能源对话材料

A: 史密斯教授。

你能给我讲讲什么是清洁能源吗?
B: Well, clean energies are forms of energy which do not pollute the air , the ground or the sea. A: 那清洁能源都包括哪些种类呢？
B: Clean energies include solar power, wind power, tidal power, geothermal power, etc. All these are renewable sources of energy which will not run out over hundreds of or even a thousand years.
A: 核能是不是清洁能源呢？
B: Well，I would say nuclear power is now viewed as one of the clean power sources around today.
A: 那您现在能不能简单地介绍一下几种清洁能源？先从太阳能说起吧，可以吧？
B: Solar power is the generation of electricity from sunlight. It has been present in many traditional building methods for centuries, but has become of increasing interest as the environment costs and limited supply of other power sources such as fossil fuels are realized.
It is already in widespread use where other supplies of power are absent such as in remote locations and in space.
A: 我在中国西部旅游的时候，看到很多地方都在利用太阳能。

有一次到西藏, 您知道哪里是离太阳最近的地方，日照特别充足，我看到几乎家家户户都在使用太阳灶和太阳能热水器。

那太阳的能量到底有多少能达到了地球呢？solar cooker solar water heater B: As the earth orbits the sun, it receives approximately 1400 w/m2 of energy. This number is referred to as the solar constant. Of the energy received, roughly 19% is absorbed by the atmosphere, while clouds on average reflect a further 35% of the total energy. The generally accepted standard is 1020 watts per square meter at sea level. After passing through the earth’s atmosphere, most of the sun’s energy is in the form of visible and ultraviolet light. A: 太阳能真的是万物之源啊。

自然过程所能利用的太阳能只占地球表面接受到的太阳能的很小很小一部分，大量的太阳能如果不通过人工的转换加以利用就被浪费了。

那您现在讲讲另一种能源吧，比如说风能。

Proportion/portion
B: Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into useful form energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity. Wind power can be an excellent complement to a solar power system.
A: 的确，风是由太阳辐射引起的。

太阳照射到地球表面，地球表面各处受热不同，产生温差，从而引起大气的对流运动引起风，所以风能是太阳能的一种转化形式。

那风能发展比较快的国家有哪些呢？Atmospheric convection solar radiation
B: Several countries have achieved relatively high levels of wind power us with large governmental subsidies, such as Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Spain. China’s development of wind power in recent years has also been remarkable.
A: 史密斯教授，我听说您来自美国科罗拉多，那里利用风能吗？
B: Well, in Colorado, when the sun isn’t shining, the wind is usually blowing. Wind power is especially helpful in the winter to capture both the ferocious and gentle mountain winds during the times of the least sunlight and highest power use.
A: 啊，是这样。

我还想问一个有关生物燃料的问题。

我知道它是新能源的一种，但是它算不算清洁能源呢？
B: Some people would say bio-fuels are not clean energy because they release nitrogen oxide and particulates into the environment.
A: 我听说第一代生物燃料主要是用玉米等农作物生产的生物汽油和柴油，用来弥补石油的不足，但是他的利用效率很低，而且容易引起粮食危机。

B：Yes, there has been controversy surrounding first-generation bio-fuels due to the agriculture, economic and social implications associated with the potential expansion of bio-fuel production.
A: 但是如果说生物燃料在世界范围内的前途不甚光明，可能也并非如此，因为他并没有在第一代止步，第二代，第三代，第四代正在上前接班。

最后，你能给我讲讲核能吗？B: Nuclear power is produced by controlled or non-explosive nuclear reactions. Commercial and utility plants currently use nuclear fission to generate electricity. In 2009, 13-14% of the world’s electricity came from nuclear power.
A: 核电站只需消耗很少的核燃料，就可以产生大量的核能，而且核能比其他常规能源要清洁得多，但这种清洁也不是绝对的吧？
B: There is debate on nuclear power. Opponents believe that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the environment. These threats include the problems of processing, transport and storage of radioactive nuclear waste, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation and terrorism, as well as health risks and environmental damage from uranium mining. They also contend that reactors themselves are enormously complex machines where many things can and do go wrong, and there have been serious nuclear accidents. Critics do not believe that the risk of using nuclear fission as power source can be offset through the development of new technology.
A: 我认为现在的人民不会谈核色变，但人们显然认为核是一个很复杂的问题。

正如您所说，让公众关注最多的仍然是核废料的处理问题。

人们会考虑,我们是不是应该利用这种不太清洁的能源，因为这种能源产生的废料要用上万年去解决，这是不是道德？也有人认为，由于能源的短缺，利用这种新型能源是值得的。