Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid

翻译人员: Chunxiang Qian 校对人员: Jenny Yang

Why can't we solve these problems?

为什么我们不能解决这些问题？

We know what they are.

我们了解这些问题

Something always seems to stop us.

但似乎总有什么阻止着我们

Why?

为什么？

I remember March the 15th, 2000.

我记得是2000年的3月15日

The B15 iceberg broke off the Ross Ice Shelf.

B15冰山从罗斯冰架上脱落

In the newspaper it said

报纸上是这么说的

"it was all part of a normal process."

“这是一个正常过程的一部分”

A little bit further on in the article

随后文章又说道

it said "a loss that would normally take

“这个损失正常需要

the ice shelf 50-100 years to replace."

50到100年的时间来恢复”

That same word, "normal,"

同样一个词－“正常”

had two different,

是两种不同的

almost opposite meanings.

甚至皆然相反的含义

If we walk into the B15 iceberg

现在如果我们离开这儿

when we leave here today,

去往B15冰山

we're going to bump into something

我们碰上的会是个

a thousand feet tall,

一千英尺高

76 miles long,

76公里长

17 miles wide,

17公里宽

and it's going to weigh two gigatons.

2亿吨重的大家伙

I'm sorry, there's nothing normal about this.

这完全不是所谓的正常

And yet I think it's this perspective of us

而我认为作为人类

as humans to look at our world

透过“正常的”镜片观察世界的

through the lens of normal

这个视角

is one of the forces

正是阻止我们

that stops us developing real solutions.

寻求现实解决方案的力量之一

Only 90 days after this,

冰山事件后的90天

arguably the greatest discovery

上世纪最具争议的

of the last century occurred.

伟大发现问世了

It was the sequencing for the first time

这就是对人类基因组的

of the human genome.

首次测序

This is the code that's in every single one

它是存在我们身体

of our 50 trillion cells

50兆个细胞中

that makes us who we are and what we are.

决定了我们是谁的密码

And if we just take one cell's worth

如果我们将一个细胞的

of this code and unwind it,

基因密码展开

it's a meter long,

它有一米长

two nanometers thick.

两纳米厚

Two nanometers is 20 atoms in thickness.

两纳米就是20个原子那么厚

And I wondered,

我常想

what if the answer to some of our biggest problems

如果一些大难题的答案

could be found in the smallest of places,

就藏在最细微的地方呢？

where the difference between what is

这种有价值和无意义间的

valuable and what is worthless

细微差别仅仅是

is merely the addition or subtraction

增加或者减少

of a few atoms?

几个原子的差别

And what

如果

if we could get exquisite control

我们能对能源的核心

over the essence of energy,

即电子进行

the electron?

精确控制呢？

So I started to go around the world

于是我走遍世界

finding the best and brightest scientists

在大学里寻找

I could at universities

最优秀伟大的科学家们

whose collective discoveries have the chance

他们的共同发现可能

to take us there,

帮我们实现这个愿望

and we formed a company to build

我们成立了一个公司

on their extraordinary ideas.

来开发他们不寻常的想法

Six and a half years later,

六年半后

a hundred and eighty researchers,

180名研究者

they have some amazing developments

终于在实验室有了

in the lab,

惊人的进展

and I will show you three of those today,

今天我会展示其中三个

such that we can stop burning up our planet

以此我们可以停止耗尽我们的地球

and instead,

并且

we can generate all the energy we need

我们能在我们所处的地方

right where we are,

以清洁安全和廉价的方式

cleanly, safely, and cheaply.

产生所有需要的能源

Think of the space that we spend

试想一下我们大部分时间

most of our time.

所在的场所

A tremendous amount of energy

大量的能量

is coming at us from the sun.

是来自太阳

We like the light that comes into the room,

我们喜欢射进屋子的阳光

but in the middle of summer,

但在伏暑

all that heat is coming into the room

我们得减少进入屋子的热量

that we're trying to keep cool.

保持凉爽

In winter, exactly the opposite is happening.

冬天则完全相反

We're trying to heat up

我们则对屋子

the space that we're in,

加热

and all that is trying to get out through the window.

防止热量散出

Wouldn't it be really great

如果窗户能够

if the window could flick back the heat

根据我们的需要

into the room if we needed it

把热量反射回屋里

or flick it away before it came in?

