VOA慢速英语2014 烟叶能制成喷气材料

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-18 Tobacco Plant to Make Jet Fuel 烟叶能制成喷气材料

An airplane maker¹, an airline and a biofuel company are working together to make fuel from tobacco plant seed oil.

The companies are Boeing, South African Airways² and SkyNRG. They are using a new tobacco plant known as “Solaris.” The Dutch biofuel company SkyNRG developed the plant. It contains less of the drug nicotine³ than traditional tobacco.

Julie Felgar works on environmental issues for Boeing. She said the plant also has many more seeds than traditional tobacco plants do.  She said only the oil from the seeds will be used to make biofuel now. But researchers are trying to develop ways to use the entire plant to make fuel.

Ian Cruickshank is an environmental issues specialist for South African Airways Group. He said the special tobacco permits growth of a marketable biofuel crop without supporting smoking.

The companies expect the tobacco seed biofuel to be produced in the next few years. Boeing said test-farming of the plants is happening in South Africa now. The company said both small and large farms are involved.

There are two major reasons companies are developing biofuels. The first is the growing price of aviation⁴ fuel over the past ten years. Boeing’s Julie Felgar said the high prices make it difficult for airlines to operate. She said fuel represents 35 to 40 percent of airline operating costs.

Second, airlines want to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they release into the air. The gas is linked to rises in atmospheric⁵ temperature. The International Air Transport Association is a trade group that represents 240 airlines. It said the airline industry is responsible for two percent of global, man-made carbon releases.

Boeing said biofuels could reduce carbon releases from planes by 50 to 80 percent. The company said by 2016 it wants biofuel to meet the demand for one percent of worldwide airplane fuel. That is more than 2.2 billion liters.

So, tobacco will not meet much of the fuel demand. But experts believe it will help to increase the use of biofuels in the industry. Today, biofuels are used on a very small number of flights.

Different areas of the world may provide different ways to make biofuels. For example, in the United Arab Emirates, Boeing is exploring the possibility of producing biofuels from a desert plant called halophyte. Boeing said Brazil has produced biofuels made of sugar cane⁶. Chicken fat is another source for biofuels.

Ms. Felgar said it is difficult to predict when most of the world’s airlines will begin to use biofuels. But she said developments over the past 7 to 8 years suggest that time is near. Boeing said airlines have flown more than 1,500 flights using biofuel since its use was approved in 2011.

There is criticism of biofuels. Some people argue water and land used to grow plants for fuel should grow food crops instead. Critics also fear widespread use of plants to make biofuels will cause an increase in food prices. Ms. Felgar said Boeing is working to ensure its biofuel comes from plants that are not used as food crops.

She said South Africa was a good place to begin the use of biofuels in large passenger planes. She says South African Airlines is very progressive in its support for the environment. And she said biofuel production there will help rural tobacco farmers who have been hurt by decreasing demand for their crop.

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

3 nicotine   

n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily.许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。

4 aviation   

n.航空，航空学，飞机制造业

参考例句：

• Ten years ago,they began to develop the aviation. 十年前，他们开始发展航空工业。
• Pilots of large aircraft are masters of aviation.大型飞行器的驾驶员是航空学方面的专家。

5 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

6 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。