VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Making Power From Coconut Shells, Mango Pits

Agriculture Report - Making Power From Coconut¹ Shells, Mango Pits

 农业报道 - 通过椰子壳和芒果核发电

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Seth DeBolt is a plant scientist at the University of Kentucky in the United States. He and other scientists wanted to find a source of fuel that poor people in rural areas of developing countries could use to make electricity.

赛斯·德博特（Seth DeBolt）是美国肯塔基大学一名植物学家。他和其他科学家希望找到一种燃料来源，这样发展中国家农村地区的贫困人口可以使用它来发电。

The United Nations Development Program says a billion and a half people have no electricity. A billion others have an undependable supply.

联合国发计划署表示，全球有15亿人没有电力。还有10亿人供电无法保证。

Professor DeBolt went on a study trip to rural Indonesia. He saw that, everywhere he went, there was very little waste in the use of agricultural products. Everything that farmers grew was used for something. Even the remains² of fruit that people did not eat were fed to chickens.

德博特教授到印尼农村地区进行了一次考察。他看到，在他所到之处，农产品使用很少有废弃物。农民种植的所有东西都有用途，甚至水果残渣也都用来喂鸡。

Little waste meant there was little that could be used for fuel. Growing a separate fuel crop would take land away from food crops. That was something Professor DeBolt did not want to do.

废弃物极少意味着可以被用作燃料的东西很少。种植一种单独的燃料作物将占用种植粮食的土地，这是德博特教授不愿意做的事情。

SETH DeBOLT: "The people at most risk with respect to energy poverty, typically they're the same people who have food insecurity issues as it is. And then any change in availability would be most detrimental³ to that group of people."

德博特：“在能源匮乏方面处于最大风险的人们通常也存在粮食安全问题。任何供应上的变动对这群人来说都是最不利的。”

But he found two items that were in plentiful⁴ supply and would not create competition between food and fuel. Coconut shells and mango pits are generally thrown out. Yet Professor DeBolt says they have a lot of energy stored in them. He says they have an "excellent" heating value which he compares to coal of low to moderate grade.

但他找到了两种供应充足而且不会在粮食和燃料之间形成竞争的东西。椰子壳和芒果核一般都扔掉了，但德博特教授说，它们储存了很多能量。他表示，与中低档煤炭相比，这两种东西的热值更佳。

The same is true for the pit of an olive, peach or cherry, or the shell of an almond or walnut⁵. All someone needs is a way to release that energy.

这对橄榄核、桃核、樱桃核，或杏仁壳、核桃壳来说也是如此。人们需要的只是一种释放这些能量的办法。

Seth DeBolt says a company in India, Husk Power Systems, is using small generators⁶ in villages to make electricity from rice hulls⁷. The process used is called gasification. Heating plant matter in a low-oxygen chamber⁸ releases gases. These can be burned in an engine that turns a power-generating turbine.

德博特说，印度一家名为Husk Power Systems（谷壳电力系统）的公司在村庄中使用小型发电机利用稻壳发电，所用到的工艺被称为气化。在低氧舱中加热植物会释放气体，这些气体可以在推动发电涡轮的发动机中燃烧。

Professor DeBolt says he and his team see possibilities for coconut and mango power.

德博特教授表示，他和他的团队成员看到了椰子和芒果能源的可能性。

SETH DeBOLT: "Hey, well these crops are growing here and these are the areas where there is potential for energy poverty to be alleviated⁹ at least in part by these small-scale production systems."

德博特：“这些作物在这里生长，这些地区存在这样一种可能性，即通过这些小规模的发电系统至少能部分缓解能源匮乏。”

The researchers have just published a study in the Proceedings¹⁰ of the National Academy of Sciences. They say these systems could provide as much as thirteen percent of the energy needs of a country like Indonesia. Other tropical countries with large crops of coconuts¹¹, mangoes and similar fruit could benefit, as well.

研究人员刚刚在《美国国家科学院院报》上发表了这项研究。他们表示，该系统最多可以提供像印尼这样一个国家的13%的能源需求。其它富有大量椰子、芒果和类似水果的热带国家也可以从中受益。

But Professor DeBolt says this is not a perfect solution. There are technical questions, like how to safely deal with the hazardous¹² waste that gasification can produce. And there needs to be money to get these projects started.

但德博特教授说，这并非一个完美的解决方案，还存在一些技术问题，像如何安全地处理气化产生的危险废料。同时还需要资金启动这些项目。

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Jim Tedder¹³.

___

Contributing: Steve Baragona

1 coconut   

n.椰子

参考例句：

• The husk of this coconut is particularly strong.椰子的外壳很明显非常坚固。
• The falling coconut gave him a terrific bang on the head.那只掉下的椰子砰地击中他的脑袋。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 detrimental   

adj.损害的，造成伤害的

参考例句：

• We know that heat treatment is detrimental to milk.我们知道加热对牛奶是不利的。
• He wouldn't accept that smoking was detrimental to health.他不相信吸烟有害健康。

4 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。

5 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

6 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 hulls   

船体( hull的名词复数 )； 船身； 外壳； 豆荚

参考例句：

• Hulls may be removed by aspiration on screens. 脱下的种皮，可由筛子上的气吸装置吸除。
• When their object is attained they fall off like empty hulls from the kernel. 当他们的目的达到以后，他们便凋谢零落，就象脱却果实的空壳一样。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 alleviated   

减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It is always completely alleviated by total gastrectomy. 全胃切除永远完全缓解症状。
• Toxicity problem in manufacturing and storage might be alleviated by coating beryllium with aluminum. 但如果用铝包覆铍，则可避免加工过程中及储存期间的中毒问题。

10 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

11 coconuts   

n.椰子( coconut的名词复数 )；椰肉，椰果

参考例句：

• We found a bountiful supply of coconuts on the island. 我们发现岛上有充足的椰子供应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Coconuts provide "meat", drink, oil, soap and fiber for fishing line. 椰子提供“肉类”，饮料、油脂、肥皂和做钓（鱼）丝的纤维。 来自百科语句

12 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

13 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网