery is hooked up to the Southern California power grid and can provide 250 million watts of power, or enough to power about 250,000 homes. 截至 2020 年, 全球最大的锂离子电池 与南加州电网接通, 能够提供 2.5 亿瓦特的电力, 足够为大约 25 万家庭供电。
But it’s actually not the biggest battery in the world: these lakes are. 但实际上 它并不是世界上最大的电池: 这些湖泊才是。
Wait— how can a pair of lakes be a battery? 等—下—— 两座湖泊怎会是个电池呢?
To answer that question, it helps to define a battery: it’s simply something that stores energy and releases it on demand . 了解电池的定义 则有助于回答这个问题: 电池只是个储存能量 并应需求而释放能量的东西。
lithium-ion:n.锂离子; battery:n.[电]电池,蓄电池;n.[法]殴打;n.[军]炮台,炮位; hooked:adj.弯曲的; v.(使)钩住,挂住; (hook的过去分词和过去式) grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网; watts:n.瓦特(功率单位); define:v.定义;使明确;规定; releases:n.释放; vt.释放; on demand:请求即;按需;随选;随需应变;
The lithium-ion batteries that power our phones, laptops , and cars are just one type. 为我们的手机、笔记本电脑和汽车 提供动力的锂离子电池, 只是电池的一种类型。
They store energy in lithium ions . 它们用锂离子储存能量。
To release the energy, the ions are separated from their electrons , then rejoined at the other end of the battery as a new molecule with lower energy. 为释放能量, 锂离子与它们的电子分离, 然后在电池的另一头再次结合, 成为能量较低的新分子。
batteries:n.电池;炮组;炮列;[法]殴打;(batteries是battery的复数) laptops:n.便携式电脑;笔记本电脑;(laptop的复数) ions:n.[化学]离子(ion复数); electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式); rejoined:vi.答辩;回答;重新聚合;vt.再加入;使…再结合;再回答; molecule:n.[化学]分子;微小颗粒,微粒;
How do the two lakes store and release energy? 两座湖泊如何储存和释放能量呢?
First, one is 300 meters higher than the other. 首先,一座湖比另一座高出 300 米。
Electricity powers pumps that move billions of liters of water from the lower lake to the higher one. 电力驱动水泵把数十亿升水 从低湖转移到高湖。
This stores the energy by giving the water extra gravitational potential energy . 通过为水提供额外的重力势能 来储存能量。
Then, when there’s high demand for electricity, valves open, releasing the stored energy by letting water flow downhill to power 6 giant turbines that can generate 3 billion watts of power for 10 hours. 然后,在电力需求量高的时候 打开阀门,让水往山下流 从而释放储存的能量。 这些能量 可为 6 个巨型的涡轮机提供动力,进而持续 10 小时, 产生 30 亿瓦的电力。
Electricity:n.电力;电流;强烈的紧张情绪; pumps:n.[机]泵; v.用泵送; liters:n.(计量)公升(容量单位)(liter的复数) extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: gravitational:adj.[力]重力的,[力]引力的; potential energy:n.势能; valves:n.[机]阀门; v.装阀于…; releasing:n.释放;松释动作;脱扣释放;v.释放;排放;(release的现在分词); downhill:adv.下坡;向下;每况愈下;adj.下坡的;容易的;n.下坡;滑降; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的 turbines:n.[动力]涡轮;[动力]涡轮机(turbine的复数);[动力]汽轮机; generate:v.产生;引起;
We’re going to need more and more giant batteries. 我们将会需要越来越多巨型电池。
That’s because right now, generating enough electricity to power the world produces an unsustainable amount of greenhouse gas : 14 billion tons per year. 那是因为目前供给世界 足够电力的发电方式 产生的温室气体量不可持续: 每年 140 亿吨。
We’ll need to get that number down to net-zero. 我们将需要把那个数字降到净零。
But many clean energy sources can’t produce electricity 24/7. 然而很多清洁能源无法全天候发电。
So to make the switch, we need a way to store the electricity until it's needed. 所以为实现这一转变, 我们需要一种能储电直到需要用电的方法。
generating:v.产生;引起;(generate的现在分词) unsustainable:adj.无法支撑的;不可证实的;不能成立的; greenhouse gas:n.温室气体(尤指二氧化碳); sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数)
That means we need grid-scale batteries: batteries big enough to power multiple cities. 这意味着我们需要电网规模的电池: 大到足够为多个城市供电的电池。
Unfortunately , neither of the giant batteries we’ve talked about so far can solve this problem. 不幸的是,我们已经 讨论过的两种巨型电池 都无法解决这个问题。
The two lakes setup requires specific geography, takes up a lot of land, and has high upfront costs to build. 湖泊电池对地理位置有特定要求, 占用大片土地, 而且前期的建设成本很高。
multiple:adj.数量多的;多种多样的;n.倍数; Unfortunately:adv.不幸地; specific:adj.特殊的,特定的;明确的;详细的;[药]具有特效的;n.特性;细节;特效药; upfront:adj.预付的;在前面的;正直的,坦率的;adv.在前面;提前支付(工资);
The giant lithium-ion battery in California, meanwhile , can power about 250,000 homes, yes, but only for an hour. 与此同时,加州的巨大锂离子电池 可以为大约 25 万家庭供电, 没错,但只能供电一小时。
Lithium-ion batteries are great for things that don’t use a lot of power. 锂离子电池 对于耗电少的东西非常有用。
