What I'm going to do is, I'm going to explain to you an extreme green concept that was developed at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. But before I do that, we have to go over the definition of what green is, 'cause a lot of us have a different definition of it. Green. The product is created through environmentally and socially conscious means. There's plenty of things that are being called green now. What does it actually mean? We use three metrics to determine green. The first metric is: Is it sustainable? Which means, are you preserving what you are doing for future use or for future generations? Is it alternative? Is it different than what is being used today, or does it have a lower carbon footprint than what's used conventionally? And three: Is it renewable? Does it come from Earth's natural replenishing resources, such as sun, wind and water?
各位,我將在此向您介紹一種 極其綠色環保的概念, 源自太空總署格倫研究中心, 位於俄亥俄州克利夫蘭。 但在正式開始前,我們必須先就 何為綠色環保下個明確定義, 因為每個人對此都有不同的定義。 綠色環保:該產物是以 具環保和社會意識的方式創造出來。 目前,稱為綠色環保的產物很多。 究竟什麼才是真正的綠色環保? 我們從三項指標判斷。 第一:它是否具備永續性? 也就是說,您是否保留了資源給將來 或給下一代使用? 它是否可替代?是否不同於 目前使用的物質, 相較於傳統用途, 其產生的碳足跡是否更少? 第三:是否可循環利用? 是否取自地球上 可再生的自然資源, 例如陽光、風和水資源?
Now, my task at NASA is to develop the next generation of aviation fuels. Extreme green. Why aviation? The field of aviation uses more fuel than just about every other combined. We need to find an alternative. Also it's a national aeronautics directive. One of the national aeronautics goals is to develop the next generation of fuels, biofuels, using domestic and safe, friendly resources. Now, combating that challenge we have to also meet the big three metric — Actually, extreme green for us is all three together; that's why you see the plus there. I was told to say that. So it has to be the big three at GRC. That's another metric. Ninety-seven percent of the world's water is saltwater. How about we use that? Combine that with number three. Do not use arable land. Because crops are already growing on that land that's very scarce around the world. Number two: Don't compete with food crops. That's already a well established entity, they don't need another entry. And lastly the most precious resource we have on this Earth is fresh water. Don't use fresh water. If 97.5 percent of the world's water is saltwater, 2.5 percent is fresh water. Less than a half percent of that is accessible for human use. But 60 percent of the population lives within that one percent.
目前,我在太空總署負責的工作就是 開發新一代航空燃料。 必須是極其綠色環保。 為什麼是航空燃料? 因為航空領域的燃料使用量高於 其它各領域的合計用量。 尋找替代能源的行動刻不容緩。 這也是美國發佈的一項航空指令。 國家航天部門計劃達成的目標之一 是使用本國安全、環保的資源, 開發新一代生質燃料。 如今,為了迎戰此項挑戰 我們還必須滿足這三項重要指標。 事實上,對我們而言極其綠色 就是同時滿足這三大指標, 這也是你看到「加號」的原因。 有人說應該這麼表達。 所以在格倫你必須達到這三大標準。 還有另一項準則。 97% 的地球水資源是海水。 我們該如何利用呢? 試試從第三點要求出發。 不得使用耕地。 因為耕地主要用於農作物生長 目前耕地已成為地球上的稀缺資源。 第二:不得影響其它糧食作物。 地球已經是一個成型的實體, 不需要外來物入侵。 最後一點,地球上最寶貴的資源 就是淡水。 所以,不得使用淡水。 如果海水資源 占地球水資源的 97.5%, 那麼淡水資源只有 2.5%。 其中可供人類開發利用的 連一半都不到。 而這僅有的 1% 還需要供養全球 60% 的人口。
So, combating my problem was, now I have to be extreme green and meet the big three. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the GreenLab Research Facility. This is a facility dedicated to the next generation of aviation fuels using halophytes. A halophyte is a salt-tolerating plant. Most plants don't like salt, but halophytes tolerate salt. We also are using weeds and we are also using algae. The good thing about our lab is, we've had 3,600 visitors in the last two years. Why do you think that's so? Because we are on to something special.
