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As of 2020, the world's biggest lithium-ion battery
截至2020年,全球最大的鋰離子電池?
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is hooked up to the Southern California power grid
與南加州電網相連
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and can provide 250 million watts of power,
並可提供2.5億瓦的電力。
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or enough to power about 250,000 homes.
或足夠為約25萬戶家庭供電。
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But it's actually not the biggest battery in the world:
但它其實不是世界上最大的電池。
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these lakes are.
這些湖泊是。
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Wait— how can a pair of lakes be a battery?
等等--一對湖泊怎麼可能是電池?
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To answer that question, it helps to define a battery:
要回答這個問題,有助於定義電池。
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it's simply something that stores energy and releases it on demand.
它只是一種儲存能量並按需釋放的東西。
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The lithium-ion batteries that power our phones, laptops, and cars
為我們的手機、筆記本電腦和汽車提供動力的鋰離子電池。
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are just one type.
只是一種類型。
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They store energy in lithium ions.
它們將能量儲存在鋰離子中。
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To release the energy, the ions are separated from their electrons,
為了釋放能量,離子與電子分離。
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then rejoined at the other end of the battery
然後再在電池的另一端連接起來
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as a new molecule with lower energy.
作為一個能量較低的新分子。
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How do the two lakes store and release energy?
兩湖是如何儲存和釋放能量的?
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First, one is 300 meters higher than the other.
首先,一個比另一個高300米。
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Electricity powers pumps that move billions of liters of water
電力驅動水泵移動數十億公升的水
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from the lower lake to the higher one.
從低處的湖泊到高處的湖泊。
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This stores the energy by giving the water extra gravitational potential energy.
這通過給水額外的重力勢能來儲存能量。
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Then, when there's high demand for electricity,
然後,當電力需求量大的時候。
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valves open, releasing the stored energy by letting water flow downhill
閥門打開,通過讓水往下流來釋放儲存的能量。
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to power 6 giant turbines that can generate 3 billion watts of power
為6臺巨大的渦輪機提供動力,可產生30億瓦的電力。
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for 10 hours.
10小時。
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We're going to need more and more giant batteries.
我們會需要越來越多的巨型電池。
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That's because right now, generating enough electricity to power the world
這是因為現在,發電量足以為世界提供電力。
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produces an unsustainable amount of greenhouse gas:
產生了不可持續的溫室氣體量。
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14 billion tons per year.
每年140億噸。
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We'll need to get that number down to net-zero.
我們需要把這個數字降到淨值零。
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But many clean energy sources can't produce electricity 24/7.
但很多清潔能源不能24小時不間斷地發電。
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So to make the switch, we need a way to store the electricity until it's needed.
所以要想轉換,我們需要一種方法來儲存電能,直到需要的時候。
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That means we need grid-scale batteries:
這意味著我們需要電網規模的電池。
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batteries big enough to power multiple cities.
足夠大的電池為多個城市供電。
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Unfortunately, neither of the giant batteries we've talked about so far
不幸的是,到目前為止,我們所談及的巨型電池都沒有。
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can solve this problem.
可以解決這個問題。
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The two lakes setup requires specific geography, takes up a lot of land,
兩湖設置需要特定的地理環境,佔用大量土地。
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and has high upfront costs to build.
並具有較高的前期建設成本。
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The giant lithium-ion battery in California, meanwhile,
加州的巨型鋰離子電池,同時。
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can power about 250,000 homes, yes, but only for an hour.
可以為25萬戶家庭供電,是的,但只能維持一個小時。
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Lithium-ion batteries are great for things that don't use a lot of power.
鋰離子電池很適合用電量不大的東西。
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But to store a lot of energy, they have to be huge and heavy.
但要儲存大量的能量,它們必須是巨大而沉重的。
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That's why electric planes aren't a thing:
這就是為什麼電動飛機不是一個東西。
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the best electric plane can only carry two people
電動飛機最好的也只能載兩個人
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for about 1,000 kilometers on one charge,
一次充電可行駛約1000公里。
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or its batteries would be too heavy to fly.
否則它的電池會太重,無法飛行。
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A typical commercial jet can carry 300 people over 14,000 km before refueling.
一架典型的商用噴氣機在加油前可載300人飛行14000公里。
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Lithium-ion batteries also require certain heavy metals to make.
鋰離子電池也需要某些重金屬來製造。
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These resources are limited, and mining them often causes environmental damage.
這些資源是有限的,開採這些資源往往會造成環境破壞。
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Inventors all over the world are rising to the challenge
全世界的發明家都在迎接挑戰。
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of making batteries that can meet our needs—
製造能滿足我們需求的電池
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many of them even weirder than the two lakes.
其中很多甚至比兩湖更詭異。
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One company is building a skyscraper battery.
有一家公司正在打造摩天大樓電池。
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When the sun is shining, a crane powered by solar energy
陽光燦爛的時候,用太陽能驅動的起重機
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piles blocks on top of each other in a tower.
將積木疊加在塔上。
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At night, the cranes let gravity pull the blocks down
夜晚,吊車讓重力把積木拉下來。
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and use the resulting power to spin generators.
並利用所產生的電力來旋轉發電機。
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Though there have been some early setbacks,
雖然早期也有一些挫折。
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another promising approach involves heating up salts until they melt.
另一種很有前途的方法是將鹽類加熱至融化。
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The molten salt can be stored until there's a high demand for electricity,
這些熔鹽可以儲存起來,直到有大量的電力需求。
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then used to boil water.
然後用來燒水。
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The steam can power turbines that generate electricity.
蒸汽可以驅動渦輪機發電。
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Another idea: bio-batteries made from paper, powered by bacteria,
另一個想法:用紙做的生物電池,由細菌提供動力。
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and activated by spit.
並被唾液激活。
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Bacteria release energy in the form of electrons when they metabolize glucose,
細菌在代謝葡萄糖時以電子的形式釋放能量。
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and at least one species of bacteria can transfer those electrons
而至少有一種細菌可以轉移這些電子
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outside its cells, completing a circuit.
在其細胞外,完成一個電路。
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While these batteries won't power a city, or even a house,
雖然這些電池無法為一個城市,甚至一棟房子供電。
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they don't have the waste and cost concerns of traditional batteries.
它們沒有傳統電池的浪費和成本問題。
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From vast mountain lakes to microscopic bacteria,
從浩瀚的高山湖泊到微觀的細菌。
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from seawater batteries that bypass the need for heavy metals
海水電池,不需要重金屬
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to nuclear batteries that power deep space missions,
到為深空任務提供動力的核電池。
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we're constantly rethinking what a battery can be.
我們不斷地在重新思考電池可以是什麼。
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The next unlikely battery could be hiding in plain sight—
下一個不太可能的電池可能就藏在眾目睽睽之下--。
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just waiting to be discovered and help us achieve a sustainable future.
就等著被發現,幫助我們實現可持續發展的未來。