讓你大開眼界的驚人能源真相：英語精讀講義

Energy is pretty amazing. 用詞

能量真的很驚人。

So amazing that as a species we use around 15 terawatts at any given moment. 講解

驚人到什麼程度呢？作為一個物種，人類在任何時刻消耗的功率都約為 15 太瓦。

That's equivalent to 15 trillion watts. 片語搭配

這相當於 15 兆個瓦特。

Consider this average light bulb which consumes roughly 100 watts.

看看這顆普通燈泡，它的功率大約是 100 瓦特。

One single terawatt could power 10 billion of them at the same time.

只要 1 太瓦，就能同時點亮 100 億顆這樣的燈泡。

Of the world's energy,

在全球能源消耗中，

the US consumes about 25% while Google alone accounts for roughly 0.013%. 講解

美國約佔 25%，而光是 Google 就約佔 0.013%。

This is enough energy to continuously power 200,000 homes.

這些能量足以持續為 20 萬戶家庭供電。

Food also contains energy which is measured in calories or joules. 片語搭配

食物也含有能量，通常以卡路里或焦耳來衡量。

One food calorie is equal to roughly 4200 joules of energy. 用詞

1 大卡的食物熱量大約等於 4200 焦耳。

So,

那麼，

how long would you have to plug yourself into a wall to get a day's worth of food energy? 講解

如果把自己接上牆上的插座，要充多久才能獲得一天所需的食物能量呢？

If we take a standard daily diet for a male of around 2500 food calories, 表達脈絡

假設一名男性的標準日常飲食約為 2500 大卡，

we find that our bodies need around 10 million joules of energy each day.

就會發現，我們的身體每天大約需要 1000 萬焦耳的能量。

Take something like your laptop which charges at about 50 joules per second 表達脈絡

以你的筆電為例，它充電時每秒大約輸入 50 焦耳，

and it would take roughly 55 hours to charge yourself. 文法

按照這個速度幫自己「充電」，大約需要 55 小時。

On the other hand, 表達脈絡

另一方面，

if we charged at the energy input of a microwave, 文法

如果用微波爐的能量輸入功率來充電，

which is roughly 1500 joules per second,

也就是大約每秒 1500 焦耳，

it would only take 1.9 hours.

那就只需要 1.9 小時。

Even more amazing is the fact that this much energy would cost roughly 33 cents in North America. 文法

更驚人的是，在北美，這麼多能量只要大約 33 美分。

33 cents for your daily intake of energy.

一天所需的能量，只要 33 美分。

It's too bad we can't just plug in. 講解

可惜我們不能直接插上插頭充電。

But if you took all that energy,

但如果把這些能量全都集中起來，

how big of an explosion could it make? 文法

能引發多大的爆炸呢？

Well,

其實，

one food calorie is conveniently equal to 1 gram of the explosive TNT.

1 大卡的食物熱量，剛好相當於 1 公克 TNT 炸藥的爆炸能量。

So, if you eat 2500 food calories in a day,

所以，如果你一天攝取 2500 大卡，

you're looking at the equivalent of about 44 World War II hand grenades. 慣用語

就相當於大約 44 枚二戰時期的手榴彈。

That's a pretty big explosion.

這爆炸威力可不小。

But it should be no surprise that energy can cause damage. 片語搭配

不過，能量會造成傷害，其實一點也不令人意外。

After all, we've all experienced an electric shock. 表達脈絡

畢竟，我們都體驗過觸電的感覺。

But how much electricity does it take to actually kill a human?

但究竟多大的電流能真的讓人喪命呢？

Surprisingly little.

少得驚人。

7 milliamps for as little as 3 seconds to be exact. 片語搭配

確切來說，只要 7 毫安培，持續短短 3 秒。

This is equivalent to a triple-A battery straight to the heart.

這相當於把一顆 4 號（AAA）電池直接接到心臟上。

You see,

要知道，

electricity actually kills by interrupting the heart rhythm. 文法

電流真正致命的原因，是它會擾亂心律。

But our body has built-in protection, 用詞

不過，我們的身體有內建的保護機制，

like your skin,

例如皮膚，

so it doesn't go straight to your heart.

所以電流不會直接進入心臟。

However,

然而，

with something like lightning,

如果碰上閃電之類的情況，

all bets are off. 慣用語

那就什麼都很難說了。

In fact,

事實上，

a lightning bolt can hit over 1 billion volts.

一道閃電的電壓可以超過 10 億伏特。

The reason some people survive lightning strikes is based on the path it takes through their body.

有些人遭雷擊後能活下來，關鍵在於閃電穿過身體的路徑。

If the heart goes untouched,

如果沒有經過心臟，

you can come out alive, 片語動詞

你就有可能活下來，

which shows you just how awesome and powerful nature really is. 文法

這也顯示大自然究竟有多麼驚人而強大。

What may surprise you more is that every minute 文法

更讓你驚訝的是，每分鐘

enough sunlight reaches the Earth's surface 文法

到達地球表面的陽光能量

to satisfy the world's energy demands

就足以滿足全世界

for an entire year.

整整一年的能源需求。

That's right.

沒錯。

Roughly 174 petawatts of energy hits the Earth from the sun.

太陽照射到地球的功率約為 174 拍瓦。

Of course,

當然，

the biggest challenge is finding efficient ways to properly harness this solar power. 講解

最大的挑戰，是找出能妥善、高效率利用這股太陽能的方法。

And all of this energy and heat are a major contributing factor to the creation of wind. 片語搭配

而所有這些能量與熱量，都是形成風的重要因素。

Sometimes so powerful that we see things like hurricanes.

風有時強大到足以形成颶風這類現象。

But not only can wind turbines take advantage of the wind to create power, 講解

不過，風力渦輪機不只能利用風來發電，

scientists have shown how they can,

科學家還證明，它們

in high enough concentrations, 用詞

在密度夠高時，

help prevent hurricanes.

可以幫助阻止颶風形成。

Simply put, 表達脈絡

簡單來說，

wind turbines remove some energy from the wind to generate power.

風力渦輪機會從風中吸收一部分能量，用來發電。

And simulations have shown that, 表達脈絡

而模擬結果顯示，

hypothetically, 表達脈絡

從理論上來說，

if you put enough wind turbines together in an at-risk region, 文法

如果在高風險地區集中設置足夠多的風力渦輪機，

major wind disasters could be minimized substantially.

就能大幅減輕嚴重的風災。

But apart from this, 表達脈絡

不過，撇開這一點，

is wind energy actually worth it? 片語搭配

風能真的值得投入嗎？

Click here to check out our AsapTHOUGHT video where we explore how exactly wind turbines work,

點這裡觀看我們的 AsapTHOUGHT 影片，看看風力渦輪機究竟如何運作、

how much energy they actually produce,

它們實際能產生多少能量，

and the crazy new technologies that will change our future.

以及那些將改變我們未來的瘋狂新科技。

I mean,

我的意思是，

could the whole world be powered by wind? 文法

全世界能只靠風力供電嗎？

We went to the GE Global Research Center in Germany,

我們前往了德國的 GE 全球研究中心。

a leader in wind energy,

這家中心是風能領域的領導者。

to find out.

就是為了找出答案。

There's a link in the description below.

連結就在下方的說明欄中。

And subscribe for more weekly science videos.

別忘了訂閱，每週收看更多科學影片。