为什么风力涡轮机叶片如此难以回收 | World Wide Waste：英语精读讲义

Until recently, 表達脈絡

直到不久前，

wind turbine blades were almost impossible to recycle.

风力涡轮机叶片几乎无法回收。

They have to be replaced about every 20 years.

它们大约每20年就得更换一次。

Now, one company is the first in the US to shred the blades, 語法

如今，有一家公司率先在美国将这些叶片粉碎，

so they can be used to make cement.

让它们能被用于制造水泥。

But is this the best way to deal with old blades?

但这是处理旧叶片的最佳方式吗？

Making cement is a major source of greenhouse gases. 短語搭配

水泥生产是温室气体的一大来源。

Can producing it this way really reduce emissions?

以这种方式生产水泥，真的能减少排放吗？

We went to Missouri to see if recycling wind turbine blades 語法

我们来到密苏里州，想看看回收风力涡轮机叶片

could help reduce a growing source of worldwide waste.

能否帮助减少一种在全球日益增多的废弃物。

The first wind turbine in the US was built in the late 1800s.

美国第一台风力涡轮机建于19世纪末。

The tower was 60 ft tall,

塔架高60英尺，

and it could power about three modern homes. 用詞

发出的电足以供大约三户现代家庭使用。

Now, land-based wind turbines have an average height of 525 ft. 用詞

如今，陆上风力涡轮机的平均高度为525英尺。

The average turbine can power over 460 homes.

平均每台涡轮机可为460多户家庭供电。

The largest offshore turbine is more than 850 ft tall.

最大的海上风力涡轮机高达850多英尺。

Land-based turbine blades are typically 170 ft long.

陆上涡轮机的叶片通常长170英尺。

That's more than four school buses parked end-to-end. 用詞

这比四辆校车首尾相接还要长。

The blades are usually made from a combination of fiberglass and balsa wood. 短語搭配

叶片通常由玻璃纤维和轻木复合制成。

This material is incredibly robust.

这种材料极其坚固。

The challenge is reversing that engineering and physically breaking the material down. 短語動詞

难点在于逆转这种工程设计，从物理上把材料分解开来。

Turbine blades have been piling up in landfills in recent years. 講解

近年来，风力涡轮机叶片在垃圾填埋场越堆越多。

That's the problem the company Veolia set out to solve. 短語動詞

Veolia公司着手解决的正是这个问题。

It gets the blades from GE Renewable Energy.

它从GE可再生能源公司接收这些叶片。

These ones are only between 8 and 12 years old.

这些叶片才使用了8到12年。

The blades come from all over the US to the town of Louisiana, Missouri. 文化背景

这些叶片从美国各地运到密苏里州的路易斯安那镇。

Here, workers cut them down before sending them to the shredder.

工人会先在这里把它们切小，再送进粉碎机。

The biggest challenge is just getting them cut perfectly just to feed them through the shredder without damaging anything. 語法

最大的挑战，就是要把它们切得尺寸刚刚好，才能顺利送进粉碎机，同时不损坏任何东西。

This machine is powerful enough to crush the 20-ft sections 語法

这台机器动力强劲，足以把20英尺长的叶片段

into pieces roughly the size of a football. 短語搭配

压碎成大约一个橄榄球大小的碎块。

Then the blade chunks go to another shredder that grinds them down even more.

接着，叶片碎块会进入另一台粉碎机，被磨得更细。

Next, a sorting machine filters out any remaining large pieces. 短語動詞

然后，分选机会滤掉所有残留的大块材料。

It's hard to believe that this was once a 120-ft long wind turbine blade. 語氣意圖

很难相信，这些碎料曾是一片长达120英尺的风力涡轮机叶片。

Veolia also recycles non-hazardous medical waste,

Veolia还回收非危险性医疗废弃物，

and some of that is mixed in with the blade material.

其中一部分会与叶片材料混合。

So back and forth we'll go 習語

所以我们会来回调整，

until we get what we think is our correct recipe.

直到调出我们认为正确的配方。

Right now, GE pays Veolia to recycle the blades, 語法

目前，GE付费请Veolia回收叶片，

and Veolia pays to send the final product to cement factories.

而Veolia还要付费把最终产品送到水泥厂。

So currently, there isn't a profit associated with it.

所以目前这项业务并不赚钱。

The real motivator here is to prevent this material 語法

真正的动力，是不让这种材料

from ending up in landfills. 短語動詞

最终进入垃圾填埋场。

Cement factories burn the turbine blades for fuel.

水泥厂燃烧涡轮机叶片，将其用作燃料。

Veolia says their product burns cleaner than coal. 語法

Veolia称，他们的产品燃烧起来比煤更清洁。

Still, it probably won't make that much of a dent in the cement industry's carbon footprint. 講解

不过，它对减少水泥行业的碳足迹可能起不了多大作用。

That's because most of the emissions don't come from burning coal.

因为大部分排放并非来自燃煤。

They come from heating limestone inside giant kilns.