所以,要解決我的難題, 就必須做到極其綠色環保, 並能達到這三大要求。 女士們,先生們, 歡迎參觀「綠實驗室」研究中心。 我們中心主要利用鹽土植物 生產新一代航空燃料。 鹽土植物是一種抗鹽植物。 大部分植物都不具備抗鹽性, 但鹽土植物可以。 我們同樣也使用雜草, 我們也使用藻類。 好消息是過去兩年, 已有 3,600 名參觀者來訪。 為什麼是好消息呢? 因為我們可是在做一件了不起的事。
So, in the lower you see the GreenLab obviously, and on the right hand side you'll see algae. If you are into the business of the next generation of aviation fuels, algae is a viable option, there's a lot of funding right now, and we have an algae to fuels program. There's two types of algae growing. One is a closed photobioreactor that you see here, and what you see on the other side is our species — we are currently using a species called Scenedesmus dimorphus. Our job at NASA is to take the experimental and computational and make a better mixing for the closed photobioreactors. Now the problems with closed photobioreactors are: They are quite expensive, they are automated, and it's very difficult to get them in large scale. So on large scale what do they use? We use open pond systems. Now, around the world they are growing algae, with this racetrack design that you see here. Looks like an oval with a paddle wheel and mixes really well, but when it gets around the last turn, which I call turn four — it's stagnant. We actually have a solution for that. In the GreenLab in our open pond system we use something that happens in nature: waves. We actually use wave technology on our open pond systems. We have 95 percent mixing and our lipid content is higher than a closed photobioreactor system, which we think is significant.
位於下方的是綠實驗室, 右側的就是藻類。 如果您也在從事新一代 航空燃料的研發工作, 那麼藻類會是一項不錯的選擇, 目前已撥了不少專款, 我們就選了一種用於燃料研發。 我們正在種植的藻類共有兩種。 一種是您看到的利用封閉型 光生物反應器種植的藻類, 而在另一側的, 是我們特別種植的品種—— 目前我們正在使用一種 叫做二形柵藻的藻類。 我們在太空總署的工作 是進行試驗和計算, 找出更適宜用於 封閉光生物反應器的混合物。 目前用封閉光生物反應器的問題有: 設備成本高,都採用自動化操作, 難以用於大規模生產。 那麼,大規模生產要用什麼? 我們利用露天池塘系統。 目前,世界各地 都採用您所見到的 賽車跑道型池塘養殖藻類。 它看上去像橢圓形, 裝了水車且攪拌順暢, 但當它轉到最後一圈, 就是我所說的第四圈時,就會卡住。 對於這一點我們已有一個解決方案。 在綠實驗室的露天池塘系統 我們利用自然現象:波浪。 我們真的把波浪技術 用在我們的露天池塘系統。 我們的攪拌率達 95%, 而我們的油脂含量更高, 相較於封閉光合反應器系統, 在我們看來這點很重要。
There is a drawback to algae, however: It's very expensive. Is there a way to produce algae inexpensively? And the answer is: yes. We do the same thing we do with halophytes, and that is: climatic adaptation. In our GreenLab we have six primary ecosystems that range from freshwater all the way to saltwater. What we do: We take a potential species, we start at freshwater, we add a little bit more salt, when the second tank here will be the same ecosystem as Brazil — right next to the sugar cane fields you can have our plants — the next tank represents Africa, the next tank represents Arizona, the next tank represents Florida, and the next tank represents California or the open ocean. What we are trying to do is to come up with a single species that can survive anywhere in the world, where there's barren desert. We are being very successful so far.
