VOA标准英语--Tidal Energy Taking Hold In England

WASHINGTON — 

A massive renewable energy project could change the seascape of the Welsh city of Swansea in coming years.

The plan is to encase the city's lagoon¹ in a horseshoe-shaped causeway that will serve as a giant tidal generator². The four-year project is massive, but if it is approved, it would create a long-term reliable source of clean energy.

The 9.5 kilometer horseshoe would literally³ ring the harbor of Swansea. Once in place, the huge tides on the English coast will be spinning turbines and creating huge amounts of energy.

"We open the gates in the tidal lagoon, let the water through the turbines, and we generate electricity. It's five Olympic swimming pools worth of electricity every second, and that generates enough electricity for 155,000 homes per year," Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon Power, said.

The core of the project is this massive generator that is equipped with more than 20, six-meter-high turbines that spin when the tide goes in and the tide goes out, four times a day.

That is energy the designers say residents can count on, unlike wind and solar which can be weather dependent.

"So that's the biggest difference between tidal power and, say, wind and solar power, is that the wind is intermittent⁴ and you get the sun during the day," Shorrock said. "With the tides, you always have certain electricity at certain times of the day and then that's staggered at shifts by 40 minutes every day."

The causeway will be created by slowly building it up with giant sandbags. On top of that, it will provide a 9-kilometer causeway for running, biking and sightseeing that proponents⁵ say will last hundreds of years.

"Once we build the breakwater wall, it's going to be there for the next 120 years. When we put the turbines in there, they're there for the next 120 years," Shorrock said. "So what's quite interesting about this piece of infrastructure⁶ is it's inter-generational. It'll last for the next five generations, producing power throughout its lifetime, working with the rhythm of the tide."

The project will cost an estimated 1.6 billion dollars, and take four years to build. But it will go a long way to replace aging nuclear plants and help the United Kingdom meet its clean energy goals.

1 lagoon   

n.泻湖，咸水湖

参考例句：

• The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
• This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。

2 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

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 intermittent   

adj.间歇的，断断续续的

参考例句：

• Did you hear the intermittent sound outside?你听见外面时断时续的声音了吗？
• In the daytime intermittent rains freshened all the earth.白天里，时断时续地下着雨，使整个大地都生气勃勃了。

5 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。