经济学人231:空调行业 很酷的发明

 　　Business

　　商业报道

　　Air conditioning

　　空调行业

　　Cool innovation

　　很酷的发明

　　An upstart hopes to make rival cooling companies sweat

　　一家新贵公司有望使制冷方面的竞争对手汗流浃背

　　ON A hot July day in 1902, the world's first air conditioner was switched on in Brooklyn.

　　1902年的炎热7月，世界上第一台空调在布鲁克林区开始运转。

　　Since then, air conditioning has saved lives, raised productivity and made the American South liveable in the summer.

　　自从那时起，空调就开始拯救生命、提高生产力，并且让夏天的南非更适于生活。

　　Yet as it turns 110, critics fume¹ that the technology cooks the planet even as it cools homes.

　　时值110年后，批抨者们却很不满，因为这项科技成果既加热了地球，也加热了我们的家。

　　As Stan Cox points out in his book, Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World,

　　正如Stan Cox在他所写的《失去我们的清凉：我们这个被空调冷却的世界中，一些让人不安的事实》一书中指出的，

　　America uses more energy for air conditioning than Africa uses for everything.

　　美国在制冷方面消耗的能源比非洲总的能源消耗还多。

　　Enter Advantix Systems, a firm that makes air-conditioning systems that consume 30-50% less energy than conventional ones.

　　一家空调制作商Enter Advantix Systems的产品能耗比普通产品少30%-50%。

　　Many air conditioners work something like this.

　　很多空调制商都在制产下面这样的产品：

　　First, cool the air to well below the desired room temperature.

　　首先，将空气冷却到低于理想室温的程度。

　　Then, blow it over a metal plate to make the moisture in it condense.

　　然后，将它吹过一个金属版，使其中的水分被压缩。

　　Then, warm the dry air back up to the desired temperature.

　　最后，将干燥的空气再加热回理想温度。

　　Advantix's liquid desiccant technology, by contrast, passes the air through a brine solution to dehumidify it, without the need to waste energy overcooling it.

　　Advantix的液体干燥技术则正相反，空气通过卤水系统被干燥，因而不需要浪费能源过度冷却它。

　　Its machines are especially effective in humid places, which is where much of the world’s growth is.

　　这种机器在潮湿的地方尤其有效，而这些地方也正是世界的主要增长区域。

　　Advantix, which used to be known as DuCool, stumbled on the technology.

　　过去被称为DuCool的Advantix公司曾在技术上遇到问题。

　　It was founded in the 1980s by Israeli brothers who built ice rinks in the Middle East.

　　它由建造了滑冰场的尤太人于19世纪80年代建造。

　　They found that many coolers could not cope well with the humidity there, so they created ones that could.

　　他们发现许多冷却设备都不能应对潮湿的情况，因此他们制造了能解决这一问题的设备。

　　MatlinPatterson, a private-equity firm, bought a stake in 2010 and brought in managers who concocted² an ambitious plan to sell cooling systems for commercial and industrial buildings.

　　私人股权公司MatlinPatterson在2011年入股并且带入了一位有雄心壮智将产品卖到商务和工业建筑中的经理。

　　Advantix recently announced a big deal to air condition a Procter & Gamble factory in India that makes laundry liquid pods.

　　Advantix近期也宣布了一项大合约：该公司将为印度一家制造箱装洗衣液的宝洁公司安装空调设备。

　　Competition will soon heat up, however, as rivals develop their own liquid desiccant air conditioners.

　　但是竞争对手也开发了他们自己的液体干燥技术空调，竞争将会越来越白热化。

　　In this business, you have to sweat to keep up.

　　在这行，你得努力工作才能不被落下。

　　1.innovation n.改革，创新；新观念

　　But the essential fuel is innovation.

　　但是必要的燃料是创新。

　　2.rival n.对手；竞争者

　　But it kept its big rival at bay.

　　但它抵御了竞争对手的攻击。

　　3.switch n.开关；转换，转换器

　　But will you want to make the switch?

　　但是，你是否想做这种转换呢？

　　4.fume n.烟气，烟雾；愤怒

　　Your harsh words put her in a fume.

　　你那些难听的话使她生气了。

　　5.conventional a.传统的；习用的，平常的

　　This year and next conventional bonuses will cease.

　　今年和明年我们会停发常规形式的奖金。

1 fume   

n.(usu pl.)(浓烈或难闻的)烟，气，汽

参考例句：

• The pressure of fume in chimney increases slowly from top to bottom.烟道内压力自上而下逐渐增加，底层住户的排烟最为不利。
• Your harsh words put her in a fume.你那些难听的话使她生气了。

2 concocted   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• The soup was concocted from up to a dozen different kinds of fish. 这种汤是用多达十几种不同的鱼熬制而成的。
• Between them they concocted a letter. 他们共同策划写了一封信。 来自《简明英汉词典》