使用藻類也有弊端: 它的成本較高。 是否有成本更低的藻類養殖方法? 答案是當然有。 我們把對待鹽土植物的方法 照搬到藻類, 即:氣候適應性。 綠實驗室分六大主要生態系統, 從淡水向鹽水延伸。 我們的方法是拿一種 具潛力的物種,先用淡水養, 在第二個培養池則加一點鹽, 使其生態系統與巴西相同, 即模擬甘蔗田旁的環境, 來培育我們的藻類。 下一個培養池模擬非洲, 再下一個是亞利桑那州, 然後是佛羅里達州, 最後則模擬加州或公海。 我們的目的是找出一種 可在世界各地都能活的物種, 包括荒漠地帶。 目前我們已卓有成效。
Now, here's one of the problems. If you are a farmer, you need five things to be successful: You need seeds, you need soil, you need water and you need sun, and the last thing that you need is fertilizer. Most people use chemical fertilizers. But guess what? We do not use chemical fertilizer. Wait a second! I just saw lots of greenery in your GreenLab. You have to use fertilizer. Believe it or not, in our analysis of our saltwater ecosystems 80 percent of what we need are in these tanks themselves. The 20 percent that's missing is nitrogen and phosphorous. We have a natural solution: fish. No we don't cut up the fish and put them in there. Fish waste is what we use. As a matter of fact we use freshwater mollies, that we've used our climatic adaptation technique from freshwater all the way to seawater. Freshwater mollies: cheap, they love to make babies, and they love to go to the bathroom. And the more they go to the bathroom, the more fertilizer we get, the better off we are, believe it or not. It should be noted that we use sand as our soil, regular beach sand. Fossilized coral.
但還有一個問題有待解決。 如果你是個農民,就需要 五樣東西確保收成: 種子、土壤、水和陽光, 最後就是肥料。 大部分人使用化肥。 但你們可能不知道吧? 我們不使用化肥。 等一下!我才在綠實驗室看到很多 綠色植物,不可能不使用化肥。 無論你信不信,我們對鹽水 生態系統的分析發現, 我們 80% 的所需物質 可在這些培養池自行生成。 其餘缺少的 20% 是氮和磷。 有一種天然方法可以解決:養魚。 當然不是把魚剁碎放在那裡。 我們利用的是魚排出的廢物。 實際上我們使用淡水花鱂, 但通過氣候適應性技術 將其養在從淡水到海水的池子裡。 淡水花鱂價格低廉,很愛生小孩, 而且好喜歡上廁所。 而且牠們去廁所愈多次, 我們獲得的肥料就愈多, 我們藻類就養得愈好, 信不信由你。 還有一點必須注意的是 我們用沙土作為土壤, 採用普通沙灘沙,珊瑚化石。
So a lot of people ask me, "How did you get started?" Well, we got started in what we call the indoor biofuels lab. It's a seedling lab. We have 26 different species of halophytes, and five are winners. What we do here is — actually it should be called a death lab, 'cause we try to kill the seedlings, make them rough — and then we come to the GreenLab. What you see in the lower corner is a wastewater treatment plant experiment that we are growing, a macro-algae that I'll talk about in a minute. And lastly, it's me actually working in the lab to prove to you I do work, I don't just talk about what I do. Here's the plant species. Salicornia virginica. It's a wonderful plant. I love that plant. Everywhere we go we see it. It's all over the place, from Maine all the way to California. We love that plant. Second is Salicornia bigelovii. Very difficult to get around the world. It is the highest lipid content that we have, but it has a shortcoming: It's short. Now you take europaea, which is the largest or the tallest plant that we have. And what we are trying to do with natural selection or adaptive biology — combine all three to make a high-growth, high-lipid plant. Next, when a hurricane decimated the Delaware Bay — soybean fields gone — we came up with an idea: Can you have a plant that has a land reclamation positive in Delaware? And the answer is yes. It's called seashore mallow. Kosteletzkya virginica — say that five times fast if you can. This is a 100 percent usable plant. The seeds: biofuels. The rest: cattle feed. It's there for 10 years; it's working very well. Now we get to Chaetomorpha. This is a macro-algae that loves excess nutrients. If you are in the aquarium industry you know we use it to clean up dirty tanks. This species is so significant to us. The properties are very close to plastic. We are trying right now to convert this macro-algae into a bioplastic. If we are successful, we will revolutionize the plastics industry.
