VOA标准英语2011--Kenyan Farmers Going Green

Kenyan Farmers Going Green

As scientists and political leaders around the world grapple with the issue of climate change, many farmers are looking at technologies that rely on renewable energy for their operations. Farmers in Kenya are now using two different irrigation pump systems that avoid the use of fossil fuels.

Farmer Edward Kinyanjui jokes that he does not have to take out an expensive gym membership to stay fit.

Kinyanjui has his own personal Stair Master-like machine, which is good for his hamstrings. But even better, his machine serves a vital function feeding the tomatoes, spinach¹, zucchini, and other crops on his two-hectare farm just outside Kenya's capital.

Kinyanjui says he thinks diesel²-operated pumps play havoc³ on farms like his.

"For one, the kind of carbon monoxide that it is going to release, it is going to pollute the air," said Kinyanjui. "Two, as you can see, some of the things that I have around here that you have seen around the farm, they will die because of [the diesel pump] polluting the air."

Kinyanjui's irrigation pump is commonly known as a "Money Maker," produced and marketed by the social enterprise group Kick Start.

"The pump is very - what we call - environmentally sensitive, or light. It is manually-powered, so you have got the ultimate renewable energy, which is human power. There is no electricity needed, no fuel needed, it is 100 percent manual," said Kick Start's chief operating officer Ed Chan-Lizardo.

For engineer Pascal Kaumbutho, diesel-powered irrigation pumps are bad news.

"You should see the oil that is dripping down into the river, and there are people using this river downstream. You should see the amount of diesel prices that are required to keep these farms running," said Kaumbutho, who is head of the Kenya Network for Dissemination⁴ of Agricultural Technologies.

Kaumbutho is training the first group of farmers in the Mwea area of Central Kenya on how to tap into the area's biggest resource: the sun.

"Everybody knows how much sunshine there is here, all year. Here, when we are installing our solar panels, we do not even tilt⁵ them, because the sun passes over them all day," he added.

Kaumbutho's group has a demonstration⁶ plot on which solar panels provide energy to pump water from the Nyamindi River into a drip irrigation system. Kaumbutho aims to sell solar panels and drip irrigation pipes to the more than 20 farmers he is training.

The two initiatives are examples of ways that farmers can cut down on fossil fuel emissions⁷ that contribute to global warming, which is a type of climate change.

Global warming, where the average temperature of the lower atmosphere increases, is caused by excess emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane⁸.

Both agricultural engineer Pascal Kaumbutho and farmer Edward Kinyanjui have personally experienced the effects of global warming, which include droughts and floods. They say they are doing what they can to protect the environment as they sow and reap their harvests.

1 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

2 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

3 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

4 dissemination   

传播,宣传,传染(病毒)

参考例句：

• The dissemination of error does people great harm. 谬种流传，误人不浅。
• He was fully bent upon the dissemination of Chinese culture all over the world. 他一心致力于向全世界传播中国文化。

5 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

8 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。