VOA常速英语2015--新型风力发电机不会伤及鸟类

新型风力发电机不会伤及鸟类

In 2002, Spanish inventor David Yanez saw a short film about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the U.S., collapsing¹ in strong wind.

2002年西班牙发明家大卫·亚尼斯看了一部关于强风造成美国塔科马海峡吊桥倒塌事故的短片。

It was a vivid example of the powerful vibrations² wind can create when it blows past a long pole, such as a car antenna³ or even a stick of bamboo. That gave him the idea for a new type of wind-energy generator⁴.

这直观地反映出风吹过汽车天线甚至竹竿等长杆时所产生的强振。这一点让他受到启发，想到发明新型风能发电机的点子。

“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."

“最初的理念或者说精神是发明一种人们所期望具有梦幻般性能的发电机，造价低廉，几乎不需要维护，而且安装也极尽简单。”

Yanez and his friend Raoul Martin took the idea to an engineering firm, where they were told it would never work.

亚尼斯和他的朋友劳尔·马丁带着这个想法走访了一家工程公司。而得到的回复是这是天方夜谭。

Undiscouraged, they started experimenting on their own in a small wind tunnel they built.

但两人并不气馁，他们随后开始在自己建造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.

他们随后在附近地区建造了名为涡流的更大工作模型进行重复试验得到结果很是理想。

“What we have is a mast, which is the top piece and acts as a blade.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.”

“我们有个桅杆，而这是起到扇叶作用的顶部装置。这是跟传统发电机一样的相同建造材料。它所做的是进行摆动，把这种摆动传输到一台传统的交流发电机，再通过交流发电机把风能转换为电能。”

Yanez said the output of the 6-meter-tall generator, and even that of smaller models, was better than expected.

亚尼斯表示这台6米高的风力发电机，即使是较小的型号输出也优于预期。

The Vortex creates about 30 percent less energy than a comparable bladed wind turbine,but it is lighter⁵ and cheaper to build and maintain.

涡流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，相对较轻，制造和维护价格也更低廉。

It is made mostly of reinforced plastic and has very few moving parts.

它主要是由强化塑料制成而且可移动零件很少。

Also,it does not create noise and-even more important for many environmentalists-it does not present a threat to passing birds.

另外它不会产生噪音，而且对环保人士而言更重要的是不会对路过的鸟类构成威胁。

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

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 grid⁶.

两位发明人表示下一步是建立一台容量为4千瓦，12.5米高的无扇叶发电机，可为小公司或个人住户提供电能，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.

涡流无扇叶发电机的商业版或会于2017年之前进入市场。

1 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

2 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 antenna   

n.触角，触须；天线

参考例句：

• The workman fixed the antenna to the roof of the house.工人把天线固定在房顶上。
• In our village, there is an antenna on every roof for receiving TV signals.在我们村里，每家房顶上都有天线接收电视信号。

4 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

5 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

6 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。