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  • It’s a really exciting time to be alive. We have a front row seat to the only known

    生活處處充滿刺激,我們有幸能親眼目睹

  • transformation of a world powered by dirty fossil fuels, to a planet that gets its energy

    地球的轉變:由一開始使用高污染的石化燃料發電,到利用

  • from renewable, clean sources. It’s going to happen just once, right now. These are

    潔淨再生能源,這歷史性的轉變現正如火如荼地進行著。以下介紹

  • the top 10 potential energy sources of tomorrow.

    前十大最具發展潛力的再生能源明日之星。

  • Every hour, more energy from the sun reaches us than we earthlings use in an entire year.

    太陽每小時發送到地球的熱能遠超過人類一整年的能源用量,

  • To try and save a lot more of it, one idea is to build giant solar farms in space that

    為了保留更多熱能,其中一個方法是建造大型的太空太陽能電廠,

  • will collect some of the higher intensity, uninterrupted solar radiation. Giant mirrors

    用來收集連續且高能量的太陽能。巨大的鏡面設備

  • would reflect huge amounts of solar rays onto smaller solar collectors. This energy would

    可將大量的輻射線反射至較小的太陽能收集器,接著,收集來的能量

  • then be wirelessly beamed to Earth as either a microwave or laser beam. One of the main

    會以微波或雷射傳送至地球。然而,這個想法

  • reasons this amazing idea is still just an idea is because it’s, big surprise, very

    仍未實現,最主要當然是因為

  • expensive. But it could become a reality in the not so distant future as our solar technology

    成本太昂貴了;但很快地,太空電廠將不再是夢想,因為太陽能科技

  • develops, and the cost of launching cargo into space comes way down, thanks to the work

    日新月異、運輸貨物到太空的成本也大幅降低,這都得歸功於

  • of companies like Space X.

    Space X這類公司(註:太空探索科技公司,創於2002年)。

  • We already have human-powered devices,

    目前我們已經擁有人力發電裝置,

  • but scientists are working on harvesting power generated from normal human movement. Were

    但科學家想要找出如何利用人體擺動來產生電力,

  • talking about tiny electronics here, but the potential when multiplied by billions of people

    雖然這裡指的是極小型的裝置,但若由數十億人口驅動,

  • is big. And with developers making electronics that use less and less power, one day your

    結果將極為可觀。況且,電子產品開發趨於不耗電,將來,

  • phone may charge when it rustles around in your pocket, your bag in your hand,

    把手機放在口袋或背包裡摩擦,或光拿在手上都可以充電,

  • your fingers move on the screen. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, scientists have

    甚至連手指觸控也行。美國伯克利國家實驗室

  • even demonstrated a device that uses viruses to translate pressure into electricity. Yes,

    已經成功證實如何利用病毒將壓力轉換成電力。沒錯!

  • it’s amazing as it sounds and no, there’s no way I’m going to try and explain how

    這很酷炫,但很抱歉,我不打算詳細介紹背後的原理;

  • it works--of course it’s linked below if you want more info. There are even small body-worn

    若想知道更多資訊請見下方連結。另外,有些小型穿戴式裝置

  • systems that passively produce electricity when you move. Human power isn’t going to

    能在人體擺動時自給自足產生電力。雖然人體發電無法

  • solve global warming, but every little bit helps.

    完全解決全球暖化,但總是不無小補。

  • Harnessing all the energy in the motion of the ocean could power the world several times

    若能駕馭海流來發電,將足以加倍供給全球多餘的電力,

  • over, which is why over 100 companies are trying to figure out how. Because of the focus

    因此才會有多達上百家公司前來挖掘這塊市場。但初期的再生能源發展

  • on wind and solar, the tidal energy industry kind of got elbowed out of the early mix.

    多著重風力及太陽能發電,使得潮汐發電受到忽視;

  • But these systems are quickly becoming more efficient. For one, meet Oyster, a 2.4 megawatt

    不過現在情況將大為改觀。首先,見過Oyster (註:位於北蘇格蘭的潮汐能水力發電機組),

  • producing, hinged flap that attaches to the ocean floor and - as it opens and closes - pumps

    機組可產生2.4兆瓦的電力,鉸接鋼瓣的底座固定在海床上,鋼瓣隨海浪拍打設備,

  • high-pressure water onshore, where it drives a conventional hydroelectric turbine. So,

    將高壓水抽送到岸上,以驅動傳統的水輪機;

  • one of those could power a whole housing development or a couple massive residential towers--roughly

