2023考研英語閱讀風能發電遇到困難
Tilting at windmills
風能發電遇到困難
THE melting snows of spring and early summer arejustly celebrated by Aaron Copland and WaltWhitman. But they are causing a lot of trouble in thePacific north-west, as a federal power agency pushes private wind turbines off the grid in whatcritics call a case of favouritism towards electricity generated by federal dams.
春季夏初,冬雪融化,這正是阿隆.柯普蘭的音樂和威廉.惠特曼的詩歌中所贊美的時節。但現在融化的冬雪卻給太平洋西北岸地區帶來了麻煩。因為一家聯邦電力機構把私有企業風機發電所產生的熱能并出電網，而此舉被批評人士看成對聯邦水電站的一次政策性偏移。
The regions wind power companies are enraged and are petitioning the regulators.Encouraged by politicians and their subsidies, they have invested hundreds of millions of dollarsover the past six years on a 14-fold increase in generating capacity.But this year, as anunusually large snowmelt surges into the rivers of Oregon and Washington, the wind lobby ishowling about government perfidy. You cant trust the guy who is running the grid, saysRobert Kahn, executive director of the Northwest Intermountain Power ProducersCoalition.
這一下激怒了當地的風力發電公司，他們正在向政策制定者請愿。這些公司在政客鼓動和政府津貼的誘惑下，在過去的6年間投入了數以百萬美元，電力產能因此翻了14倍。但在今年，隨著罕見的冬雪大量融化，涌入俄勒崗州和華盛頓州的河水流域中，風能發電的游說者對政府的出爾反爾大訴苦水。西北及內陸電力聯盟的執行經理，羅伯特.卡恩就抱怨道：你沒法相信管理供電網絡的人。
The guy in question is the Bonneville Power Administration , a venerable federalbureaucracy that markets power from 31 federal dams in the Columbia river basin. Thanks tomonstrous chunks of concrete like Grand Coulee Dam, completed 70 years ago and still thelargest hydroelectric facility in North America, the north-west gets more of its power fromhydro than any other region of the United States.
卡恩所指的是邦納維爾電力局，它是一所受人尊敬的聯邦機構，管理著哥倫比亞河域盆地31座聯邦水壩所發出電力的市場銷售。70年前建造的大古力水壩，憑借其龐大堅固的建筑結構，至今仍為北美洲最大的水力發電站。而美國西北部水力發電供電量要比美國其它地區都多。
BPA managers say near-flood conditions in theColumbia riverand strict laws protecting the riversendangered salmongive the agency no choice butto disconnect the windmills as it grapples with alarge power surplus. Not making electricity is not anoption on the river, the BPA argues, because only alimited amount of water can be kept out of turbinesand spilled over federal dams. Too much spilldissolves too much nitrogen in the river, which cankill migrating salmon. There is a particular irony inthe agencys concern about fish, since thedevelopment of the hydroelectric system is largely responsible for destroying the Columbia asone of the worlds great salmon highways.
BPA的管理者認為，基于哥倫比亞河幾近泛濫的現狀,再加上旨在保護其流域中瀕臨滅絕的鮭魚的嚴格法案，使他們在面對電能過剩,需要消減時，只能將風力發電產生的電量并出電網，除此之外，別無它法。BPA隨后解釋道，并不是說非要進行水力發電不可。因為只有額定的水量能流經渦輪機組，注入水壩中。太多的溢水量使水中氮含量過高，導致游入哥倫比亞河的鮭魚致死。BPA對于鮭魚的擔憂在人們看來，純粹是個笑話。作為世界上最大的鮭魚水域之一的哥倫比亞河，生態環境早已被破壞，而水力發電機組的發展要對此負很大的責任。
Be that as it may, in the early morning hours of May 18th, BPA did something it has never donebefore. It took all the regions wind turbines offline for about five hours and it expects tocontinue to pull the plug on them for a few hours almost every night until well into July, whenenough snow in the Cascades and northern Rockies will have melted for the excess run-off to subside. Until then the BPA will be giving electricity away,and paying the transmission costs of utilities willing to take it.
也許就是出于這樣的考慮，在5月18日的早間，BPA采取了前所未有的行動。即：將哥倫比亞河地區所有的風力渦輪機發出的電能并出電網5小時，預期之后幾乎每晚都將并出電能幾小時，這一行為要持續到7月。直到卡斯克德和北落基山的融雪流過并減弱后。到那時BPA會把風力發電產生的電能免費并入其它電網，并負擔公用轉輸所要支付的費用。
The clean-energy glut was predictable, given the tendency of snow to melt in the spring andgiven whopping increases in the regions wind-generating capacity. Since 2005 wind capacityhas surged from 250 megawatts to 3,500 megawatts, and is expected to double again by2023. More effort by BPA to link this new capacity to grids in California and British Columbiacould have avoided the need to idle those wind turbines, or so a number of power expertsreckon.
源于春季冬雪大量融化的趨勢和此地區風力發電量的大幅度增長，人們已經預計出清潔能源產出會過剩。從2005年起，風能發電量從250兆瓦激增到3500兆瓦，到2023年人們預計這一數字會在3500 兆瓦的基礎上再翻一倍。如果BPA花力氣將風能發出的電力并入加州和不列顛哥倫比亞省的話，將有機會避免風能的浪費。一些專家也認可這種觀點。
The crime is that we have been nearsighted, says Angus Duncan, chairman of Oregons GlobalWarming Commission. We are not thinking as far ahead today as we did in the 1930s and1940s, when we started building dams.