或者在其进入屋子之前反射回去不是很棒吗？

One of the materials that can do this

具备此功能的材料之一

is a remarkable material, carbon,

就是碳

that has changed its form in this incredibly beautiful reaction

在这个如此美妙的反应里碳改变了形态

where graphite is blasted by a vapor,

石墨被汽化

and when the vaporized carbon condenses,

然后在冷凝

it condenses back into a different form:

变成一种不同的形态

chickenwire rolled up.

象卷起来的铁丝网

But this chickenwire carbon,

但是这个碳网

called a carbon nanotube,

叫做碳纳米管

is a hundred thousand times smaller

它比你的头发丝

than the width of one of your hairs.

还细一千倍

It's a thousand times

它比铜的导电能力

more conductive than copper.

要高一千倍

How is that possible?

这是怎么实现的?

One of the things about working at the nanoscale

原因之一是碳纳米管的

is things look and act very differently.

结构十分与众不同

You think of carbon as black.

你也许觉得碳是黑的

Carbon at the nanoscale

但碳纳米管里的碳

is actually transparent

是透明的

and flexible.

并具备弹性

And when it's in this form,

碳处于此种形态下

if I combine it with a polymer

如果我将其与一聚合物结合

and affix it to your window

贴到你的窗户上

when it's in its colored state,

在它着色的情况下

it will reflect away all heat and light,

它能反射掉所有的光和热

and when it's in its bleached state

当它是无色的状态下

it will let all the light and heat through

它能让所有的光和热透过

and any combination in between.

也可在两种状态间调节

To change its state, by the way,

要调节它的状态

takes two volts from a millisecond pulse.

只需要1毫秒电脉冲的2伏电

And once you've changed its state, it stays there

一旦改变状态后会持续下去

until you change its state again.

直到你再次调节

As we were working on this incredible

当我们在弗罗里达大学

discovery at University of Florida,

观看这个不可思议的发现时

we were told to go down the corridor

我们被告知去走廊的另一头

to visit another scientist,

拜访另一个科学家

and he was working

他也正在做一个

on a pretty incredible thing.

非常不可思议的项目

Imagine

试想一想

if we didn't have to rely

要是晚上我们

on artificial lighting to get around at night.

不依靠人工照明的话

We'd have to see at night, right?

我们得能夜视，对吧？

This lets you do it.

这个能帮你实现

It's a nanomaterial, two nanomaterials,

这是个碳纳米材料，两个部件

a detector and an imager.

一个探测器一个成像仪

The total width of it

它的宽度

is 600 times smaller

比一个小数位的大小

than the width of a decimal place.

还小600倍

And it takes all the infrared available at night,

它将夜间可获得的红外线

converts it into an electron

在2个小胶片上

in the space of two small films,

转化为电子

and is enabling you to play an image

这样可你让你看到

which you can see through.

图像

I'm going to show to TEDsters,

我将向诸位

the first time, this operating.

独家首次展示它

Firstly I'm going to show you

首先你看到

the transparency.

它具有通透性

Transparency is key.

通透性是关键

It's a film that you can look through.

这是一个你可以看穿的胶片

And then I'm going to turn the lights out.

我把灯关掉

And you can see, off a tiny film,

你可以清晰地

incredible clarity.

看到胶片后面的物体

As we were working on this, it dawned on us:

当我们研究这个的时候，这个给我们灵光一现

this is taking infrared radiation, wavelengths,

这是将红外辐射，波长

and converting it into electrons.

转化成电子

What if we combined it

如果把它

with this?

与此结合呢？

Suddenly you've converted energy

这样你就可以将能源

into an electron on a plastic surface

在一个塑料表面上转化为电子

that you can stick on your window.

你可以把这个塑料膜贴到窗户上

But because it's flexible,

因为它灵活可变性

it can be on any surface whatsoever.

可适用于任何表面

The power plant of tomorrow

未来的发电厂

is no power plant.

不再是电厂

We talked about generating and using.

我们谈了开发和利用能源

We want to talk about storing energy,

下面谈谈储存

and unfortunately

不幸的是

the best thing we've got going

我们的储存手段是

is something that was developed in France

一百五十年前

a hundred and fifty years ago,

在法国开发出来的

the lead acid battery.

铅酸电池

In terms of dollars per what's stored,

就其经济性来说

it's simply the best.

无疑是最好的

Knowing that we're not going to put fifty of

但我们不想在地下室放上

these in our basements to store our power,

五十个这样的电池

we went to a group at University of Texas at Dallas,

我们找到达拉斯德州大学的一个研究小组

and we gave them this diagram.

