高中英語(yǔ)閱讀理解拓展之風(fēng)力發(fā)電

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　　Wind Energy -- Energy from Moving Air

　　Wind is simple air in motion. It is caused by the uneven heating of the earth surface by the sun. Since the earth surface is made of very different types of land and water, it absorbs the sun heat at different rates.

　　During the day, the air above the land heats up more quickly than the air over water. The warm air over the land expands and rises, and the heavier, cooler air rushes in to take its place, creating winds. At night, the winds are reversed because the air cools more rapidly over land than over water.

　　In the same way, the large atmospheric winds that circle the earth are created because the land near the earth's equator is heated more by the sun than the land near the North and South Poles.

　　Today, wind energy is mainly used to generate electricity. Wind is called a renewable energy source because the wind will blow as long as the sun shines.

　　The History of Wind

　　Since ancient times, people have harnessed the winds energy. Over 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians used wind to sail ships on the Nile River. Later, people built windmills to grind wheat and other grains. The earliest known windmills were in Persia (Iran). These early windmills looked like large paddle wheels. Centuries later, the people of Holland improved the basic design of the windmill. They gave it propeller-type blades, still made with sails. Holland is famous for its windmills. American colonists used windmills to grind wheat and corn, to pump water, and to cut wood at sawmills. As late as the 1920s, Americans used small windmills to generate electricity in rural areas without electric service. When power lines began to transport electricity to rural areas in the 1930s, local windmills were used less and less, though they can still be seen on some Western ranches.

　　The oil shortages of the 1970s changed the energy picture for the country and the world. It created an interest in alternative energy sources, paving the way for the re-entry of the windmill to generate electricity. In the early 1980s wind energy really took off in California, partly because of state policies that encouraged renewable energy sources. Support for wind development has since spread to other states, but California still produces more than twice as much wind energy as any other state.

　　The first offshore wind park in the United States is planned for an area off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (read an article about the Cape Cod Wind Project).

　　How Wind Machines Work

　　Like old fashioned windmills, today wind machines use blades to collect the wind kinetic energy. Windmills work because they slow down the speed of the wind. The wind flows over the airfoil shaped blades causing lift, like the effect on airplane wings, causing them to turn. The blades are connected to a drive shaft that turns an electric generator to produce electricity.

　　With the new wind machines, there is still the problem of what to do when the wind is blowing. At those times, other types of power plants must be used to make electricity.

　　Wind Power Plan

　　Wind power plants, or wind farms as they are sometimes called, are clusters of wind machines used to produce electricity. A wind farm usually has dozens of wind machines scattered over a large area. The Big Spring Wind Power Project in Texas has 46 wind turbines that generate enough electricity to power 7,300 homes.

　　Unlike power plants, many wind plants are not owned by public utility companies. Instead they are owned and operated by business people who sell the electricity produced on the wind farm to electric utilities. These private companies are known as Independent Power Producers.

　　Operating a wind power plant is not as simple as just building a windmill in a windy place. Wind plant owners must carefully plan where to locate their machines. One important thing to consider is how fast and how much the wind blows.

　　As a rule, wind speed increases with altitude and over open areas with no windbreaks. Good sites for wind plants are the tops of smooth, rounded hills, open plains or shorelines, and mountain gaps that produce wind funneling.

　　Wind speed varies throughout the country. It also varies from season to season. In Tehachapi, California, the wind blows more from April through October than it does in the winter. This is because of the extreme heating of the Mojave Desert during the summer months. The hot air over the desert rises, and the cooler, denser air above the Pacific Ocean rushes through the Tehachapi mountain pass to take its place. In a state like Montana, on the other hand, the wind blows more during the winter. Fortunately, these seasonal variations are a good match for the electricity demands of the regions. In California, people use more electricity during the summer for air conditioners. In Montana, people use more electricity during the winter months for heating.

　　Wind Production

　　All together, wind machines in the United States generate 17 billion kWh per year of electricity, enough to serve 1.6 million households. This is enough electricity to power a city the size of Chicago, but it is only a small fraction of the nation's total electricity production, about 0.4 percent. The amount of electricity generated from wind has been growing fast in recent years, tripling since 1998. New technologies have decreased the cost of producing electricity from wind, and growth in wind power has been encouraged by tax breaks for renewable energy and green pricing programs. Many utilities around the country offer green pricing options that allow customers the choice to pay more for electricity that comes from renewable sources.

　　Wind machines generate electricity in 30 different states. The states with the most wind production are California, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wyoming.

　　The United States ranks third in the world in wind power capacity, behind Germany and Spain. Most of the wind power plants in the world are located in Europe and in the United States where government programs have helped support wind power development.

