VOA双语新闻：8、不怕伤鸟：无扇叶涡轮风力发电机（在线收听）

不怕伤鸟：无扇叶涡轮风力发电机

Wind turbines are efficient sources of cheap energy but also a source of concern as their huge spinning blades frequently kill birds and bats. A new type of wind generator developed in Spain offers a creative solution to that problem.

风力涡轮是一种高效能的发电机，不过，有一个问题是，鸟类和蝙蝠经常死于刀刃般的涡轮扇叶。西班牙的一种新型涡轮风力发电机以创造性的方式提出了解决方案。

In 2002, Spanish inventor David Yanez saw a short film about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the U.S., collapsing in strong wind. It was a vivid example of the powerful vibrations wind can create when it blows past a long pole, such as a car antenna or even a stick of bamboo. It gave him the idea for a new type of wind-energy generator.

2002年，西班牙发明人戴维·亚涅斯（David Yanez）看了一部有关美国塔科马海峡吊桥在大风中倒塌的短片。这直观地体现了风吹过高竖的直杆、比如汽车天线甚至竹竿时所产生的强大振动力。这给他启发，让他想到发明新型的风能发电机。

“The initial philosophy or spirit was to create a generator of dreams that had all the qualities one would want: It should be as cheap as possible, need as little maintenance as possible, the setup as simple as possible," he said.

他说：“最初的理念或者说精神是，创造一种梦幻发电机，它具有人们所希望的所有性能，而且应该尽可能廉价，尽可能减少维修，安装也尽可能简单。”

Yanez and his friend Raoul Martin took the idea to an engineering firm, where they were told it would never work. Undiscouraged, they started experimenting on their own in a small wind tunnel they built.

亚涅斯和朋友劳尔·马丁（Raoul Martin）把这个想法带到一家工程公司。对方称这是异想天开。两人并不气馁，开始在自建的小风洞里进行试验。

Good initial results were repeated by a larger working model called Vortex installed in a nearby field.

初试结果不错。他们随后在附近田间竖立了更大的工作模型，称为“涡旋”（Vortex），进行重复试验。

“What we have is a mast, which is the top piece and acts as a blade," Yanez said. "It's constructed from the same material as a conventional generator, and what it does is it oscillates, transmitting the oscillation to a conventional alternator, which by its own oscillation converts the wind's energy into electric energy.”

亚涅斯说：“我们有个桅杆，这是顶部装置，起着扇叶的作用。建造材料跟常规发电机一样。它所做的是发生震荡，把这种震荡传输到一个常规的交流发电机，再通过交流发电机的震荡，把风能转换为电能。”

Yanez said the output of the 6-meter-tall generator, and even that of smaller models, was better than expected. The Vortex creates about 30 percent less energy than a comparable bladed wind turbine, but it is lighter and cheaper to build and maintain. It is made mostly of reinforced plastic and has very few moving parts. Also, it does not create noise and — even more important for many environmentalists — it does not present a threat to passing birds.

亚涅斯说，这部风力发电机的产出高过了预期。“涡旋”发电机跟同类有扇叶风力涡轮机相比，产生的能源要少大约30%，不过，它的重量相对较轻，制造和维修价格也更为低廉。它主要是由强化塑料制成，可移动部件很少。另外，它还不会产生噪音，而且对环保人士来说，更重要的是，它对飞鸟不构成威胁。

The current prototype works at wind speeds ranging from 1.5 to 7 meters per second.

驱动目前原型机运转所需风速在每秒1.5到7米之间。

The inventors say the next step is building a 12.5-meter tall bladeless generator with a 4-kilowatt capacity that could power small businesses or individual homes, or provide supplemental power to a main grid.

这两位发明人说，下一步是建立一个12.5米高的无扇叶发电机，装机容量为4千瓦，可以为小公司、个人住宅提供电能，或者为主电网提供补充电力。

The commercial version of the Vortex Bladeless generator should be ready for the market by 2017.

 “涡旋无扇叶”（Vortex Bladeless）发电机的商业版应该能在2017年之前做好进入市场的准备。