美国国家公共电台 NPR--Could steam heat, long used by cities and colleges, be a solution to climate change?

Could steam heat, long used by cities and colleges, be a solution to climate change?

Transcript¹

Beneath the streets of hundreds of North America's oldest cities lies a network of pipes delivering steam heat to office buildings and hospitals. These steam loops could be a clean energy solution.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Across North America, hundreds of downtowns, colleges and hospitals are heated by steam carried through underground pipes. Susan Phillips of member station WHYY in Philadelphia reports these steam lube² systems could be a climate change solution.

SUSAN PHILLIPS, BYLINE³: The steam that travels through 41 miles of pipe below Philadelphia's streets is generated at a red brick building built in 1915. Officially known as district energy systems, most of us notice this underground network only when residual⁴ steam escapes from the sidewalk grates.

MIKE ANCONA: It's like a ring of steam where you have a bunch of people who are connected to that ring or are taking their steam and they're using it.

PHILLIPS: Mike Ancona is the operations manager with Vicinity Energy, which owns and operates Philadelphia's steam loop system. The plant illustrates⁵ the evolution of electric generation. High-arched ceilings are lined with tiles, and detailed⁶ brickwork points to an era when electricity had begun to replace guest lighting⁷ in earnest.

ANCONA: When this place was built, like, a hundred years ago - right? - these boilers⁸ ran on coal. There would have been a 60,000-ton coal pile sitting here.

PHILLIPS: The days of coal-generated steam are long gone. During World War II, the plant switched to oil. Today, modern natural gas boilers generate electricity sold to the grid⁹. The waste heat makes the steam. Ancona says this highly efficient and flexible system could easily ditch natural gas and replace it with renewable energy or lower carbon fuel to generate that steam. In fact, Vicinity Energy has begun to do that with the steam loop system it owns in Boston, says CEO Bill DiCroce.

BILL DICROCE: And the building owners don't have to do a thing; so no major retrofits, no big capital expense on their part, no disruption. We become the easy way to decarbonize huge swaths of building space in urban cores.

PHILLIPS: And it's not just cities that can benefit. Dozens of colleges have district energy systems in place where the fuel source is getting switched in order to lower a university's carbon footprint. But in Philadelphia, two federal agencies plan to switch from Vicinity Energy's district steam system to natural gas boilers; this despite President Biden's commitment to tackling climate change and his executive order mandating¹⁰ federal agencies work to limit emissions¹¹. These include Amtrak's big train station and buildings operated by the National Park Service, like the historic Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center. This angers environmental groups that support the steam loop system because of how easy it would be to use it to cut the city's overall carbon emissions. Joseph Ingrao is an attorney who worked with the Clean Air Council.

JOSEPH INGRAO: The federal government has pledged over $14 million to installing these natural gas boilers that can only burn natural gas for heat.

PHILLIPS: An Amtrak spokesperson says the new gas boilers will be cheaper and more reliable. The National Park Service says switching to natural gas will cut its carbon emissions. But that could not be independently verified. Vicinity's DiCroce says the environment should be taken into consideration.

DICROCE: Those who decide to lean towards the cheapest alternative will make different decisions with those who are trying to look forward to a less carbon-intensive future. And they'll be willing to pay a little bit more for the advantage of being better for the planet.

PHILLIPS: Supporters of district energy systems say it's not just a lower carbon climate solution. They also are more resilient in the face of extreme weather. After Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012, district energy systems remained online.

For NPR News, I'm Susan Phillips in Philadelphia.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lube   

n.润滑油

参考例句：

• Will you supply main engine lube oil in bulk or in barrel?你供的主机滑油是散装,还是桶装？
• Blending is the very important unit of lube oil manufacture.调和是润滑油生产工艺过程中必不可少的环节。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

5 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

6 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

7 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

8 boilers   

锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even then the boilers often burst or came apart at the seams. 甚至那时的锅炉也经常从焊接处爆炸或裂开。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The clean coal is sent to a crusher and the boilers. 干净的煤送入破碎机和锅炉。

9 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

10 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

11 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。