【英语时差8,16】开发喷气：一种新能源？

Tapping The Jet Stream: A New Energy Source? In 2008, wind turbines generated one percent of the world’s electricity. But just imagine what could happen if we could harness the wind in jet streams–strong winds 30,000 feet up in the atmosphere focused in narrow bands circling the world. Scientists think that jet streams harbor enough energy to power the world many times over. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to capture all that windy power. Which is where kites come in. Not just any kites, mind you. We’re talking about flying wind turbines, like the kind on the ground with propellers¹ spun² by wind, but much lighter,of course. The flying turbines would harness high altitude winds and transmit energy in the form of electricity through a tether attached to the ground. That’s one possible scheme, anyhow. Whether it’s doable remains³ to be seen. But scientists do know that there are jet streams above massive populations centers like New York City, Tokyo, and Mexico City. That’s important because energy demand is highest where people live close together. Scientists think that with the right technology, jet streams could provide more than enough power for all of the world’s largest cities. One problem, though, is that however powerful, even jet streams slow down and speed up. So any jet stream power system would need a way to store excess energy and have a backup system in place. Still, high altitude winds are intriguing⁴ as a source of clean, renewable power. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to bring their abundant energy down to Earth.

1 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

2 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》