But to store a lot of energy, they have to be huge and heavy. 但为了储存大量能量 锂电子电池就必须又大又重。
That’s why electric planes aren’t a thing: the best electric plane can only carry two people for about 1,000 kilometers on one charge, or its batteries would be too heavy to fly. 这就是电动飞机仍不成气候的原因: 目前最好的电动飞机只能载两个人, 充电一次,大约能跑 10,000 公里, 要不然电池就重到飞不起来。
meanwhile:adv.同时,其间;n.其间,其时;
A typical commercial jet can carry 300 people over 14,000 km before refueling . 典型的商用飞机能载 300 人, 飞行超过 14,000 公里
Lithium-ion batteries also require certain heavy metals to make. 制造锂离子电池还需要若干重金属。
These resources are limited , and mining them often causes environmental damage. 这些资源有限, 而且开采过程往往会破坏环境。
Inventors all over the world are rising to the challenge of making batteries that can meet our needs— many of them even weirder than the two lakes. 全世界的发明家奋起面对这一挑战: 发明能满足我们的需求的电池。 其中,许多电池设计 甚至比湖泊电池更奇怪。
typical:adj.典型的;特有的;象征性的; commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告; refueling:n.再加燃料;再加油;v.给…再加燃料(refuel的ing形式); resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); limited:adj.有限的; n.高级快车; v.限制; (limit的过去分词和过去式) weirder:怪诞的(weird的比较级);神秘而可怕的;超然的;古怪的;
One company is building a skyscraper battery. 一家公司正在建造摩天大楼电池。
When the sun is shining, a crane powered by solar energy piles blocks on top of each other in a tower. 当日光照耀时, 太阳能驱动的起重机 把一块块的积木相互堆叠于塔中。
At night, the cranes let gravity pull the blocks down and use the resulting power to spin generators . 到了晚上,起重机让重力 将积木拉下来, 借此产生的能量驱动发电机。
skyscraper:n.摩天楼,超高层大楼;特别高的东西; crane:n.吊车,起重机;鹤;vi.伸着脖子看;迟疑,踌躇;vt.用起重机起吊;伸长脖子; piles:n.痔疮;痔; cranes:n.起重机; v.伸长(脖子)以便看得更清楚; (crane的复数) spin:v.旋转;纺纱;吐丝;纺线;n.头晕;(快速)旋转;常用于英式英语;晕头转向; generators:n.[电]发电机;[计]生成器(generator的复数);
Though there have been some early setbacks , another promising approach involves heating up salts until they melt . 尽管早期遭遇了一些挫折, 另一种具有前景的方法是 加热盐直到熔化。
The molten salt can be stored until there’s a high demand for electricity, then used to boil water. 熔化的盐 可保存至电力需求大的时候, 然后用来烧水。
The steam can power turbines that generate electricity. 蒸汽可以驱动涡轮机发电。
Another idea: bio-batteries made from paper, powered by bacteria , and activated by spit. 另一个想法是制造生物电池纸, 由细菌提供动力, 由唾液激活。
setbacks:n.挫折;周折(setback复数); approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理; involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数) melt:v.融化;(使)软化; molten:adj.熔化的;铸造的;炽热的;v.换毛;脱毛(molt的过去分词); bacteria:n.[微]细菌; activated:v.使活动;激活;使活化;(activate的过去式和过去分词)
Bacteria release energy in the form of electrons when they metabolize glucose , and at least one species of bacteria can transfer those electrons outside its cells, completing a circuit . 细菌代谢葡萄糖时 以电子的形态释放能量, 而且至少有一种细菌 能够把这些电子转移到细胞外, 形成完整的电路。
While these batteries won’t power a city, or even a house, they don't have the waste and cost concerns of traditional batteries. 尽管这些电池无法 为一座城市,甚至一栋房子供电, 但它们没有传统电池的 废弃和成本顾虑。
From vast mountain lakes to microscopic bacteria, from seawater batteries that bypass the need for heavy metals to nuclear batteries that power deep space missions , we're constantly rethinking what a battery can be. 从巨大的山湖到微小的细菌, 从无重金属需求的海水电池 到为深空任务供能的核电池, 我们不断反复思考 电池可以是什么样的。
metabolize:vt.使新陈代谢;使变形;vi.新陈代谢; glucose:n.葡萄糖;葡糖(等于dextrose); species:n.[生物]物种;种类; transfer:n.转移;调任;调离;[体]转会球员;v.调任;调走;转学;转移; circuit:n.环行路线;电路;线路;巡回赛;v.巡回;周游; concerns:n.关注; v.使关心(concern的三单形式); traditional:传统的,惯例的, microscopic:adj.微观的;用显微镜可见的; seawater:n.海水; bypass:vt.绕开;忽视;设旁路;迂回;n.旁路;[公路]支路; nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的; missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数) constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; rethinking:n.反思;v.重新考虑(rethink的现在分词);
The next unlikely battery could be hiding in plain sight— just waiting to be discovered and help us achieve a sustainable future. 或许下一个无法想象的电池 正隐藏在光天化日之下—— 就等着被发现, 帮助我们实现可持续发展的未来。
unlikely:adj.不大可能发生的;非心目中的;非想象的;难以相信的;