    一組發電機便足以供給整個住宅區和幾棟高樓大廈,至少

  • 2,500 homes. An engineer with the air force academy has created the terminator wing-shaped

    2500戶人家的用電。一位擁有空軍背景的工程師甚至發明了一種翼狀

  • turbine that employs lift instead of drag, allowing it to theoretically harness 99% of

    渦輪機,以升力為原理,理論上能有效利用99%的潮汐能,

  • a wave’s energy instead of the 50% that current tidal projects can get. And Perth,

    遠超過目前只有50%利用效益的發電機組。而澳洲珀斯

  • Australia just got the world’s first-ever wave-powered desalination plant that provides

    不久前才成功建造以潮汐發電的海水淡化工廠,

  • the city with enough drinking water for 500,000 residents.

    足以供給全市約50萬戶居民的飲水。

  • The element hydrogen - by far the most abundant in the universe - is very high in energy,

    氫是宇宙中含量最高的元素,也能產生極高的能量,

  • but an engine that burns pure hydrogen produces almost no pollution. This is why NASA ‘s

    利用純氫氣燃燒的引擎幾乎零污染,這是為何NASA (註:國家航空暨太空總署)

  • powered its space shuttles and parts of the International Space Station with the stuff

    多年來都用氫能驅動太空梭和國際太空站。

  • for years. The only reason were not powering the entire world with hydrogen is because

    但之所以遲遲無法善用氫能是因為

  • it only exists on our planet in combination with other elements like oxygen. You know,

    地球上氫元素並非單獨存在,必定會與其他元素結合,如氧,眾所周知,

  • good old H20. Russia even converted a passenger jet to run on hydrogen in the late 80’s

    兩者結合為水。八零年代末,俄羅斯成功將一架客機轉換為氫能驅動,

  • and Boeing recently tested small planes that fly on hydrogen. Once the hydrogen is separated

    波音近來也在測試小型氫能飛機。一旦氫氣被分離,

  • it can be pumped into mobile fuel cells in vehicles that are able to directly convert

    即能抽送進汽車的動態燃料電池,直接轉換成

  • it into electricity. These cars are now being manufactured on a fairly large scale. Honda’s

    電力,氫燃料車現正擴大量產,本田 (Honda)

  • planning on demonstrating the versatility of its new hydrogen fuel cell car by plugging

    目前積極開拓氫燃料電池的用途,利用氫燃料電池供給

  • it into a model home in Japan to power the house--instead of the car sucking electricity

    日本家庭用電,而非反過來以建築電力供給

  • from the building like its electric-powered competitors have to do. Honda says one of

    電動車,其他車廠多停留在後者階段。本田表示,

  • these fully-fuelled cars could power an entire house for a whole week, or drive 300 miles

    滿載的氫能車能供應一間房子整整七天的電力,或續航里程可達480公里以上;

  • without refuelling. The main obstacle right now is the relatively

    目前面臨最大的難題是

  • high cost of these vehicles and the lack of hydrogen stations to refuel them, although

    氫能車的成本居高不下,氫氣供給站也不足,

  • California now has plans for 70 of these stations across the state, South Korea’s expected

    目前美國加州預計設立70座氫氣供給站,南韓

  • to have a total of 43 soon and Germany’s aiming for 100 by 2017.

    與德國也預計在2017年前分別完成設立43座及100座供給站。

  • The method of converting the heat rising from the depths of the molten core of the earth

    地球內部的熱源可以轉換成

  • into energy - also known as geothermal - powers millions of homes around the world, including

    能源,稱作地熱發電,此一發電方式足以供應全世界上百萬戶用電,包括

  • the electricity usage for 27% of the Philippines and 30% in Iceland. But an Icelandic deep

    菲律賓27%的用電量以及冰島30%的用量。近日冰島一項

  • drilling project may have recently discovered the holy grail when it hit a pocket of magma,

    深層鑽探計劃更名副其實地挖到寶:機組鑽到岩漿庫,

  • which had only happened once before in Hawaii. The team pumped water down into the hole,

    在此之前,只有在夏威夷鑽到過一次。研究小組將水注入地層,

  • which the scorching magma instantly vaporized to a record-setting 842 degrees fahrenheit.

    一碰到地底攝氏450度的高溫,水會立刻汽化為蒸氣,

  • This highly pressurized steam increased the power output of the system tenfold, an amazing

    高壓蒸氣能使系統產生比原來多十倍的電力,這項驚人的

  • success that should lead to a giant leap in the energy generating capabilities of geothermal

    發現將帶領全球地熱發電技術

  • projects around the world.

