VOA常速英语2008年-US Researchers Hope to Tap Ocean Flows for Elec
时间:2019-02-05 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2008年(三月)
Key West, Florida
06 March 2008
Researchers in the United States are set to begin testing underwater turbine systems that can produce electricity from ocean water flows. The projects in Florida are the latest efforts to find alternative forms of energy to reduce the nation's dependence 1 on oil and other fossil fuels. VOA's Brian Wagner has more in this Searching for Solutions report.
The same energy that drives ocean waves and currents may be a rich source of electrical power. Researchers in Florida say even gentle flows of two or three knots are enough to drive a propeller 2 attached to an underwater turbine. Advocates say ocean power could be cheap and help replace oil or coal-based systems that are blamed for global warming.
Douglas Bedgood is president of Keys Hydro Power and says he wants to build a turbine farm in the Florida Keys, "We could upscale this to 10 feet [three meters] across and it would be perfect."
The goal is to harness the energy produced by the rise and fall of waters during the tidal cycle. His group is working on a test turbine that it plans to submerge in a site about nine meters under water between two islands.
"By the end of 2008 or early 2009, we will have several [turbines] just to see how we can manage them as a group. Then another year after, it will be several hundred," Bedgood said.
The first step, however, is to show authorities that the groundbreaking project will not damage wildlife or coastal 3 resources in the popular tourist area. Bedgood says marine 4 life should be unharmed. "For manatees 5 and turtles, our turbines will be mounted up off the [ocean] floor, so they can maneuver 6 through them. And the leading edges of any moving part will have foam 7 rubber cushions on them," he explains.
Alternative energy projects like this one aim to reduce existing strains on the earth's resources, but they do raise concern about causing new problems. Kenny Broad is a professor at the Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric 8 Science near Miami. He says new initiatives should proceed with caution.
"Take small steps at first, try to favor things that are reversible, as opposed to just going for it," recommends Broad. "We are all attracted to clean technologies, and we need to develop and promote clean technologies, but in a responsible way."
Similar projects are planned in Europe and other U.S. cities. Just 300 kilometers from Key West, researchers at Florida Atlantic University want to tap the powerful Gulf 9 Stream current that brings warm water north into the Atlantic Ocean.
"So it is a significant velocity 10 with the equivalent energy of some of the world's richest energy sites," says Rick Driscoll, who is head of the university's Center for Ocean Energy Technology. He says one of the biggest challenges is developing equipment that can withstand the intense forces of the current. "It is a lot more challenging to put something in the ocean, and certainly any energy system to go in there has to work and be competitive with existing land-based technologies," notes Driscoll.
He says more investment is needed for new technologies. "There is a lot of significant potential, but there is a limited supply of money out there right now," he adds.
Driscoll says federal and state funding could help U.S. researchers perfect the new technologies and bring the benefits to other countries around the world.
- Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
- He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。
- The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
- A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。
- The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
- This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
- Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
- When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时,他自愿参加了海军陆战队。
- The manatees tamed quickly. 海牛很快地被驯服。 来自互联网
- Gentle and slow moving, manatees are said to be the mythical mermaids of sailors' imaginations. 海牛游动温和而缓慢,被认为是海员遐想中富有神秘色彩的美人鱼。 来自互联网
- All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后,所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
- I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。
- The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
- The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。
- Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
- Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。
- The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
- There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。