科技动态:将二氧化碳储存起来

Now from the Boston Museum of Science. Sci Tech today on NECN.

有线新闻波士顿消息。

In Sci Tech today, could the New England coastline hold the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions¹? Researchers are considering a plan to bury carbon dioxide emissions under water. Doctor Julie Sable² is joining us live, from the museum of Boston and talk about the idea. Julie, thanks for being here. Hey, Beth.

今天的Sci-tech Today我们将讨论的是，新英格兰海岸线会成为减少温室气体排放的关键吗？研究人员正试图把二氧化碳深埋进水下。来自波士顿博物馆的Julie Sable博士将向我们做详细介绍，Julie，欢迎你。谢谢主持人，Beth。

So there has been a lot of concerns that these emissions are behind climate change, what's the theory behind storing carbon dioxide under ground?

人们认为这些气体的排放是由气候变化造成的，把二氧化碳埋入地下的理论基础是什么？

We are facing a big problem with greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide alone, the world emits thirty billion tons per year. And even though, a lot of nations are trying to cut back on emissions, it looks like that overall number will increase more in coming years. So as one of several solutions to offset³ those emissions, experts are looking at carbon capture and storage when you collect carbon dioxide from emitters like power plants and then inject it under ground. But there are some challenges with that on the storage side which I am particular talking about here. You have to choose the right areas to put that carbon dioxide. You need a lot of volume to store on a really large scale. And also choose safe areas that minimize risk of leakage⁴.

温室气体排放问题十分严峻。全球每年光是二氧化碳就要排放30亿吨。虽然许多国家试图减少排放量，但未来几年的总排放量还是会增加。因此，作为抵消这些排放的解决办法之一，专家们正在寻找适合的容器和储藏地来收集发电厂等排放的二氧化碳，并把封存好的容器注入地下。但是对于储藏地点的选择还存在一些问题，这也是我正要详细说明的，你必须选择合适的地点储存二氧化碳。首先你需要大量的空间储存温室气体。其次，你需要选择安全的地区，减小气体泄露的危险。

Which brings us to the topic of Basalt, the idea is to store the CO2 in Basalt. What exactly is it? Why would it be a good home for storing CO2?

这让我们联想到了玄武岩，用玄武岩来盛放二氧化碳。这究竟是怎么回事？用玄武岩有什么好处？

Basalt is a really common rock, I have some of them here, makes most of the ancient crust. And some researchers from Colombia and Rutgers are recently pointed⁵ out that there are some areas of basalt offshore⁶ the east coast, including off Massachusetts going down into New Jersey⁷ where that could be a specially⁸ good reservoir for storing carbon dioxide. One advantage to basalt, is that there is lots of volume, lots of space where we can pump the carbon dioxide in. And that's because basalt is often bubbly, they have a lot of holes and there are some here, I have a photo to show, closer up. And also the tops of basalt level flows are often broken up and fractured and that rubbly⁹ top creates lot of interconnected space to inject carbon dioxide.

玄武岩是很常见的岩石，我手里拿着的就是，多由古地壳构成。来自哥伦比亚和罗格斯的研究人员最近指出一些近海地区拥有大量玄武岩，包括马萨诸塞州到新泽西的近海区域可能是很好的二氧化碳储存地。这里的一个优点是空间大，可以注入大量的二氧化碳。另一个优点是玄武岩上有许多孔，我有一张特写图片可以显示出这里有许多小洞。此外，表面上的玄武岩通常是破碎的断裂的由碎石堆积而成的，这造就了许多可以注入二氧化碳的相连的空间。

So why the east coast, why this area?

那么，为什么是东海岸呢？为什么是这篇区域？

Oh, if you don't mind I wanna to finish up with the very special thing about basalt that make the scientist especially excited. Yes, go ahead.

如果你不介意我想介绍完玄武岩，它有一项特质让科学家们兴奋不已。好的，请。

OK, that is that basalt naturally reacts with carbon dioxide and water to form another rock, limestone¹⁰. This is also a very common rock and the idea is that over time you will be able to lock the carbon dioxide into solid rock in these reservoirs.

玄武岩和二氧化碳，水会自然而然产生化学反应，形成一种新的岩石，石灰岩，也是一种常见的岩石。也就是说，随着时间的推移，你可以通过固体岩石来锁住二氧化碳。

And why the east coast?

那么为什么是东海岸呢？

So, a few advantages to the east coast. One is that these basalts are confined to some ancient basins. So that there they should have abundant outside and also capped up to a thousand feet of impermeable¹¹ sediments¹². So that reduces the risk of leakage. Another advantage is that it's pretty close to population centers where we make a lot of power but not too close for comfort. And also compared to the west coast, the east coast is much less volcanically¹³ and seismically¹⁴ active. So it's safer for that too.

选择东海岸有几个好处。其一是玄武岩只存在于部分古老的盆地地区。因此，东海岸外部有大量玄武岩覆盖不透水的沉积岩。另一个好处是这里距离人口稠密区较近，但又不是特别近，距离适中。另外，相对于西海岸，东海岸火山和地震因素相对稳定，更加安全。

All right, interesting stuff, Doctor Julie Sable, Thanks for so much for joining us. Thanks a lot.

好的，十分有趣，Julie Sable博士，谢谢你的介绍。谢谢。

And remember to join us on wednesday afternoon at 5:30 and Tuesday morning at 9:30 for the latest developments in Science and Technology and Sci-Tech today.

欢迎每周三下午5:30或周二早上9:30收看Sci-tech的最新科技动态。

1 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。

2 sable   

n.黑貂；adj.黑色的

参考例句：

• Artists' brushes are sometimes made of sable.画家的画笔有的是用貂毛制的。
• Down the sable flood they glided.他们在黑黝黝的洪水中随波逐流。

3 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

4 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

9 rubbly   

碎裂

参考例句：

10 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

11 impermeable   

adj.不能透过的，不渗透的

参考例句：

• The canoe is made from an impermeable wood.独木舟由防水木头制成。
• The external layer of the skin is relatively impermeable to water.皮肤的外层不透水。

12 sediments   

沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 )； 沉积物

参考例句：

• When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后，体积的70-80％是水。
• Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。

13 volcanically   

adv.火山似地，猛烈地

参考例句：

14 seismically   

地震

参考例句：

• The crust and mantle are separated by a seismically determined boundary known as the Moho-discontinuity. 改译为：地壳与地幔的交接处系根据地波走失而确定的一个界面，通称为莫霍界面。 来自互联网
• China's code is now on par with similar codes in seismically active areas of the world. 中国现在施行的标准与世界其他地震活跃地区施行的标准基本一致。 来自互联网