VOA慢速英语2014 'Exploding' Lake to Provide Power in Rwanda

 

AS IT IS 2014-09-08 'Exploding' Lake to Provide Power in Rwanda

Methane¹ gas from a lake in Rwanda may soon become a major supply of electricity.  Millions of people in that central African country could use the energy. An American company and the Rwandan government signed the power agreement in early August at the U.S.-Africa Summit² in Washington. The company is Symbion Power. The deal will provide electricity, and lower the risk of an environmental disaster at Lake Kivu.

There are three lakes in Africa that contain such high levels of carbon dioxide and methane gas that they are at risk of exploding. Two of them, Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun, are in Cameroon. They exploded in the 1980s. Carbon dioxide released³ in the Lake Nyos explosion⁴ killed more than 1,700 people.  Some victims were as far as 26 kilometers away.

Lake Kivu, in Rwanda, could have an even worse gas explosion.  That is because more than two million people live near the shores of Lake Kivu, including in the large towns of Goma and Gisenyi.

Paul Hinks is the chief of Symbion Power. Last month, the company agreed to build a power station at Lake Kivu. Mr. Hinks says it is important that the methane be removed from the lake before a disaster happens.

“The buildup of methane in Lake Kivu is a serious problem for Rwanda, so the plan for Lake Kivu is to turn methane gas into power.”

Scientists agree that the methane level must be lowered in Lake Kivu. But, there are worries that the act of pumping out the gas could cause problems.

“The problem is of course (if) you just put in a pipe and start sucking out the water and separating the methane and the CO2 from the water, there is a potential to create the very problem you’re trying to avoid, which is escape of the methane gas into the atmosphere.”

Symbion Power agrees that this is a risk. Mr. Hinks says his company will work to remove the gas safely.

“There’s a set of rules, if you like. They’re called lake management prescriptions⁵, and they cover all the issues that companies like us have to follow when they extract⁶ methane gas from the lake.”

Kibuye Power company already operates a small power center that uses the lake’s methane. Laurent Sibomana supervises⁷ the center in the town of Gisenyi. He told VOA it is not easy to remove methane gas from the lake.

Mr. Hinks says Symbion Power has experience working in difficult places, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He says it has the knowledge and money to succeed at Lake Kivu.

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 summit   

n.最高点，峰顶；最高级会议；极点

参考例句：

• They climbed up the mountain and reached the summit.他们爬山，最终达到了山顶。
• The summit of the mountain is lost in the cloud and mist.山顶隐没在云雾之中。

3 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

4 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

5 prescriptions   

药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划

参考例句：

• The hospital of traditional Chinese medicine installed a computer to fill prescriptions. 中医医院装上了电子计算机来抓药。
• Her main job was filling the doctor's prescriptions. 她的主要工作就是给大夫开的药方配药。

6 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。

7 supervises   

v.监督，管理( supervise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The group leader supervises a dozen workers. 组长管十二个工人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He makes the wines and supervises the vineyards. 他酿酒并管理葡萄园。 来自辞典例句