有很多人問我: 「你們是怎麼起步的?」 一切都起源於我們的 室內生質燃料實驗室。 這是一座種苗實驗室。我們已有 26 種不同的鹽土植物品種, 並有 5 種極有展望。 我們目前在進行的 可說是死亡實驗, 因為我們設法將幼苗殺死, 讓它們能忍耐惡劣環境, 然後再轉移到綠實驗室。 您可以在下方角落處看到 我們利用污水處理方法 培植大型藻類的實驗, 稍後我會談及。 最後,是我親手在實驗室操作一切, 證明我真的有做事, 我不是出張嘴就好。 現在這是第一種植物: 美國珊瑚草。 這是種絕妙的植物,我愛死了。 無論到哪兒我們都會看到它。 到處都是。 從緬因州到加州都能看到。 我們喜歡這種植物。 第二種是畢氏海蓬子。 世界各地都很難看到。 它在我們所有植物當中 脂質含量最高, 但有個短處:太短太矮了。 現在你看到的是海蓬子, 我們擁有的最大或最高的植物。 我們試圖 用天擇或適應生物學, 將三者合一 培育出長的高、脂質高的植物。 接下來,颶風侵襲德拉瓦灣後, 大豆農田消失了, 我們有了一個想法: 我們能不能找到 一種利於德拉瓦州土地 墾植的植物?答案是肯定的。 它叫做海濱錦葵。海濱錦葵— 用你最快的速度說五遍。 這種植物百分之百可利用。 種子當生質燃料。其餘當牛草料。 它已在那長了十年;實用性非常好。 現在我們看一下硬毛藻。 這是一種大藻類,就愛營養過剩。 如果你從事水族產業, 你就知道我們用它清潔髒水池。 這個物種對我們意義重大。 它的特性和塑膠非常接近。 目前我們正在嘗試把這種 大藻類轉化成生物塑膠。 如果我們成功了, 我們將會革新塑膠工業。
So, we have a seed to fuel program. We have to do something with this biomass that we have. And so we do G.C. extraction, lipid optimization, so on and so forth, because our goal really is to come up with the next generation of aviation fuels, aviation specifics, so on and so forth. So far we talked about water and fuel, but along the way we found out something interesting about Salicornia: It's a food product. So we talk about ideas worth spreading, right? How about this: In sub-Saharan Africa, next to the sea, saltwater, barren desert, how about we take that plant, plant it, half use for food, half use for fuel. We can make that happen, inexpensively. You can see there's a greenhouse in Germany that sells it as a health food product. This is harvested, and in the middle here is a shrimp dish, and it's being pickled. So I have to tell you a joke. Salicornia is known as sea beans, saltwater asparagus and pickle weed. So we are pickling pickle weed in the middle. Oh, I thought it was funny. (Laughter) And at the bottom is seaman's mustard. It does make sense, this is a logical snack. You have mustard, you are a seaman, you see the halophyte, you mix it together, it's a great snack with some crackers. And last, garlic with Salicornia, which is what I like. So, water, fuel and food.
所以,我們有「種子變燃料」計畫。 我們必須用這種生質做些什麼。 所以我們做氣相層析萃取, 脂質優化等實驗。 因為我們真正的目標是研發出 下一代航空燃油, 航空專用產品等等。 目前為止我們討論了水和燃料, 但是隨著時間推移我們發現 一件和海蓬子有關的趣事: 這是一種食品。 所以我們在談值得傳播的想法,對吧? 這樣如何?在撒哈拉以南的非洲, 靠近海邊,鹽水, 貧瘠的沙漠,我們不妨帶這種植物去, 進行種植,一半用於食物, 一半用於燃料。 我們可以做到這點,這很便宜。 你們可以看到,德國有一個溫室, 把它當成健康食品出售。 這是採下來的,中間是 一道蝦菜,正在醃製中。 我得給大家說個笑話。 海蓬子又被稱為海菜豆, 海蘆筍和鹽角草。 所以我們在中間鹽漬鹽角草。 哦,我還以為這很好笑。(笑聲) 最後是水手的芥菜。 這樣說是有道理的, 這是一種想當然爾的點心, 你有芥菜, 你是一名水手,你看到這種 耐鹽植物,把它混在一起, 和薄脆餅搭配是道很好的點心。 最後,就是我喜歡的蒜漬海蓬子。 因此,水,燃料,食物。
None of this is possible without the GreenLab team. Just like the Miami Heat has the big three, we have the big three at NASA GRC. That's myself, professor Bob Hendricks, our fearless leader, and Dr. Arnon Chait. The backbone of the GreenLab is students. Over the last two years we've had 35 different students from around the world working at GreenLab. As a matter fact my division chief says a lot, "You have a green university." I say, "I'm okay with that, 'cause we are nurturing the next generation of extreme green thinkers, which is significant."