　　Wind and the Environment

　　In the 1970s, oil shortages pushed the development of alternative energy sources. In the 1990s, the push came from a renewed concern for the environment in response to scientific studies indicating potential changes to the global climate if the use of fossil fuels continues to increase. Wind energy offers a viable, economical alternative to conventional power plants in many areas of the country. Wind is a clean fuel; wind farms produce no air or water pollution because no fuel is burned.

　　The most serious environmental drawbacks to wind machines may be their negative effect on wild bird populations and the visual impact on the landscape. To some, the glistening blades of windmills on the horizon are an eyesore; to others, they are a beautiful alternative to conventional power plants.

　　風(fēng)能——來(lái)自移動(dòng)空氣的能量

　　風(fēng)是運(yùn)動(dòng)中的簡(jiǎn)單空氣。它是由太陽(yáng)不均勻地加熱地球表面造成的。由于地球表面由不同類(lèi)型的陸地和水組成，它以不同的速率吸收太陽(yáng)熱量。

　　白天，陸地上的空氣比水面上的空氣升溫更快。陸地上的暖空氣膨脹上升，較重的冷空氣沖進(jìn)來(lái)取而代之，形成風(fēng)。在晚上，風(fēng)是反向的，因?yàn)榭諝庠陉懙厣媳仍谒嫔侠鋮s得更快。

　　同樣地，環(huán)繞地球的大的大氣風(fēng)是因?yàn)榈厍虺嗟栏浇年懙乇饶媳眱蓸O附近的陸地更容易被太陽(yáng)加熱而產(chǎn)生的。

　　如今，風(fēng)能主要用于發(fā)電。風(fēng)被稱(chēng)為可再生能源，因?yàn)橹灰?yáng)光照耀，風(fēng)就會(huì)吹。

　　風(fēng)的歷史

　　自古以來(lái)，人們就利用風(fēng)能。5000多年前，古埃及人用風(fēng)在尼羅河上駕駛船只。后來(lái)，人們建造風(fēng)車(chē)來(lái)碾磨小麥和其他谷物。已知最早的風(fēng)車(chē)是在波斯(伊朗)。這些早期的風(fēng)車(chē)看起來(lái)像大槳輪。幾個(gè)世紀(jì)后，荷蘭人民改進(jìn)了風(fēng)車(chē)的基本設(shè)計(jì)。他們給了它螺旋槳式的葉片，仍然用帆制成。荷蘭以風(fēng)車(chē)聞名。美國(guó)殖民者用風(fēng)車(chē)碾磨小麥和玉米，抽水，在鋸木廠砍柴。早在20世紀(jì)20年代，美國(guó)人就在沒(méi)有電力服務(wù)的農(nóng)村地區(qū)使用小型風(fēng)車(chē)發(fā)電。上世紀(jì)30年代，當(dāng)電力線開(kāi)始向農(nóng)村地區(qū)輸送電力時(shí)，當(dāng)?shù)氐娘L(fēng)車(chē)使用越來(lái)越少，不過(guò)在一些西方牧場(chǎng)上仍然可以看到風(fēng)車(chē)。

　　20世紀(jì)70年代的石油短缺改變了這個(gè)國(guó)家和世界的能源狀況。它引起了人們對(duì)替代能源的興趣，為風(fēng)車(chē)重新進(jìn)入發(fā)電領(lǐng)域鋪平了道路。20世紀(jì)80年代初，風(fēng)能在加利福尼亞州真正興起，部分原因是加州鼓勵(lì)使用可再生能源的政策。對(duì)風(fēng)能開(kāi)發(fā)的支持已經(jīng)擴(kuò)展到其他州，但加州的風(fēng)能產(chǎn)量仍然是其他州的兩倍多。

　　美國(guó)第一個(gè)海上風(fēng)電場(chǎng)計(jì)劃建在馬薩諸塞州科德角海岸附近的地區(qū)(閱讀一篇關(guān)于科德角風(fēng)電場(chǎng)項(xiàng)目的文章)。

　　風(fēng)力機(jī)的工作原理

　　像老式的風(fēng)車(chē)一樣，今天的風(fēng)力機(jī)使用葉片來(lái)收集風(fēng)能。風(fēng)車(chē)工作是因?yàn)樗鼈儨p慢了風(fēng)速。風(fēng)在翼型葉片上流動(dòng)，引起升力，就像對(duì)飛機(jī)機(jī)翼的影響一樣，使它們轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)。葉片與驅(qū)動(dòng)軸相連，驅(qū)動(dòng)軸轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)發(fā)電機(jī)發(fā)電。

　　有了新的風(fēng)力機(jī)，還存在著風(fēng)吹時(shí)該怎么辦的問(wèn)題。那時(shí)，必須使用其他類(lèi)型的發(fā)電廠發(fā)電。

