TED演讲:从大气中移除二氧化碳的新方法(1)

 Four hundred parts per million: that's the approximate concentration of CO2 in the air today. What does this even mean? 百万分之四百：这就是现在空气里二氧化碳大概的浓度。这意味着什么呢？

For every 400 molecules¹ of carbon dioxide, we have another million molecules of oxygen and nitrogen. 意味着每四百个二氧化碳分子，都混了另外一百万个氧和氮分子。

In this room today, there are about 1,800 of us. 今天这个房间里大概有1800人。

Imagine just one of us was wearing a green shirt, and you're asked to find that single person. 想象一下我们当中只有一个人穿着绿色衬衫，而你被要求找到那个人。

That's the challenge we're facing when capturing CO2 directly out of the air. 这就是我们从空气中直接捕获二氧化碳需要面临的挑战。

Sounds pretty easy, pulling CO2 out of the air. It's actually really difficult. 把二氧化碳从空气中提取出来，听起来很简单，但这实际上是个很复杂的过程。

But I'll tell you what is easy: avoiding CO2 emissions² to begin with. 但我要告诉你什么是简单的：在源头减少二氧化碳排放。

But we're not doing that. So now what we have to think about is going back; pulling CO2 back out of the air. 但是我们并没有真正这样做。所以我们现在得考虑如何逆转现状；将二氧化碳从空气中移除。

Even though it's difficult, it's actually possible to do this. 虽然这个过程很困难，但是依然有可能实现。

And I'm going to share with you today where this technology is at and where it just may be heading in the near future. 我今天将与你们分享用来移除二氧化碳的科技，以及在不久的将来，它会朝哪个方向发展。

Now, the earth naturally removes CO2 from the air by seawater, soils, plants and even rocks. 地球能够自然地通过海水，泥土，草木甚至是石头将二氧化碳从空气中移除。

And although engineers and scientists are doing the invaluable³ work to accelerate these natural processes, 尽管工程师和科学家们为了加快这个自然的过程做了许多宝贵的工作，

it simply won't be enough. The good news is, we have more. 但还远远不够。好消息是，我们还有别的技术。

Thanks to human ingenuity⁴, we have the technology today to remove CO2 out of the air using a chemically manufactured approach. 感谢人类的聪明才智，我们今天才能拥有通过化学制造将二氧化碳从空气中移除的科技。

I like to think of this as a synthetic⁵ forest. 我把它称为人工森林。

There are two basic approaches to growing or building such a forest. 总的来说，有两种方法可以实现人工森林。

One is using CO2-grabbing chemicals dissolved in water. 一种是使用溶于水的二氧化碳捕集材料。

Another is using solid materials with CO2-grabbing chemicals. 另一种是使用固态的二氧化碳捕集材料。

No matter which approach you choose, they basically look the same. 无论你选择哪种方法，它们看起来都差不多。

 

1 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 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。

3 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

4 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

5 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。