    躍進一大步。

  • Nuclear fission power plants are the traditional reactors that have been in use around the

    核裂變反應爐在世界各地用來發電

  • world for decades and provide the US with about 20% of our electricity. They use something

    已有數十年的歷史,例如在美國,核電廠供應20%的電力。多數反應爐為

  • called light-water technology to surround the fuel rods with water, which slows the

    輕水反應爐,利用水包覆控制棒作為冷卻劑及慢化劑,這樣一來

  • neutrons and allow for a sustained nuclear reaction. Buuuut, the system is really inefficient--only

    就能減緩反應速率;但這樣的發電系統效率極低,

  • 5 percent of the uranium atoms in the rod get used up by the time it has to be removed.

    控制棒抽出時,只有5%的鈾原子被有效利用,

  • All that unused, highly radioactive uranium just gets added to our growing stockpile of

    剩下的高度放射性鈾原子就全部成了

  • nuclear waste. But now, finally, there appears to be another, more efficient way, called

    核廢料。目前,科學家研發出另一種效能更高的反應爐,稱為

  • a fast reactor, where the rods are submerged in liquid sodium instead of water. This allows

    快中子反應爐,以液態鈉取代水作為冷卻劑及慢化劑,這個方法

  • 95 percent of the uranium to be used, instead of the unacceptably inefficient 5 percent.

    使鈾原子利用率高達95%,取代了原本只有5%的低效利用率。

  • Adopting this method would solve the huge problem of getting rid of our 77,000 tons

    後者若可行的話,將能解決近77000噸的

  • of radioactive waste because these new reactors can reuse it. GE Hitachi has already designed

    核廢料,因為新的反應爐可以重複利用這些核廢料。美國奇異日立核能(GEH)已經研發出

  • a fast reactor called PRISM and is shopping it to power companies, but the biggest obstacle

    新的快中子反應爐—PRISM,並銷售至各能源企業,然而一大難題是,

  • is the high cost of building new nuclear power plants. Plus, you have to overcome the political

    新一代核能電廠建造成本過高;況且,許多人仍然

  • stigma that nuclear is a dangerous energy source. Still, the benefits are huge---Its

    大力反對核能發電,認為風險太高。但核能的效益毋庸置疑,

  • a proven technology that emits pretty much no greenhouse gases. The big success story

    而且絕對不會排放溫室氣體,最成功的例子見於

  • is France, which has 75% of its electricity needs met by its 59 nuclear power reactors.

    法國境內59座核能電廠,供應全國75%的電力。

  • With production and installation costs getting cheaper by the day, solar power is taking

    生產及安裝太陽能板的價格日益下降,太陽能科技開始

  • off around the world. Europe is the best in photovoltaics and is driven by its leader,

    起飛,全世界皆如此,歐洲更是遙遙領先,尤其是

  • Germany. On an average sunny day in 2012, Deutschland got as much electricity from the

    德國。2012年,德國平均日照天數供應的太陽能電力加總相當於

  • sun as 20 nuclear power stations, enough to power 50% of the country. Spain is now generating

    20座核能電廠的發電量,足以供應全國一半的電力;西班牙也跟進,

  • more than 50% of its power from renewable resources like solar. A California desert

    利用太陽能等再生能源供應全國半數以上的電力;加州的沙漠電廠

  • is home to the largest solar power station in the entire world, and the United States

    更是全世界最大型的太陽能電廠,美國

  • increased its solar capacity by nearly 500% from 2010 to 2014. And if you think that that’s

    自2010至2014年的太陽能電力因此成長近乎500%。若你認為此一技術

  • as fast as solar can possibly grow, listen to this. Researchers at the Los Alamos National

    最多不過如此,那麼你就錯了。位於新墨西哥州的洛斯阿拉莫斯

  • Laboratory in New Mexico just made a significant breakthrough in quantum dot solar cell technology

    國家實驗室近日有重大突破:使用量子點太陽能電池

  • that will allow highly efficient solar panels to double as transparent windows. When this

    把透明窗戶做成太陽能板,發電效率可望翻倍,一旦

  • technology becomes cheap enough to hit the mass market in the next couple of years, every

    技術成本降低,未來幾年市場將熱賣,

  • sun-exposed window in the world will have the potential to be converted into a mini

    各地有陽光處都能使用這種窗戶來發電,成為迷你

  • power station.

