VOA慢速英语2015 巴勒斯坦人将有机废物转化成天然气做饭

AS IT IS 2015-09-18 Palestinians Turn Organic Waste into Gas for Cooking 巴勒斯坦人将有机废物转化成天然气做饭

Rural communities in developing countries often have trouble securing dependable supplies ofenergy for cooking and lighting¹. But energy exists every where organic waste is breaking down. It is just a question of how to harness or make use of it.

A Palestinian community in the West Bank has been successfully testing a device that turns foodand animal wastes into biogas. The village of al-Awja has no running water or electric power. Solarpanels provide energy from the sun, but not enough for cooking equipment. But as in many otherparts of the world, villagers keep chickens, cows or other animals.

Recently, about 40 families started using portable devices that turn food and animal waste intomethane gas. The European Union and the Peres Center for Peace provided money to pay for thedevices.

One villager says, “This is a very good machine… The machine provides us with 70 to 80 percent of the gas that we need for our household."

An Israeli company, HomeBioGas, designed the machine, called a bio-digester. Anaerobic³ bacteriaare added to the device the first time it is used. The bacteria helps break down organic waste. Thebio-digester creates enough methane² for cooking three meals a day. It also produces about 10liters of liquid organic fertilizer.

Biogas is smokeless and has no smell. In addition to cooking, biogas can be used to heat waterand for lighting devices. A built-in, hand-powered grinder helps break down the solid parts inhousehold waste.

The HomeBioGas system is designed for areas where the daily temperature does not drop below15 degrees Celsius⁴. The price is about $2,500, a somewhat pricey amount for most families. So,communities must depend on aid from governments or private donors⁵.

But the designers note the system can also be useful in more wealthy communities that haveorganic waste which can be turned into clean energy.

Words in this Story

organic – adj. related to living things; not using man-made chemicals

harness – v. to use something for a purpose

solar panel – n. a large, flat piece of equipment that uses the sun's light or heat to createelectricity

portable – adj. something that can be moved or transported

anaerobic – adj. living without air (for bacteria); strengthening muscles by forcing them to workvery hard in a brief time (for exercise)

1 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

2 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。

3 anaerobic   

adj.厌氧的

参考例句：

• Anaerobic respiration occurs only in particularly active tissues such as muscles during severe exercise. 厌氧呼吸只有在处于剧烈运动状态的肌肉等特别活跃的组织中才会发生。
• Infection,especially anaerobic infection, is much more apt to occur.感染，特别是厌氧感染很容易发生。

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 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》