The Future of Flying Is Electrifying | Cory Combs | TED Countdown

Transcriber:

譯者: Riley Huang 審譯者: Helen Chang

I work in aviation, but the truth is I don't much like flying.

我在航空業工作， 但其實，我不太喜歡飛行。

Current commercial flights are inconvenient,

目前的商業航班不方便、

noisy, expensive and use ancient plane designs

很吵、價格昂貴，而且使用的是

從 1950 年代後就幾乎 沒有改變過的古老機型。

that have hardly changed from the 1950s.

It also represents my biggest personal impact on the environment,

商業航班也代表了 個人對環境的最大影響，

just as it does for many of us who fly multiple times a year.

像我和其他很多 一年飛行多次的人這樣。

Aviation will continue to face fierce headwinds globally

全球航空業受到的激烈衝擊

even after the pandemic subsides,

將持續到疫情趨緩之後，

because flying is becoming the symbol of a polluting lifestyle.

因為搭飛機旅遊的生活 正成為汙染環境的象徵。

Pressure is growing to decarbonize planes or even cease flying altogether.

要求飛機去碳化 甚至停止飛行的呼聲越來越大。

But the great news is

但好消息是，

that a change which will reroute our industry's flight path

有一個能夠幫助我們產業 脫離困境的變革

into fresh tailwinds

已經開始並加速發展了。

has already begun and is gathering speed.

This change is the third revolution in aviation -- electrification,

這個轉變是航空業的第三次革命：

電氣化──此刻正在進行。

and it is happening right now.

Like the previous piston and jet revolutions,

像之前的活塞和噴射機革命一樣，

going electric will dramatically transform the way we fly.

電氣化將會大大地 改變我們飛行的方式。

Electrification promises to make flying accessible to more people globally

電氣化有望讓世界上更多人 從更多機場乘坐飛機，

from more airports

while also making planes cleaner, quieter and more affordable.

同時讓飛機更環保、安靜， 價格更合理。

The current dominant narrative is that we need to buy offsets

目前主流的想法是

在等待未來神奇清潔燃料 出現的同時，購買碳額度，

while waiting for some miracle future clean fuel

and meanwhile keep cramming people into tubes at increasingly congested hubs.

並持續將人們送往 已經逐漸無法負荷的高空中。

That fails to reckon with the rapid progress

但是這沒有考慮到電氣技術

in electric technology

已經在幾乎所有其他交通工具中

across nearly all other forms of transportation.

快速地發展了。

So my answer in 2016 was to create a company called Ampaire

所以為了解決這個問題，

我在 2016 年成立了Ampaire，

and develop an electric aircraft capable of flying real routes for real airlines.

開發可以為真正的航空公司 飛行真正的航線的電動飛機。

而我們用 2019 年首飛的 電動 EEL 做到了。

And we have done so with this plane, the Electric EEL,

which first flew in 2019.

In 2020, our second generation of this plane

在 2020 年，我們的第二代飛機，

flew with an airline partner in Hawaii

與一家夏威夷航空公司合作夥伴

demoing daily flight operations on one of their routes, a world first.

展示他們的一條每日航線，

這是前所未有的。

Meanwhile, we're hard at work on the third generation of the EEL,

同時，我們正努力開發第三代 EEL，

as well as scaling up to a much larger 19-passenger aircraft

並在 NASA 的協助下，

擴大成一架 19 人座、 大一點的飛機。

with the help of NASA.

Now, these aren't yet fully electric planes.

這些目前還不是全電動化的飛機，

They're hybrids.

是混合動力的。

And that's actually my point today

這其實是我今天想講的重點，

and why the current dominant narrative misses the mark.

以及為何目前的主流想法沒抓到重點。

Electrification does not only mean pure battery electric.

電氣化不單指用電池發電而已。

That's just not possible yet,

那在客機、貨機上仍不可行，

when you need to carry passengers or cargo,

except for small trainer aircraft.

小型教練機除外。

Instead, our industry must start saving massive amounts of fuel and emissions

取而代之，我們的行業必須透過 讓整個航空生態系統電氣化

by electrifying the entire aviation ecosystem.

來大量地節省燃料和減少廢氣排放。

Electrifying aviation right now

現在的航空電氣化

means solar panels and battery backup systems at airports,

指的是在機場的太陽能 和備用電池系統，

plugging planes into gate power instead of burning fuel,

將飛機插入閘極電源 而不是燃燒燃料，

electric taxi to the runway

使用電動滑行系統，

as well as electric tugs and ground equipment.

以及電動牽引車和地勤設備。

For flight itself, electrification means starting with small aircraft

至於飛行本身，電氣化 先從小型飛機開始，

and for planes of meaningful commercial size,

而對於具有商業規模、 酬載量和航程的飛機，

payload and range starting hybrid.

則是從混合動力開始。

Although hybrid isn't the ultimate goal,

雖然混合動力不是最終的目標，

it is critical to start right now

但比起盲目地等待未來的電池或燃料，

rather than waiting for future batteries or future fuels.

現在開始採用混合動力技術非常重要。

Think of cars where we had a small Prius decades before a large Tesla semitruck.

如同在特斯拉推出 電動大卡車幾十年之前的

小型 Prius 混合動力車，

Small planes like Ampaires

像 Ampaires 的小型飛機

are the proving grounds for electric technology,

會是電氣技術的試驗品。

be it lighter high voltage cables,

無論是輕一點的高壓電纜、

better compact motors or advanced power electronics

好一點的微型馬達， 或更先進的電力設備，

that are key to unlocking higher efficiency

都將成為提高各尺寸飛機效能的關鍵。

in aircraft of all sizes.

Electrification will permeate everything,

電氣化將會滲透一切，

from jumbo jets becoming more electric aircraft

從將大型噴射機變得更加電動化，

to repowering island hopper prop planes.

到改造跳島螺旋槳飛機的動力裝置。

As batteries and electronics improve,

隨著電池和電子設備的進步，

larger and larger aircraft will get more and more electric over time.

越來越大的飛機 可以獲得越來越多電力。

This is not a pipe dream

這不是白日夢，

but represents iteration along a practical,

而是代表著通往一條實際、具成本效益

cost effective and achievable route into the future.

且可實現的未來之路的迭代。

已經有其他也正在 努力地將航空業的未來

Ampaire is being joined by other companies

that are also striving to transform aviation to a cleaner future.

變得更環保的公司加入 Ampaire。

It's a revolution in the making,

這是一場正在醞釀中的革命：

building on technologies derived from electric ground transport,

以陸地交通電氣化的技術為基礎，

inventing new solutions and taking them higher and higher into the stratosphere.

發明新的解決方案 並將它們帶到更高的平流層。

Thank you.

謝謝。