VOA常速英语2015--拉脱维亚垃圾场为番茄农场供能

Latvia Garbage Dump Helps Grow a Tomato Farm 拉脱维亚垃圾场为番茄农场供能

Latvia is not among countries whose latitude makes it suitable for growing moderate-climate vegetables, such as tomatoes. But, through clever use of a garbage dump as a source of energy, a large greenhouse near the capital Riga is now growing more than 450 tons of tomatoes annually.

Latvian consumers who enjoy these yellow tomatoes may not even know that they are locally grown, let alone that they grew with the help of their own garbage.

喜爱这些黄色西红柿的拉脱维亚消费者们可能甚至都不知道这些作物是在当地种植,更不用说是这个国家自己的垃圾帮助它们成长。

The huge Getlini garbage dump outside the Latvian capital Riga, receives about half of the country's waste. It was such an ecological hazard that its conversion was one of the requirements for Latvia’s accession to the European Union.

拉脱维亚首都里加外的杰特里尼巨大的垃圾处理厂接收这个国家大约一半的废品。正是这样一个生态风险的转变使得拉脱维亚成为加入欧盟的其中一个要求。

Ten years ago, with financial help from Sweden and the World Bank, Latvia turned the dump into a power plant for collecting methane gas from the decomposing garbage and turning it into electricity.

10年前,凭借瑞典及世界银行的金融援助,拉脱维亚将垃圾场转变成了发电厂收集分解垃圾中的甲烷气体,并将其转化成电能。

The process also helps the tomatoes in the greenhouse, says agronomist Guntars Strauts.

农学家格塔尔斯·斯特劳斯表示这一过程也对温室中的番茄有所助益。

“An energy generator collects the gas emitted from the landfill and cleans it and produces electricity in the internal combustion engines. The engines warm up, just like in a car. Therefore, the energy generator needs a big radiator to cool down. The greenhouse is the radiator of this big car. So the only connection between the greenhouse and the landfill is the heat coming from it," said Strauts.

“一台能量发生器收集垃圾堆中的气体后进行清洁,然后在内燃机中产生电力。加热发动机,就像一辆汽车中的引擎一样。因此,能量发生器需要一个大的散热器进行冷却。温室是这辆大型汽车的散热器。所以温室和垃圾填埋场之间的唯一联系是热量。”

Because of Latvia’s climate, the greenhouse must be heated even in the summer. The warmed air helps extract excess moisture to keep fungal diseases from the plants.

由于拉脱维亚的气候条件,温室甚至在夏天也必须加热。经过加热的空气能够提取多余的水分防止植物中的真菌疾病。

While non-recyclable waste is turned into energy, the Getlini plant also collects and processes recyclable waste.

虽然不可回收的废物转化为能源，但加杰特里尼工厂仍然收集并处理可回收废物。

In October, a new factory will open nearby with a 10-year goal to recycle up to 90 percent of the 300,000 tons of garbage and waste that the Getlini dump receives annually.

去年10月, 附近的一家新工厂将会开放，它的10年目标是回收加杰特里尼工厂每年接收300000吨垃圾和废物中的90%。