尸体火化可以发电
那我们中国岂不是可以把核电厂都拆了。到时候，大家的夜灯都是你们妈妈的妈妈的妈妈点给你们的，或者是爸爸的爸爸的爸爸点给你们的。
By Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer 娜塔莉·沃利奇欧芙（Natalie Wolchover), 《生活中的小秘密》特约撰稿人
02 December 2011 1:31 PM ET 2011年12月2日美国东部时间下午01:31
In Durham, England, corpses will soon be used to generate electricity. A crematorium is installing turbines in its burners that will convert waste heat from the combustion of each corpse into as much as 150 kilowatt-hours of juice — enough to power 1,500 televisions for an hour. The facility plans to sell the electricity to local power companies.
在英国的达勒姆（Durham），尸体很快就会被用来发电。火葬场在其燃烧器上安装了涡轮机，在每具尸体燃烧时，将产生出能量高达150千瓦小时的体液——足以为1,500台电视机供电一小时。火葬场计划把电力出售给当地的电力公司。
Some might find this concept creepy. Others might be pleased to learn that the process "makes cremation much greener by utilizing its by-products," in the words of cremation engineer Steve Looker, owner and chief executive officer of the Florida-based company B&L Cremation Systems, which is unaffiliated with the Durham enterprise.
有些人可能会感到这个概念会令人毛骨悚然。可是另一些人可能乐意了解这种处理尸体的过程，“利用尸体火化的副产品，使环境得到较好的绿化，” 这是佛罗里达州公司B＆L火葬系统的拥有者和首席执行官、火化工程师史蒂夫·咯可（Steve Looker）说的话，他的公司与达勒姆的企业没有什么关联。
In Europe, tightening regulations on crematorium emissions, coupled with the high price of energy, will lead more and more facilities to go the way of Durham in the future, Looker said. Will crematories in the United States follow suit?
咯可说，在欧洲对火葬场排放政策法规的收紧，再加上能源的高价格，将来会越来越多地采用达勒姆方式来处理尸体。美国火葬场会跟风吗？
According to Looker, whose company is currently testing different methods of utilizing cremation waste heat, the expensive turbine systems being installed in Durham are not yet economically viable for crematories here. "In the U.S., most crematories don't have enough through-put," he told Life's Little Mysteries. "Cremation in some parts of Europe is over 90 percent, but it is not over 50 percent yet here." That is, less than half of Americans opt for cremation. Most are buried. [How Long Do Mafia Victims Take to Dissolve in Acid?]
根据咯可的看法，他的公司目前正在测试利用火化尸体余热的不同方法，在达勒姆正在安装昂贵的涡轮机系统，它在经济上还不适用于在这里的火葬场。“在美国，大多数火葬场还没有被社会广泛地接受，” 他对《生活中的小秘密》说。“在欧洲，尸体火化在某些地区已经达到了90％以上，可是在这里还没有达到50％。” 也就是说，只有不到一半的美国人选择火葬。大部分还是采取土地掩埋的方法。 [黑手党怎样把受害者的尸体溶解于酸？ ]
Consequently, while burners in Europe typically run 24 hours day, ones in America operate only eight hours each day, Looker said. "A typical turbine system would cost somewhere between $250,000 to $500,000. If it's running 24 hours a day, that's a five-year payback. If it's running eight hours a day, that's a 15- or 20-year payback, which isn't feasible," he said.
因此，尽管在欧洲尸体燃烧器通常每天运行24小时，可是在美国的每天只运行8个小时，咯可说。“一个典型的涡轮机系统成本大体上在$ 250,000到$ 500,000之间 。如果它每天运行24小时，那么投资回收期只有5年；如果每天运行为8小时，投资回收期就要有15~20年，这是行不通的，”他说。
However, Looker is hopeful that the situation could change in the near future. "Over the next ten years, with the baby boomers coming through, cremation is going to reach 75 to 80 percent. Then, this might be feasible."
然而，咯可希望能在不久的将来，情况会有所改变。 “在未来十年，随着贫困一代的来到，尸体火化将要达到75％至80％。 那时，这种方法就可能成为可行的。 ”
Furthermore, a turbine designed by a company called Thermal Dynamic Engineering, which produces just 50 kilowatt-hours of energy but is much less expensive to install than the Durham system, will be available soon, Looker said.
此外，还有一家称作热动力工程公司所设计的涡轮机，燃烧一具尸体仅能生产出50千瓦小时的能量，可是其安装成本要比达勒姆系统低得多。它也将很快面市，咯可说。
Thus, it may come to pass that deceased baby boomers will someday help power your household appliances.
因此，有那么一天可能会通过死去的贫困一代供电给你家里的电器 |
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发表于 2013-2-26 17:29:50
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