　　風(fēng)力發(fā)電計(jì)劃

　　風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠，或有時(shí)被稱(chēng)為風(fēng)電場(chǎng)，是用來(lái)發(fā)電的風(fēng)力機(jī)集群。一個(gè)風(fēng)電場(chǎng)通常有幾十臺(tái)風(fēng)力機(jī)分散在一個(gè)大的區(qū)域。德克薩斯州的大春風(fēng)電項(xiàng)目有46個(gè)風(fēng)力渦輪機(jī)，它們產(chǎn)生的電力足以為7300戶家庭供電。

　　與發(fā)電廠不同的是，許多風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠并非由公用事業(yè)公司所有。取而代之的是，它們由商人擁有和經(jīng)營(yíng)，他們將風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠生產(chǎn)的電力出售給電力公司。這些私營(yíng)公司被稱(chēng)為獨(dú)立發(fā)電商。

　　操作風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠并不像在有風(fēng)的地方建一個(gè)風(fēng)車(chē)那么簡(jiǎn)單。風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠所有者必須仔細(xì)規(guī)劃?rùn)C(jī)器的位置。需要考慮的一個(gè)重要問(wèn)題是風(fēng)速有多快。

　　一般來(lái)說(shuō)，風(fēng)速隨著海拔高度和沒(méi)有防風(fēng)林的開(kāi)闊地區(qū)而增加。風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠的好地點(diǎn)是平滑的圓形山丘、開(kāi)闊的平原或海岸線以及產(chǎn)生風(fēng)漏斗的山間隙的頂部。

　　全國(guó)各地風(fēng)速不一。它也因季節(jié)而異。在加州的特哈查比，從4月到10月的風(fēng)比冬天刮得多。這是因?yàn)橄募灸f沙漠的極端高溫。沙漠上空的熱空氣上升，太平洋上空更冷、密度更大的空氣沖進(jìn)特哈查皮山口取而代之。另一方面，在蒙大拿州這樣的州，冬天風(fēng)刮得更多。幸運(yùn)的是，這些季節(jié)變化很好地滿足了這些地區(qū)的電力需求。在加利福尼亞，人們?cè)谙奶煊酶嗟碾妬?lái)開(kāi)空調(diào)。在蒙大拿州，人們?cè)诙居酶嗟碾娙∨?/p>

　　風(fēng)力發(fā)電

　　美國(guó)的風(fēng)機(jī)每年總共發(fā)電170億千瓦時(shí)，足以服務(wù)160萬(wàn)戶家庭。這足以為芝加哥這樣大的城市提供電力，但它只占全國(guó)總發(fā)電量的一小部分，約為0.4%。近年來(lái)，風(fēng)力發(fā)電量增長(zhǎng)迅速，自1998年以來(lái)增長(zhǎng)了兩倍。新技術(shù)降低了風(fēng)力發(fā)電的成本，可再生能源稅收減免和綠色定價(jià)計(jì)劃也鼓勵(lì)了風(fēng)力發(fā)電的增長(zhǎng)。全國(guó)各地的許多公用事業(yè)公司都提供綠色定價(jià)方案，讓客戶可以選擇支付更多來(lái)自可再生能源的電力。

　　風(fēng)力機(jī)在30個(gè)不同的州發(fā)電。風(fēng)力發(fā)電最多的州是加利福尼亞州、德克薩斯州、明尼蘇達(dá)州、愛(ài)荷華州和懷俄明州。

　　美國(guó)的風(fēng)力發(fā)電能力位居世界第三，僅次于德國(guó)和西班牙。世界上大多數(shù)風(fēng)力發(fā)電廠都位于歐洲和美國(guó)，在那里，政府項(xiàng)目幫助支持風(fēng)力發(fā)電的發(fā)展。

　　風(fēng)與環(huán)境

　　20世紀(jì)70年代，石油短缺推動(dòng)了替代能源的發(fā)展。上世紀(jì)90年代，科學(xué)研究表明，如果化石燃料的使用繼續(xù)增加，全球氣候可能會(huì)發(fā)生變化，而人們對(duì)環(huán)境的重新關(guān)注正是對(duì)此的回應(yīng)。在中國(guó)的許多地區(qū)，風(fēng)能為傳統(tǒng)發(fā)電廠提供了一種可行、經(jīng)濟(jì)的替代方案。風(fēng)是一種清潔的燃料;風(fēng)電場(chǎng)不會(huì)產(chǎn)生空氣或水污染，因?yàn)闆](méi)有燃料被燃燒。

　　風(fēng)力機(jī)最嚴(yán)重的環(huán)境缺陷可能是其對(duì)野生鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)種群的負(fù)面影響和對(duì)景觀的視覺(jué)影響。對(duì)一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，地平線上閃閃發(fā)光的風(fēng)車(chē)葉片令人眼花繚亂;對(duì)另一些人來(lái)說(shuō)，它們是傳統(tǒng)發(fā)電廠的美麗替代品。