Britain's first bus powered by human waste has taken to the streets.
近日,英国首辆靠人类粪便供能的新型环保巴士正式上路。
The 40-seater 'Bio-Bus' is fuelled by biomethane gas, generated by the treatment of sewage and food waste at a processing plant in the south west.
这辆40座的“生态巴士”靠人粪、垃圾等废物所产生的沼气驱动,沼气是在西南部的一个处理厂生成。
And a single tank of the gas - produced using the typical annual waste of just five people - is enough to power the vehicle for 190 miles (305km).
据悉,只需要相当于5个人一年的排便量便足够支撑巴士跑完190英里(约305千米)。
Today's maiden1 voyage saw the first passengers travel on the route from Bristol Airport to Bath, Somerset - a distance of around 20 miles (32km).
“大便巴士”于11月19日首次上路,将第一批乘客从布里斯托机场运送到了萨默塞特的巴斯,总距离约为20英里(约32千米)。
The gas is being produced at a Wessex Water sewerage plant, run by energy firm GENeco.
负责生产沼气的是GENeco能源公司管辖的威塞克斯污水处理厂。
Mohammed Saddiq, director of GENeco, told Bristol Post: 'Gas powered vehicles have an important role to play in improving air quality in UK cities.
GENeco能源公司负责人穆罕默德·萨迪克称:“这种由沼气供能的汽车对提升英国的空气质量很有帮助。”
'But the Bio-Bus goes further than that and is actually powered by people living in the local area, including quite possibly those on the bus itself.'
“但是生态巴士的意义更大,实际上生物巴士的动力是由生活在当地的居民所提供的,甚至很可能是车上的乘客提供的。”
The annual waste of a bus-load of people would provide enough power for a return journey from Land's End to John O'Groats, while producing fewer emissions2 than a diesel3 engine.
巴士一车人每年粪便产生的燃料,可供其往返英格兰西南的兰兹角到苏格兰陆地最北端的天涯海角,且排放量比柴油更少。
Charlotte Morton, chief executive of eco-friendly organisation4 Anaerobic5 Digestion6 and Bioresources Association, said: 'The bus also clearly shows that human poo and our wasted food are valuable resources.
英国生态环保组织厌氧消化和生物资源协会执行董事夏洛特·莫顿说:“生态巴士已经证明,人类粪便以及我们的被丢弃的食物都是宝贵的资源。”
'Food which is unsuitable for human consumption should be separately collected and recycled through anaerobic digestion into green gas and biofertilisers, not wasted in landfill sites or incinerators.'
“不适合人类食用的食物应被分开收集,通过厌氧消化回收成为环保气体和生化肥料,而不应被扔进垃圾填埋场或焚烧。”
GENeco this week also became the first company to start delivering gas generated from human waste directly to 8,300 homes by the national grid7.
与此同时,GENeco能源公司也成为首家向8300户家庭直接收集人类粪便产生的气体的公司。
The waste plant in Avonmouth, Bristol, treats 75 million cubic metres of sewage waste, and 35,000 tonnes of food waste, every year.
位于布里斯托的埃文茅斯一家垃圾处理厂每年处理掉7500万立方米的污水垃圾以及3.5万吨的食物垃圾。
Using anaerobic digestion the plant is able to produce 17 million tonnes of biomethane a year.
使用厌氧消化该处理厂一年能够生产1700万吨的生物沼气。
COULD POO SOON POWER OUR SMARTPHONES?
那么问题来了,不久的将来大便也能供能于我们的智能手机么?
Faeces could soon be used to power a future generation of mobile phones, scientists from the University of East Anglia have claimed.
东英格利亚大学的科学家已经表示,人类分辨在不久的将来确实能够为新一代的智能手机提供能源。
The researchers discovered a natural process that occurs within the bacteria found in poo, that could help improve ‘bio batteries’.
研究者们已经发现粪便中的细菌存在一种天然加工过程能够提升“生物电池”性能。
It is hoped the discovery could produce energy for portable technology, such as smartphones, mobiles, tablets and laptops.
希望通过该发现能在以后为一些如手机、平板、笔记本等便携式小家电提供能源。
1 maiden [ˈmeɪdn] 第7级 | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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2 emissions [ɪˈmɪʃənz] 第7级 | |
排放物( emission的名词复数 ); 散发物(尤指气体) | |
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3 diesel [ˈdi:zl] 第7级 | |
n.柴油发动机,内燃机 | |
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4 organisation [ˌɔ:gənaɪ'zeɪʃən] 第8级 | |
n.组织,安排,团体,有机休 | |
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5 anaerobic [ˌæneəˈrəʊbɪk] 第12级 | |
adj.厌氧的 | |
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