万花筒 2010-02-24&02-25 世界最大的太阳能锅

They come from all corners of India, devoted¹ pilgrims on their way to Shirdi,a town where a revered² Indian guru Sai Baba lived. Legend has it he was a man who performed miracles to help the poor almost 100 years after his death. Shirdi boasts of a modern-day miracle

"I am literally³ in the middle of the world's largest solar cooking system. These 73 solar dishes capture energy from the sun and use it to cook food for 100,000 pilgrims who visit this temple daily."

The panels raise the temperature of water to up to 650 degree Celsius⁴, generating steam which is used to cook food. It's the brainchild of Deepak and Shirin Gadhia who worked  on the design in Germany before bringing the technology back home.

"We soon realize what India needed was appropriate technology, not high technology."

In India's case, that means taking advantage of its geography and climate.

"We are blessed with the sun. India is one of the few countries in the world where there is no word like good morning. Because we take our sun for granted. In the North and West India, we have about 300 to 320 sunny days. And in South India, we have 250 sunny days."

The result is a far cry from  a traditional India kitchen that uses gas, kerosene⁵ or fire wood.

"It's so much cleaner now.", says the chef who has been cooking at the temple kitchen for 15 years. "I like the solar cookers"

"50 percent of the world population, not only of India, cooks with open fire."

But here, there is no soot,  no smoke, no trees cut down for wood, no carbon dioxide emitted by burning fuel. There are financial benefits too. From the housewife who uses a one-pot solar cooker to this , the world's largest system, there is less money spent on cooking oil. In Shirdi, the cookers save hundreds of kilograms of oil everyday. That's a monthly saving of almost 7,000 dollars, eventually, it's down to economics.

Mallika Kapur, Shirdi, Western India.
 

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

5 kerosene   

n.(kerosine)煤油，火油

参考例句：

• It is like putting out a fire with kerosene.这就像用煤油灭火。
• Instead of electricity,there were kerosene lanterns.没有电，有煤油灯。