俄勒崗州的全球氣候委員會的主席，阿各斯.鄧肯談到：出現這一憾事的原因是我們缺乏遠見。在上世紀三四十年代，我們建造水壩的時候，并沒有考慮到七十年后會發展成什么樣子。
Tilting at windmills
風能發電遇到困難
THE melting snows of spring and early summer arejustly celebrated by Aaron Copland and WaltWhitman. But they are causing a lot of trouble in thePacific north-west, as a federal power agency pushes private wind turbines off the grid in whatcritics call a case of favouritism towards electricity generated by federal dams.
春季夏初,冬雪融化,這正是阿隆.柯普蘭的音樂和威廉.惠特曼的詩歌中所贊美的時節。但現在融化的冬雪卻給太平洋西北岸地區帶來了麻煩。因為一家聯邦電力機構把私有企業風機發電所產生的熱能并出電網，而此舉被批評人士看成對聯邦水電站的一次政策性偏移。
The regions wind power companies are enraged and are petitioning the regulators.Encouraged by politicians and their subsidies, they have invested hundreds of millions of dollarsover the past six years on a 14-fold increase in generating capacity.But this year, as anunusually large snowmelt surges into the rivers of Oregon and Washington, the wind lobby ishowling about government perfidy. You cant trust the guy who is running the grid, saysRobert Kahn, executive director of the Northwest Intermountain Power ProducersCoalition.
這一下激怒了當地的風力發電公司，他們正在向政策制定者請愿。這些公司在政客鼓動和政府津貼的誘惑下，在過去的6年間投入了數以百萬美元，電力產能因此翻了14倍。但在今年，隨著罕見的冬雪大量融化，涌入俄勒崗州和華盛頓州的河水流域中，風能發電的游說者對政府的出爾反爾大訴苦水。西北及內陸電力聯盟的執行經理，羅伯特.卡恩就抱怨道：你沒法相信管理供電網絡的人。
The guy in question is the Bonneville Power Administration , a venerable federalbureaucracy that markets power from 31 federal dams in the Columbia river basin. Thanks tomonstrous chunks of concrete like Grand Coulee Dam, completed 70 years ago and still thelargest hydroelectric facility in North America, the north-west gets more of its power fromhydro than any other region of the United States.
卡恩所指的是邦納維爾電力局，它是一所受人尊敬的聯邦機構，管理著哥倫比亞河域盆地31座聯邦水壩所發出電力的市場銷售。70年前建造的大古力水壩，憑借其龐大堅固的建筑結構，至今仍為北美洲最大的水力發電站。而美國西北部水力發電供電量要比美國其它地區都多。
BPA managers say near-flood conditions in theColumbia riverand strict laws protecting the riversendangered salmongive the agency no choice butto disconnect the windmills as it grapples with alarge power surplus. Not making electricity is not anoption on the river, the BPA argues, because only alimited amount of water can be kept out of turbinesand spilled over federal dams. Too much spilldissolves too much nitrogen in the river, which cankill migrating salmon. There is a particular irony inthe agencys concern about fish, since thedevelopment of the hydroelectric system is largely responsible for destroying the Columbia asone of the worlds great salmon highways.
BPA的管理者認為，基于哥倫比亞河幾近泛濫的現狀,再加上旨在保護其流域中瀕臨滅絕的鮭魚的嚴格法案，使他們在面對電能過剩,需要消減時，只能將風力發電產生的電量并出電網，除此之外，別無它法。BPA隨后解釋道，并不是說非要進行水力發電不可。因為只有額定的水量能流經渦輪機組，注入水壩中。太多的溢水量使水中氮含量過高，導致游入哥倫比亞河的鮭魚致死。BPA對于鮭魚的擔憂在人們看來，純粹是個笑話。作為世界上最大的鮭魚水域之一的哥倫比亞河，生態環境早已被破壞，而水力發電機組的發展要對此負很大的責任。
Be that as it may, in the early morning hours of May 18th, BPA did something it has never donebefore. It took all the regions wind turbines offline for about five hours and it expects tocontinue to pull the plug on them for a few hours almost every night until well into July, whenenough snow in the Cascades and northern Rockies will have melted for the excess run-off to subside. Until then the BPA will be giving electricity away,and paying the transmission costs of utilities willing to take it.
也許就是出于這樣的考慮，在5月18日的早間，BPA采取了前所未有的行動。即：將哥倫比亞河地區所有的風力渦輪機發出的電能并出電網5小時，預期之后幾乎每晚都將并出電能幾小時，這一行為要持續到7月。直到卡斯克德和北落基山的融雪流過并減弱后。到那時BPA會把風力發電產生的電能免費并入其它電網，并負擔公用轉輸所要支付的費用。
The clean-energy glut was predictable, given the tendency of snow to melt in the spring andgiven whopping increases in the regions wind-generating capacity. Since 2005 wind capacityhas surged from 250 megawatts to 3,500 megawatts, and is expected to double again by2023. More effort by BPA to link this new capacity to grids in California and British Columbiacould have avoided the need to idle those wind turbines, or so a number of power expertsreckon.
源于春季冬雪大量融化的趨勢和此地區風力發電量的大幅度增長，人們已經預計出清潔能源產出會過剩。從2005年起，風能發電量從250兆瓦激增到3500兆瓦，到2023年人們預計這一數字會在3500 兆瓦的基礎上再翻一倍。如果BPA花力氣將風能發出的電力并入加州和不列顛哥倫比亞省的話，將有機會避免風能的浪費。一些專家也認可這種觀點。
The crime is that we have been nearsighted, says Angus Duncan, chairman of Oregons GlobalWarming Commission. We are not thinking as far ahead today as we did in the 1930s and1940s, when we started building dams.
俄勒崗州的全球氣候委員會的主席，阿各斯.鄧肯談到：出現這一憾事的原因是我們缺乏遠見。在上世紀三四十年代，我們建造水壩的時候，并沒有考慮到七十年后會發展成什么樣子。
