Take some NASA-developed plastic membranes, add algae and municipal waste water and float it out to sea. What have you got? An environmentally friendly alternative to U.S. dependence on foreign oil, says one NASA scientist.

如果我們在一個美國宇航局特制的塑料薄膜里放一點(diǎn)海藻，再加上城市廢水，然后把它們一起放到海上，那么結(jié)果會得到什么呢？美國宇航局的專家告訴我們，我們得到的是一種足以減輕美國對國外石油依賴的清潔新能源。

Jonathan Trent, a researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., sees algae farmed at sea as a win-win-win scenari The plants are oil-rich and easy to grow; sea-based nurseries leave land free for food production; and the process should take out more carbon from the atmosphere than what it puts in.

美國宇航局位于加州Moffett Field的Ames研究中心的研究員Jonathan Trent認(rèn)為，“種”海藻是一種多贏的舉措。首先這種植物富含植物油而且很容易種植；其次在大海里種植節(jié)省了土地，節(jié)省下來的土地就可以用來種其他的作物；而且這個種植的過程中吸收的大氣中的碳比其產(chǎn)生的要多，因而也就能改善大氣的含碳量。

As an added bonus, the system purifies waste water now being pumped into the ocean.

還有一個額外的好處，那就是這個系統(tǒng)可以將城市廢水凈化，然后排放到大海里。

"What we're doing is closing the loop in our own spaceship Earth environment," Trent told Discovery News. "The only catch is no one's ever done this before."

Trent對探索新聞?wù)f：“我們所做的是在我們自己的宇宙飛船——地球上創(chuàng)造一個生態(tài)循環(huán)系統(tǒng)，唯一的問題是從來沒有什么物種這樣做過?！?/div>
Algae has become one of the hotter commodities in the quest for fossil fuel alternatives, said Michael Frohlich, a spokesman for the National Biodiesel Board, a Missouri-based trade organization.

位于密蘇里州的行業(yè)協(xié)會——國家生物柴油委員會的發(fā)言人Michael Frohlich曾說到，在尋求化石能源替代物的道路上，海藻正成為越來越熱門的候選品之一。


Traditionally, algae is grown outdoors in large tanks of moving water, or inside bioreactors. The plants produce far more oil per acre than other crops, such as soybeans. Algae farming does, however, have a few technical hurdles to overcome, such as how to efficiently drain the water in which the algae grows, added Biodiesel Board technical adviser Alan Weber.

通常海藻都是在戶外的大罐流水里種植，或者是生長在生物反應(yīng)器里。海藻這種植物沒英畝產(chǎn)出的植物油比諸如黃豆這些植物要多很多，但是種植海藻卻又有一些技術(shù)難題需要克服。國家生物柴油委員會的技術(shù)顧問Alan Weber提到，如何很有效地抽干海藻生長的水就會是一個挺大的技術(shù)壁壘。


Trent's plan is to grow freshwater algae in nutrient-rich waste water inside semi-permeable plastic membranes. The natural salinity of the ocean will draw the freshwater out, retaining the plants and nutrients. The membranes prevent saltwater from getting inside and killing the plants, while ocean waves keep the algae mixed and healthy. The process treats the sewage water, which is then released into the ocean, and after the algae is harvested, the plastic bags can be recycled.

Trent 的計劃是將清水海藻種植在充滿富營養(yǎng)廢水的半透塑料薄膜里。自然海水的鹽度會使得半透膜內(nèi)的純水流出來，而植物和營養(yǎng)物依然留在膜內(nèi)。薄膜還可以防止鹽水進(jìn)入薄膜內(nèi)部從而殺死海藻，同時潮水的漲落保持著海藻健康而均勻地分布著。種植的過程將廢水處理成潔凈的水排入海中，而且在收獲完海藻后，那些塑料袋也是可以回收的。


The concept already has been demonstrated in laboratories, in part supported by $400,000 from Google earmarked for NASA sustainable energy projects. This week, the city of Santa Cruz expressed support for letting its municipal waste water be used in a pilot demonstration project in the Pacific Ocean, Trent said. The project also is under consideration for an $800,000 alternative energy grant from the state of California.

這個概念已經(jīng)在實(shí)驗(yàn)室里進(jìn)行可行性實(shí)驗(yàn)了，得到了美國宇航局谷歌公司專項(xiàng)可持續(xù)能源計劃40萬美元的部分支持。Trent表示，Santa Cruz市也于本周表示愿意將他們的城市廢水用于一項(xiàng)在太平洋上的示范性試驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目。這項(xiàng)計劃同時也在另一項(xiàng)加州80萬美金的能源撥款考慮之中。


"The big problem is going to be scaling it up ... and figuring out how to deal with storms at sea," Trent said.

Trent說：“未來的大問題是成規(guī)模種植......還要制定出對付海上風(fēng)浪的方案。”


"But this country is good at engineering things," he added. "To quote Harry Truman, 'There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.'"

他又說到：“但這個國家工程實(shí)力是很強(qiáng)的，杜魯門總統(tǒng)曾經(jīng)說過‘當(dāng)榮譽(yù)不屬于某個個體時，所能獲得的成就是無窮的’?！?/div>

An offshore algae farm could have some serious environmental issues, points out Carmela Cuomo, a marine scientist at the University of New Haven in Connecticut who is researching algae strains for biofuel use.

康涅狄克州紐黑文大學(xué)專攻海藻菌株生物能用途的水文學(xué)家Carmela Cuomo指出，海中的海藻養(yǎng)殖場可能會產(chǎn)生很嚴(yán)重的環(huán)境問題。


"I'm not knocking the idea, but I'd want to know a lot more about it," she told Discovery News.

她接受探索新聞采訪時說：“我不是不看好這個想法，但是我必須對它有更深入的研究和認(rèn)識，才能做出更加準(zhǔn)確的判斷?！?/div>

Cuomo said waste water that has been treated enough to be dumped into the ocean probably wouldn't have enough nutrients for algae to thrive, and untreated waste water could pose a threat if the membrane should rip. She also pointed out that the algae farms would have to be fairly close to the ocean's surface for sunlight to penetrate, which could be an issue for boaters.

Cuomo認(rèn)為這種方法完全處理過的廢水將不再含有足夠海藻生存的養(yǎng)分，而且如果薄膜破裂，還沒有處理的廢水將會對環(huán)境有危害。她還提到這些海藻牧場必須得十分靠近海洋表面以獲得足夠的陽光，從而得到生長?？墒沁@樣做的話對于小船在海上的順利航行又是一大問題。


The main problem with algae, whether grown on land or sea, is how to get enough of it. "To be able to replace a Shell (Oil Co.), you're going to need a lot of algae."

其實(shí)不論是種在海上還是陸地上，海藻最大的問題是如何才能獲得足夠的量?！暗眯枰獦O多的海藻才能替代一家殼牌機(jī)油?！?/div>

注：本文譯文來自elanso，由zack1988翻譯

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