小小海藻竟是绿色环保新能源

EarthSky

Daniel Kammen: From our analysis, probably the most interesting feature of algae is that it's a wildcard. Since algae might be a big player, but right now, it'll take some breakthroughs for us to see that.

丹尼尔·科曼：我们分析发现藻类植物的最吸引人的特点在于其万能性。海藻或许举足轻重，但如今，一些突破性的进展让使我们见证这一点。

You are listening to Daniel Kammen. He is director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California-Berkeley and energy and policy advisor to the Obama administration. Dr. Kammen spoke to EarthSky about the potential of algae to meet future energy needs.

您正听到的是丹尼尔·科曼的讲述。他是加州伯利克大学可再生清洁能源实验室的主任，也是奥巴马的能源策略的顾问。科曼博士向EarthSky介绍了海藻应对未来能源需求的潜能。

Daniel Kammen: A variety of algae, actually the common pond scum to various plants, they produce different oils in their cell walls. And there can be large amounts of it. What we're talking about is harvesting those materials that look very similar to the kinds of biodiesels we produce right now.

丹尼尔·科曼：这里的各种藻类其实是指一般的绿藻类植物。它们的细胞壁会分泌各种不同的油，产量还不低。收集这些类似生物燃油的海藻油正我们要讨论的。

Kammen said oils from fast-growing algae could either be converted into liquid fuel that could run your car, or into more efficient hydrogen fuel. The idea is promising, he said, but the key to success is scaling up the technology.

科曼说从快速生长海藻中提炼的油既可以转为液态燃料供给汽车，也可以转为更高效的氢燃料。

Daniel Kammen: We can do it in the laboratory, in a Petri dish, no problem right now. Question is, can we do it at scale? And no one really knows.

丹尼尔·科曼：我们可以在实验室的培养皿中完整这个实验，没有问题。问题是我们能将规模放大吗？没人可以确定。

Kammen added that algae is significantly behind other renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, in terms of development.

科曼补充道，从发展角度讲，藻类还远远落后于其他诸如太阳能，风能等可再生能源。

Daniel Kammen: Even if algae performs at its theoretical maximum, it may not be a big enough deal soon enough.

丹尼尔·科曼：即使海藻油的产能达到理论最优，也不足以马上成为一个瞩目的焦点。