    電廠。

  • From 2002 to 2013, biofuels grew more than 500% in the U.S. as production of crop-derived

    2002至2013年,美國生質能源成長超過500%,由作物提煉而成的

  • ethanol and biodiesel became a mainstream substitute or supplement to gasoline in our

    乙醇及生質柴油成為車用石油的主流替代品;

  • cars. In fact, back in the day when Henry Ford first developed his Model T, he thought

    事實上,早在亨利·福特推出T型車時,就想過

  • it would run on ethanol. The discovery of vast amounts of cheap oil all over the world

    利用乙醇作為燃料,可惜的是,當時處處唾手可得的石油

  • unfortunately made it the go-to energy source. But renewable biofuels are making a strong

    價格低廉,打消了福特的構思。現在,生質能源

  • comeback now. The only problem is that the currently dominant first generation of biofuels

    將東山再起,目前面臨的窘境是第一代生質燃料的產地

  • use the same land and resources that have traditionally been used to grow food, which

    本來用於生長糧食作物,改為生產生質燃料後,

  • is driving up the cost of food and causing big problems in a lot of the developing world,

    糧食價格因此飆漲,對開發中國家造成莫大的衝擊,

  • so something has to change if biofuels are going to give us a chance at replacing oil

    因此,必須改變生產方式,才能繼續使用乾淨無污染的

  • with something clean burning. That’s where a plant like switchgrass comes in. It’s

    生質燃料。於是就有了「柳枝稷」這類植物的出現,

  • hearty, it grows like a weed just about anywhere, and it isn’t food. But, if we wanted to

    柳枝稷像雜草般容易繁殖,草梗粗壯,而且不是糧食;不過,

  • run all the world’s cars on it, we’d need to plant it on an amount of land equivalent

    若全世界的汽車都仰賴柳枝稷驅動的話,會需要

  • to the entire countries of Russia and the U.S., combined. So that’s not gonna work.

    俄美兩國疆域相加的廣大面積來種植柳枝稷,這完全不可行。

  • This brings us to the 3rd generation of biofuels, algae, which has all the right ingredients

    於是第三代為生質燃料誕生了—藻類,其中的成分

  • to replace oil once and for all. Algae’s natural oil content is greater than 50%, which

    足以使藻類一勞永逸地取代石油,藻類內含50%以上的油脂,

  • means it can be easily extracted and processed. We can convert the remaining part of the plant

    因此容易提煉轉換為生質燃料,剩下的成分亦可轉換為

  • into electricity, natural gas and even fertilizer to grow even more algae without chemicals.

    電力、天然氣,或甚至作為自身生長的肥料,取代化學肥。

  • Algae grows quickly and doesn’t need farmland or freshwater. Just last month, Alabama became

    藻類生長快速,無需大面積土地生長或太多水資源灌溉。就在上個月,美國阿拉巴馬州

  • the world’s first algae biofuel system that can also effectively treat human wastewater,

    成立了全球第一座第一座藻類生質燃料廠,提煉燃料之餘還能有效淨化廢水,

  • this actually resulted in a carbon-negative outcome. The 40,000 a day demonstration plant

    這是由於藻類的負碳作用而成。示範廠每日將四萬個

  • basically floated giant bags on a bay, pumped wastewater water into them, added a little

    注滿廢水的巨大袋子投入海灣任意漂浮,放入一些藻類,

  • algae, and then let the sunlight do its thing. Before long, algae had grown everywhere and

    接著,就讓藻類和陽光作用,不久後,藻類滋生各處,

  • cleaned the wastewater so well it could either be released back into the bay or reused by

    消毒廢水,效果極佳,袋中的水甚至可以排回海灣或是

  • people as drinking water.

    再度作為飲用水。

  • Were already getting a lot of energy from the wind, but with the Buoyant Air Turbine

    我們已利用風力發電生產不少能源,但浮力空中風機,

  • - or BAT - that floats 1-2,000 feet above the ground where winds are stronger and more

    簡稱BAT,飄在300-600公尺左右的高空,強勁

  • consistent, we could soon be getting that energy much more efficiently. The system is

    且源源不絕的風力能有效發電。BAT系統的原理

  • simple: a ringed blimp with a wind turbine in the middle is tethered securely to the

    很簡單:洞型氣球懸吊著風力渦輪飄浮在半空中,利用纜線固定於

  • ground. Itll produce twice as much power as similar sized tower-mounted turbines. It

    地表,發電量相當於兩座高塔式渦輪風力發電機,

  • can even handle winds of more than 100 mph and can be fitted with additional devices

    此外,還能接收大於160km/h的風速或加裝其他設備,

  • like a wifi unit, which would help bring the Internet to parts of the world that don’t

    如Wifi發射器,這樣一來全世界還未有Wifi之處都可以享受

  • have it yet. The buoyant air turbine was designed for bringing renewable wind energy to rural