對於綠實驗室團隊,一切都有可能。 正如邁阿密熱火隊有三巨頭一樣, 太空總署的綠實驗室也有三巨頭。 就是我,我們無所畏懼的隊長 韓巴柏教授和夏安農博士。 綠實驗室的支柱是學生。 在過去兩年中我們 有過 35 個學生, 他們來自世界各地, 在綠實驗室工作。 事實上,我們的主任經常說: 「你在辦一所綠色大學。」 我說:「我同意您的說法, 因為我們在培育 下一代頂尖的 環保思想家,這點很重要。」
So, in first summary I presented to you what we think is a global solution for food, fuel and water. There's something missing to be complete. Clearly we use electricity. We have a solution for you — We're using clean energy sources here. So, we have two wind turbines connected to the GreenLab, we have four or five more hopefully coming soon. We are also using something that is quite interesting — there is a solar array field at NASA's Glenn Research Center, hasn't been used for 15 years. Along with some of my electrical engineering colleagues, we realized that they are still viable, so we are refurbishing them right now. In about 30 days or so they'll be connected to the GreenLab.
所以,我想總結一下, 首先我向大家介紹了 我們認為一種食物、燃料和水的 全球化解決方案。 這其中漏了一樣東西。 很明顯,我們使用電能。 我們向各位介紹一個解決方案—— 我們實驗室用的是清潔能源。 所以,我們有兩個風力發電組 和綠實驗室相連, 我們希望很快會有第四個、第五個。 我們也使用一些很有意思的東西。 太空總署格倫研究中心 有一個太陽能電池方陣, 15 年沒有用過了。 我和幾位電氣工程專業的同事, 我們意識到這個方陣還能使用, 於是我們正在翻新, 大約 30 天後它們將被接入綠實驗室。
And the reason why you see red, red and yellow, is a lot of people think NASA employees don't work on Saturday — This is a picture taken on Saturday. There are no cars around, but you see my truck in yellow. I work on Saturday. (Laughter) This is a proof to you that I'm working. 'Cause we do what it takes to get the job done, most people know that. Here's a concept with this: We are using the GreenLab for a micro-grid test bed for the smart grid concept in Ohio. We have the ability to do that, and I think it's going to work. So, GreenLab Research Facility. A self-sustainable renewable energy ecosystem was presented today. We really, really hope this concept catches on worldwide. We think we have a solution for food, water, fuel and now energy. Complete. It's extreme green, it's sustainable, alternative and renewable and it meets the big three at GRC: Don't use arable land, don't compete with food crops, and most of all, don't use fresh water.
大家之所以看到紅、紅和黃, 是因為許多人認為太空總署的員工 週六休息。 這是一張在週六拍的照片。 附近沒有汽車,但是大家能看到我的 黃色卡車。我週六工作的。(笑聲) 這是我在上班的證明。 因為我們竭盡全力去實現工作目標, 多數人知道這點。 有個與此相關的概念: 我們把綠實驗室接上 一座微型電網試驗場, 為了俄亥俄州的智慧電網概念。 我們有能力實現目標, 而且我認為它會卓有成效。 這就是綠實驗室研究中心。 今天我介紹了一個能 自給自足的可再生能源生態系統。 我們真的非常希望 這個概念會在世界範圍流行。 我們認為我們的解決方案覆蓋了 食物、水、燃料和新能源。很全面。 這個方案極其環保,而且具有 永續性、可替代性和可再生性。 它滿足格倫研究中心三大原則: 不占用耕地,不和糧食作物競爭, 以及不使用淡水。
So I get a lot of questions about, "What are you doing in that lab?" And I usually say, "None of your business, that's what I'm doing in the lab." (Laughter) And believe it or not, my number one goal for working on this project is I want to help save the world.
經常有人問我: 「你在那個實驗室做什麼?」 我通常會說:「我在實驗室裡做的事 和你一點關聯也沒有。」(笑聲) 信不信由你,我在這項計畫上的 頭號目標是 我想幫忙拯救這個世界。