而是来自在巨型窑炉中加热石灰石的过程。

Right now, the cement industry produces roughly 8% of all greenhouse gases,

目前，水泥行业产生的温室气体约占总量的8%，

three times more than the aviation industry. 語法

是航空业的三倍。

So, is making new cement the best we can do with turbine blades? 語法

那么，用涡轮机叶片生产新水泥，就是我们能想到的最佳处理方式吗？

It might not reduce emissions from cement making, 表達脈絡

这或许无法减少水泥生产过程中的排放，

but it still prevents the blades from ending up in landfills.

但至少能避免叶片被送进垃圾填埋场。

But not everyone agrees that shredding and burning the blades is the best approach. 語法

但并非所有人都认同，粉碎并焚烧叶片是最佳做法。

Seems to me a tremendous waste of all the energy and resources 語氣意圖

在我看来，这简直是对所有能源和资源的巨大浪费，

that have gone into producing the blade in the first place. 講解

毕竟它们一开始都投入到了叶片生产中。

Researchers like Larry Bank say reusing the blades is a better option.

Larry Bank等研究人员认为，重新利用叶片是更好的选择。

Instead of disposing of it as waste, 講解

与其把它当作废弃物处理，

you look for ways to use it in a second life or an alternative industry.

不如想办法让它获得第二次生命，或用于其他行业。

Larry and other researchers at Re-Wind are building a pedestrian bridge in Ireland.

Larry和Re-Wind的其他研究人员正在爱尔兰建造一座人行桥。

And they have proposals to turn wind turbines into cell phone towers and fencing. 短語動詞

他们还提出把风力涡轮机改造成手机信号塔和围栏。

We're hopeful that these demonstration projects will

我们希望这些示范项目能够

convince people that repurposing is a viable alternative. 短語搭配

让人们相信，改造再利用是一种可行的替代方案。

And they aren't the only ones doing this.

而且，这么做的不只他们。

Architects in the Netherlands turned old blades into a playground

荷兰的建筑师把旧叶片改造成了一座游乐场，

and a public monument.

还建成了一座公共纪念碑。

Another company in Denmark created a bike shed.

丹麦的另一家公司则建造了一个自行车棚。

So why aren't blades turned into more projects like these? 表達脈絡

那为什么没有更多叶片被用于这类项目呢？

The main reason is that it's incredibly cheap to dump them in a landfill.

主要原因是，把它们扔进垃圾填埋场实在太便宜了。

And unless there is a regulation in the United States, 語法

除非美国出台相关法规——

which seems unlikely, 語氣意圖

但这似乎不太可能——

a landfill will probably be the preferred solution.

否则填埋很可能仍会是首选方案。

After this video was first published,

这段视频首次发布后，

Veolia responded and said reusing blades is interesting,

Veolia回应称，重新利用叶片的想法很有意思，

but that these projects aren't enough to deal with the growing waste problem. 講解

但这些项目不足以应对日益严重的废弃物问题。

These other uses do not provide the scale necessary 用詞

这些其他用途达不到必要的规模，

to manage the current volumes needed for sustainable wind turbine blade management.

无法处理当前的废弃量，满足风力涡轮机叶片可持续管理的需要。

As America installs more turbines, 語法

随着美国安装更多涡轮机，

the waste problem could grow.

废弃物问题可能会加剧。

There are already more than 70,000 turbines in the United States.

美国目前已有超过7万台风力涡轮机。

And with plans to expand offshore wind,

随着海上风电扩建计划的推进，

the US could have 2,000 more within the next decade.

未来十年内，美国可能再增加2000台。

The 2021 infrastructure bill allocated at least $100 million to expand wind energy. 講解

2021年的基础设施法案拨款至少1亿美元，用于扩大风能开发。

One study predicts global waste from turbine blades will exceed 47 million tons by 2050.

一项研究预测，到2050年，全球风机叶片废弃物将超过4700万吨。

But even if that does happen, 語法

但即使真的如此，

it would still amount to about an eighth of the plastic that is thrown away every year. 短語動詞

也仍只相当于每年被丢弃塑料总量的约八分之一。

In the scheme of things, 習語

从整体来看，

it's not much of an impact compared to most other industrial processes.

与大多数其他工业过程相比，它的影响并不算大。

And for both Veolia and Re-Wind,

而对Veolia和Re-Wind来说，

figuring out what to do with the blades is a welcome challenge. 講解

想办法处理这些叶片，是一项他们乐于迎接的挑战。

It's a cliche,

这是句老生常谈，

but you know, one man's junk is another man's treasure. 習語

但你也知道，一个人的垃圾，可能是另一个人的宝贝。

We have a finite amount of resources.

我们拥有的资源是有限的。

And so we've got to find innovative ways to find new resources. 語法

所以，我们必须用创新方式寻找新的资源。

And those new resources can come from materials we've already used. 語法

而这些新资源可以来自我们已经用过的材料。

If we can find applications for these materials in a second or even third life 習語

如果我们能为这些材料找到第二次、甚至第三次利用的途径，

after they have been used in the initial applications,

让它们在完成最初用途后继续发挥作用，

then you know, it's a win-win for everybody. 習語

那就是人人都能受益的双赢局面。