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Making Energy Like Plants Do 制造绿色能源：模仿植物就行了

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Scientists making progress on artificial photosynthesis  科学家在人工光合作用的研发上获得进展

Scientists who are seeking new sources of clean energy are trying to mimic the way plants and trees do it, by converting sunlight into fuel.

科学家为了寻求洁净能源的新来源，正试图模仿植物与树木的做法，把阳光转化为燃料。

Unlike standard solar panels on rooftops or arrays of solar collectors in the desert, this is a form of “artificial photosynthesis.” It tries to imitate the elaborate system that microbes, algae and green plants use.

不同于一般屋顶上的标准太阳板或沙漠里成排的太阳能收集器，科学家正在研发的这种做法是采用「人工光合作用」，试图模仿微生物、藻类和绿色植物所采用的繁复系统。

If it works, artificial photosynthesis could help reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels without generating climate-warming greenhouse gases.

人工光合作用如果行得通，将有助于减少世界对化石燃料的依赖，又不会产生造成气候暖化的温室气体。

Daisy-chain molecules generating hydrogen  菊链交互连结的分子产生氢气

Tom Mallouk, a professor of chemistry and physics at Pennsylvania State University, has built an experimental device that uses light to launch a daisy-chain of tiny molecules that pass electrons – the particles that carry electrical energy – from one to another. When the electrons reach the end of the chain, they take part in a chemical process that generates hydrogen, which can be stored for use later as a fuel, he explained.

宾州州立大学化学与物理教授汤姆．墨拉克制作了一部实验仪器，可利用光线启动一组以菊链交互连结的微小分子，让这些分子一一传递电子这种带有电力的粒子。他说明指出，电子一旦抵达菊链末端，就会参与一项化学作用而产生氢，于是这些氢就可储存下来以供日后当做燃料使用。

Mallouk’s molecular clusters are about 2 nanometers (billionths of a meter) in size. They float amid red-orange dyes that absorb sunlight and use its energy to split water into its basic elements, oxygen and hydrogen.

墨拉克的分子串长约两奈米（十亿分之一公尺）。这些分子串漂浮在能够吸收阳光的橘红色染料里，再利用阳光的能量把水分解成基本组成元素：氧和氢。

Manganese atoms break water molecules  锰原子可分解水分子

Yet another preliminary technique is being tested by an international team of scientists. They use a molecular cluster containing atoms of manganese, a chemical used in plant photosynthesis to help break water molecules apart into hydrogen and oxygen.

一个由科学家组成的国际团队也在测试另一项初步技术。他们利用锰原子这种植物光合作用中会用到的化学元素，让带有锰原子的分子串协助把水分子分解成氢与氧。

Later, the oxygen and hydrogen may be recombined in a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power a house or electric car, day or night.

接下来，氧和氢即可在燃料电池中重新结合，产生无碳电力以供应房屋或电力车的能源，不分日夜。

“We have copied nature, taking the elements and mechanisms found in plant life and re-creating one of those processes in the laboratory,” said Leone Spiccia, one of the team’s leaders. “The production of hydrogen using nothing but water and sunlight offers the possibility of an abundant, renewable, green source of energy for the future.”

「我们模仿了自然界，利用植物生命周期中所用到的元素和运作机制，而在实验室里重建了这种程序之一，」团队领导人之一的雷欧内．斯毕奇亚说：「单纯利用水和阳光产生氢的做法，让我们得以为未来创造出丰富、可再生的绿色能源。」

－by Robert S. Boy

单词发音

More Information

photosynthesis [͵fotəˋsɪnθəsɪs] n. 光合作用

elaborate [ɪˋlæbə͵ret] adj. 精心制作的

microbe [ˋmaɪkrob] n. 微生物

algae [`ældʒi] n. 藻类（植物）

daisy-chain [ˋdezɪtʃen] n. 相互联系的一系列

cluster [ˋklʌstɚ] n.（葡萄等的）串，（花等的）束，簇

manganese [͵mæŋgəˋniz] n. 锰

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

mimic [ˋmɪmɪk] v. 模仿 to copy the way in which a person or object usually does something, such as speaking or moving

generate [ˋdʒɛnə͵ret] v. 产生 to cause something to exist

preliminary [prɪˋlɪmə͵nɛrɪ] adj. 初步的 coming before a more important action or event, especially introducing or preparing for it

Penn State's Thomas E. Mallouk discusses solar energy research