    網路便利性。BAT的目的在於把再生風能送至偏遠地區,

  • parts of the world where building a traditional wind turbine was impossible and will first

    因為這些地區通常很難建造傳統風力發電機。目前首座BAT

  • be deployed in Alaska. It can even automatically detect and adjust its floating height to where

    將在阿拉斯加商用運轉。這個新式風機甚至能偵測風速,自動調整懸浮高度

  • the best wind speed is. When the wind speed is dangerously high, the thing will dock itself,

    以利接收最完美的風速;比方說,當風速過高,風機就會自動下降,

  • eliminating the need for manual labor. Flying wind turbines like this should soon replace

    省去人力。這種渦輪式風力發電機很快就會完全取代

  • all the less efficient tower-based systems and could allow for the construction of offshore

    效率相對不彰的高塔式發電機,並建造離岸式

  • wind farms that have until now been really expensive to build.

    風力電廠,屆時成本將大為降低。

  • Unlike fission, nuclear fusion doesn’t create any deadly nuclear waste because it fuses

    核融合不像核裂變發電時會產生要命的核廢料,因為融合過程中

  • atoms together instead of splitting them apart, so there’s no threat of a runaway reaction

    原子合二為一,而非分裂,所以不會有輻射外洩的危險,

  • that could lead to a meltdown event. But, this is easier said than done. One Nobel Prize-winning

    也不會造成爐心熔毀。但核融合發電離現實仍有一段距離;一位諾貝爾物理

  • physicist described fusion as trying to putthe sun into a box. The idea is pretty.

    得獎主曾這麼形容核融合:「將太陽放入盒子裡。」這個主意很棒,

  • The problem is, we don't know how to make the box." The technical issue is that fusion

    可惜的是,目前還沒研發出怎麼製造這個「盒子」;但有個技術上的大難題:核融合

  • reactions will produce material that’s so volatile and hot, it will damage the reactor

    反應會釋出極高溫且不穩定的物質,任何反應爐都會因此被

  • that created it. This isn’t stopping private companies and governments from spending billions

    摧毀。但即便如此,私營企業和政府仍努力不懈,投入數十億資金

  • to research the technology and solve these problems. And if the immense challenges can

    來研發解決方法;一旦他們克服所有艱鉅的困難,

  • be overcome, fusion will provide virtually limitless energy and power the world. That’s

    核融合發電將能產生用之不竭的電力,供全世界使用。

  • why the world’s wealthiest governments are collaborating on the controversial International

    正因如此,富裕國家的政府攜手合作,共同研發頗具爭議性的

  • Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France, known as ITER. When was the last time Russia,

    國際熱核融合實驗反應爐,簡稱ITER。那麼多年來,何曾見過俄羅斯、

  • China, Europe and the United States collaborated on anything? That’s how important for humanity

    中國、歐洲及美國站在同一陣線上?由此可見,核融合對全人類來說

  • this project is. And because of its revolutionary potential several powerful companies like

    有多麼重要。核融合發電的潛在利益之大,幾家巨頭公司,

  • Lockheed Martin are quietly working on their own fusion reactors. Lockheed has a very optimistic

    包括洛克希德·馬丁(註:美國航空航太製造廠商),都各自研發自用核融合反應爐,該公司

  • timeline for their system, projecting that they will meet global energy demand by 2050.

    訂定了一項樂觀的發展計劃,表示2050年前絕對可以達成目標。

  • Their optimism may be fairly justified. In October, 2013, in separate research, scientists

    洛克希德的樂觀是有根據的;2013年10月,在另一項研究中,

  • at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States achieved a huge milestone

    美國勞倫斯利福摩爾國家實驗室為核融合矗立了全新的

  • in fusion when, for the first time, a fuel capsule gave off more energy than was applied

    里程碑:科學家首次證實小粒的燃料能產生比吸收而來的能量更多的

  • to it.

    輸出能量

  • Thank for watching. Let us know if we missed anything or if you disagreed with our rankings.

    感謝收看,對於影片十大能源排序有任何問題,請給我們意見。

  • If you liked this video, help the conversation spread by sharing it. You can see a collection

    喜歡這部影片的話,請轉發分享。下方有一系列

  • of our favorite videos from across the Internet back on our website, TDCvideo.com. For The

    我們最受歡迎的影片,來源請見TDCvideo.com。

  • Daily Conversation, I’m Bryce Plank.

    我是Bryce Plank,以上為The Daily Conversation。

It’s a really exciting time to be alive. We have a front row seat to the only known

生活處處充滿刺激,我們有幸能親眼目睹

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