2006年VOA标准英语-Hydropower has a Dam-less Future

By Zulima Palacio
Washington, DC
05 May 2006
 
watch Hydro Power report
 
  
  
For a long time, hydropower was considered the original renewable energy resource.  In many countries, hydropower represents a high percentage of energy production and an alternative to dirty coal or dangerous nuclear energy.  But dams around the world also cause problems.  Melinda Smith narrates¹.

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Safe Harbor Water Power Dam is one of the largest non-government hydro plants in the United States.  It was built in 1931, as the third main plant on the lower Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.  

 
Dick Johnson
  
Dick Johnson is the engineering Manager at Safe Harbor.  "This unit is actually operating right now, the unit is running at full speed, this is a Kaplan turbine, but this is the shaft² that we are looking at, the turbine is down below, and there is a cover there to protect the water from coming up here."

Hydropower has been used for centuries, harnessing the power of water flowing downward. That has often meant building dams.

But dams carry a number of drawbacks, including their impact on the environment, high construction cost, and displacement³ of people when artificial lakes are created. 

 
David Hales
  
David Hales, a counsel for sustainability at Worldwatch Institute in Washington, also adds that dams often use the most arable⁴ land. "Usually you are going to displace people.  In the past 50 years some 40 to 80 million people have been displaced by the building of high dams.  Those people become environmental refugees."  

Marshall Kaiser, the president and Chief Executive Officer at Safe Harbor, says dams also have a significant impact on fish populations.

 
Marshall Kaiser 
  
"The most notable is blockage⁵ of fish passage both upstream and downstream.  Here at Safe harbor we have a fish lift for moving fish upstream, primarily in the springtime and then we also have means of getting them safely downstream."

In the U.S., where hydropower represents  eight percent of the electricity for the country, there are no plans to build any large new dams in the future. However, there are plans to use more of the existing dams to generate electric power. 

 
Linda Church Ciocci
  
Linda Church Ciocci is the Executive Director for the National Hydropower Association. "Hydropower is only on two percent of all the dams of the U.S.  That means there is 98 percent of the dams that are currently in the U.S. that have no power generation on them whatsoever⁶.  So there is a tremendous growth opportunity there in the existing facilities."

When Safe Harbor Dam was built it was dedicated⁷ only to the generation of electricity.  The other two dams nearby, like nearly 98,000 other dams in the country, were built only for irrigation, water supply and flood control.

Church Ciocci says, "Even if you look at Hoover, as popular as the Hoover dam is, that dam was first built for water purposes beyond energy.  They added energy to help pay for it."

There is another, more unconventional way of generating electricity through waterpower. 

 
Trey Taylor
  
Trey Taylor is the co-founder and president of Verdant⁸ Power, a new project of underwater turbines that look like wind power turbines but work with underwater currents. "It has been tested extensively in Pakistan, Chesapeake Bay and in New York's East River.  As a result of those test which exceeded our expectations, we are putting the world's first field of underwater turbines in New York City."

Taylor says the potential for the new technology in rivers and oceans around the world is extensive.  Just in the U.S. the interest is increasing rapidly.

 
Underwater turbines
  
  
Taylor says one of the advantages is that it doesn't damage marine⁹ life. "There is lots of room to swim around, they can go through, not a problem.  It would be like us walking through a revolving¹⁰ door."

Taylor says his major focus is in the developing world.  His company is now looking at remote villages that run on polluting and expensive diesel¹¹ generators¹². "Right now we have a team in Brazil, examining the Amazon basin.  The Brazilian government is very interested in this types of technologies for the rural electrification¹³ of Brazil."

However, experts agree that while the underwater turbines are good, they could never replace the power capability¹⁴ of a dam or its durability¹⁵.  Marshall Kaiser, with Safe Harbor Dam, says, "At the end of our license¹⁶ we will be 100 years old and we have every expectation to be re-licensed another 30 years, and another 30, and 30 more."

Well over half of the planet is water and the use of tides and currents for the production of electricity could be endlessly renewable. The use of dams will remain more controversial.

1 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

2 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

3 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

4 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

5 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。

6 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 verdant   

adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的

参考例句：

• Children are playing on the verdant lawn.孩子们在绿茵茵的草坪上嬉戏玩耍。
• The verdant mountain forest turns red gradually in the autumn wind.苍翠的山林在秋风中渐渐变红了。

9 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• 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。

10 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

11 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

12 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 electrification   

n.充电，电气化；起电；电化；带电

参考例句：

• Electrification of the countryside--yes, that, too, is impressive. 是的。农村电气化也是了不起的事。 来自演讲部分
• After electrification, it will readily stick to a wall or a ceiling. 起电后，它立即吸附到墙壁上或天花板上。 来自辞典例句

14 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

15 durability   

n.经久性，耐用性

参考例句：

• Nylons have the virtue of durability.尼龙丝袜有耐穿的优点。

16 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。