交给他们这个图表

It was in actually a diner

这是达拉斯/沃斯堡机场外的

outside of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.

一个餐厅

We said, "Could you build this?"

我们问道：“你们能建这个吗？”

And these scientists,

这些科学家

instead of laughing at us, said, "Yeah."

并没有嘲笑我们而是一口答应了

And what they built was eBox.

他们制造一个电子盒子

EBox is testing new nanomaterials

电子盒子正测试碳纳米管材料

to park an electron on the outside,

是否能将停留其外面的电子

hold it until you need it,

保留住直到你需要的时候

and then be able to release it and pass it off.

释放它并令其通过

Being able to do that means

能做到这个的话意味着

that I can generate energy

我能当场

cleanly, efficiently and cheaply

以清洁高效低廉的方式

right where I am.

发电

It's my energy.

这是我的能源

And if I don't need it, I can convert it

如果我暂不需要

back up on the window

可以在窗户上将其

to energy, light, and beam it,

转化为能源，光

line of site, to your place.

一直照亮到你的屋子

And for that I do not need

而这一切

an electric grid between us.

完全不需要电网连接你我间的设备

The grid of tomorrow is no grid,

未来的电网不需要电网

and energy, clean efficient energy,

清洁高效的能源

will one day be free.

也将被解放出来

If you do this, you get the last puzzle piece,

如果能做到这一点那就剩下最后一个问题

which is water.

这就是水

Each of us, every day,

我们每个人每天

need just eight glasses of this,

只需要八杯水

because we're human.

因为我们是人类

When we run out of water,

如果水资源枯竭

as we are in some parts of the world

这已经在有些地区发生了

and soon to be in other parts of the world,

不久的将来在全球都会出现这样的问题

we're going to have to get this from the sea,

我们就得从海里取水

and that's going to require us to build desalination plants.

这就要建海水淡化处理厂

19 trillion dollars is what we're going to have to spend.

这得花上19万亿美元

These also require tremendous amounts of energy.

和无可估计的大量能源

In fact, it's going to require twice the world's

事实上，这需要两倍全世界的

supply of oil to run the pumps

石油供给保持机器运转

to generate the water.

来淡化海水

We're simply not going to do that.

我们不会这么做

But in a world where energy is freed

但是如果能源能被自由地获取

and transmittable

并能便捷低成本地

easily and cheaply, we can take any water

进行转化的话

wherever we are

我们可以随处取水

and turn it into whatever we need.

并将其处理

I'm glad to be working with

我很高兴能与

incredibly brilliant and kind scientists,

非常聪明和友善的科学家共事

no kinder than

也许没有这世上的很多人

many of the people in the world,

那么善良

but they have a magic look at the world.

但是他们对世界有完全不一样的看法

And I'm glad to see their discoveries

我很高兴他们的发现

coming out of the lab and into the world.

能走出实验室走向世界

It's been a long time in coming for me.

我等待这一切很久了

18 years ago,

18年前

I saw a photograph in the paper.

我在报纸上看到一幅照片

It was taken by Kevin Carter

那是凯文･卡特

who went to the Sudan

在苏丹纪录大饥荒

to document their famine there.

拍下的照片

I've carried this photograph with me

自此我一直将这张照片

every day since then.

随身携带

It's a picture of a little girl dying of thirst.

这是一个小女孩死于饥渴的照片

By any standard this is wrong.

无庸置疑这是个悲剧

It's just wrong.

一个悲剧

We can do better than this.

我们能改善这种情况

We should do better than this.

我们应该有所作为

And whenever I go round

每当我

to somebody who says,

听到有人说

"You know what, you're working on something that's too difficult.

“你知不知道我们研究的东西太难了

It'll never happen. You don't have enough money.

不会成功的 你没有足够的资金

You don't have enough time.

没有足够的时间

There's something much more interesting around the corner,"

别的研究更有趣好玩儿”

I say, "Try saying that to her."

我说：“你能对着她说这些吗”

That's what I say in my mind. And I just say

这是我在心里对我自己说的话

"thank you," and I go on to the next one.

我对那些人说声谢谢，继续我的研究

This is why we have to solve our problems,

这就是为什么我们必须解决问题的原因

and I know the answer as to how

我知道 答案就在于

is to be able to get exquisite control

怎样去精确地控制

over a building block of nature,

自然的基础单元

the stuff of life:

生命的物质：

the simple electron.

就是电子

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）