How to Heat Your Home Without Hurting the Planet | Kathy Hannun | TED Fellows

譯者: LAN TING TSAI 審譯者: Amanda Zhu

[SHAPE YOUR FUTURE]

［塑造你的未來］

One of the hallmarks of living in a technologically advanced society

活在高科技社會中，有一個特點：

is even the little details of life that seem mundane

即使是生活中的一件小事，

end up being astonishing,

也會變得好像很驚人。

like the fact that it takes five gallons of water to produce a walnut,

像是：每一顆買到的核桃 已經用掉了 19 公升的水。

or that half the plastic that's ever been made

或是曾經用過的塑膠製品中

has been made in the past 15 years.

有一半是過去 15 年來製造的。

My favorite of these examples is what it takes

在種種例子裡，我最感興趣的是

to keep a room room temperature.

維持室內溫度的方法。

Allow me to explain.

讓我來說明一下：

Heating is generally done by combusting a fossil fuel.

加熱通常要燃燒化石燃料。

So first, we have to find the fuel.

所以首先，我們得先找到燃料。

Unfortunately, it tends to be buried

不幸的是，他們通常被埋在

more than a kilometer under the earth's surface,

比地表下一公里更深的地方，

and all too often, in inconvenient places,

而且通常都位在不易到達的地區，

like the Arctic Circle, nations in conflict

例如北極圈、政局動盪的國家，

or under the bottom of the ocean.

或是深海底下。

Then there's the fact that the substance takes 60 to 600 million years

而這些東西需要經過 60～660 億年

to form from dead plankton.

才能從浮游生物的屍體轉化而成。

So there's that issue.

所以問題來了，

We drill these incredibly deep holes to get it.

我們鑽了個很深的洞來取得它，

Then we pipe it, truck it

然後利用管線和卡車輸送，

and ship it in tankers across the world to refineries,

再利用油輪運送到煉油廠。

which are these incredibly expensive industrial facilities

而這些耗資天價的廠房

that take in crude oil and gas,

接收了原油和天然氣後，

which are just a bunch of different hydrocarbon molecules,

負責將這些不同種類的碳氫化合物

in order to sort those molecules into refined products.

加以精煉成各種產物。

Refined natural gas is then delivered to homes and businesses

精煉過後的天然氣

會透過綿延數百萬公里長的 州際隱形高速系統

via an invisible interstate highway system millions of miles long.

傳送到住家和辦公大樓。

It's invisible because it's underground.

看不見是因為埋在地底下。

There's so much pipeline in this system that entire steel mills have been built

因為需要的管線實在太多，

有些煉鋼廠是專為生產這些管線所建。

only to produce pipeline for this system.

And because there are millions of miles of gas

因為在我們的腳下隨時都有綿長、

getting pumped beneath us at high pressure at all times,

以高壓灌入的瓦斯管線，

engineers send these intelligent robots called "smart pigs"

所以工程師將智慧機器人「聰明豬」

through the pipelines to check for safety defects.

送進這些管線中，做安全監控，

Doing this is called "pigging the pipeline."

這被稱作「管線豬測」。

(Pig snort sound)

（豬鼻聲）

Yeah, that's a real thing.

對呀，這確有其事。

But even with these precautions, there are accidents.

但即使有這些預防措施， 還是會發生意外。

In 2010, the San Bruno natural gas pipeline exploded in California.

加州聖布魯諾的天然氣管 在 2010 年發生爆炸，

Eight people died.

造成八人死亡。

Eyewitnesses reported the blast looked like a wall of fire 1,000 feet tall.

目擊著者表示，現場像是有一道 300 公尺高的火牆。

More recently, in 2018, excess pressure in natural gas pipelines in Massachusetts

麻塞諸塞州的天然氣管線 在 2018 年時，因為壓力過高，

resulted in explosions that killed somebody

發生爆炸，有人死亡，

and forced 50,000 others from their homes.

並導致五萬人被迫離家。

But, you know, despite all of this,

但你們知道，儘管如此，

we're actually jealous of people who live close enough to these insane pipelines

我們還是很羨慕住在這些 猶如不定時炸彈的管線附近，

to get gas into their homes,

能夠使用天然氣的人。

because everyone else is stuck with even worse options,

因為其他人能選擇的更糟，

like fuel oil and propane.

例如：燃料油和丙烷。

These fuels don't have pipelines in place for delivery,

這些燃料沒有輸送的管線，

so instead, tens of thousands of trucks go from home to home

所以只能靠成千上萬的卡車，

運送到全國的家戶，

in neighborhoods throughout the country,

pumping these fuels into tanks in homeowners' basements and yards.

存放在地下室或院子裡的貯存槽。

And regardless of what heating fuel you use -- gas, propane or oil --

但無論你是使用哪一種燃料 ——天然氣、丙烷或燃料油——

you better have a carbon monoxide detector

最好都要準備一氧化碳偵測器。

so your heating system doesn't accidentally kill you in the night,

以防你的暖氣系統在你睡覺的時候， 不小心把你給殺了。

because hundreds of Americans die in exactly that way each year.

因為在美國，每年有數百人因此喪命。

So that's the system we have today.

這就是我們現在所使用的系統。

Safe to say, it has some downsides.

可以很肯定地說，它有些缺失。

Don't get me wrong -- it's a marvel of human ingenuity,

別誤會我的意思， 那是人類智慧的奇蹟，

but with some pretty serious drawbacks.

但也包含了某些嚴重的弊端。

And the rigamarole of conventional heating feels even more over the top

當你考量到每一間房子

就坐落在大量再生能源「地熱能」之上

when you consider that every home

is already sitting right on top of a vast reservoir of renewable energy:

就覺得複雜的傳統暖氣系統

geothermal energy.

真是多此一舉。

Let's talk about geothermal energy.

讓我們來聊聊地熱能：

Starting a few feet under the earth's surface,

從地表下幾公尺的地方開始，

the ground is awash in thermal energy.

地裡就充滿熱能。

This is why caves and wine cellars, they never get too hot or too cold.

這也是為什麼洞穴或酒窖的溫度 都不至於過熱或過冷，

They're just bathed in this low-grade heat.

因為他們是處在這種低熱狀態。

Geothermal heating systems draw on this heat,

地熱系統利用這樣的熱度，

using what are called "ground loops,"

透過所謂的「地下迴路」來運作，

which are just simple plastic pipes buried under the yard.

其實是一些埋在院子地裡的塑膠管。

These ground loops are then connected to a heat pump that sits inside the home,

地下迴路會連接到放在房子裡的熱泵，

typically where a furnace once was.

通常就是原先鍋爐所在的地方。

More and more homeowners are choosing geothermal over fuel-based options.

現在有愈來愈多的屋主 選擇地熱而不是燃料系統。

I see this shift up close every day,

我每天都看到這樣的變化，

because I cofounded a company to create a new kind of ground-up utility

因為我們開了一間公司 來創造一個新形態的公共事業，

by making it as easy and inexpensive as possible

讓想要將傳統暖房系統 改為地熱能的屋主，

to switch from conventional heating to geothermal.

可以輕鬆又無負擔的切換。

We've done this by creating a service

我們為此提供了一項服務，

where homeowners can fill out a form on our website,

讓屋主們可以在我們的 網站上填一份資料，

we design a geothermal heating system for them,

我們會替他們設計一套地熱能系統，

and then we install that system using purpose-built tools and equipment.

並利用特定的工具和設備安裝。

Once the installation is done,

一旦安裝完成，

that home will have moved on from fossil heating forever,

房子裡的暖氣系統 就會永久脫離化石燃料。

because those ground loops, they'll last as long as the home itself.

因為地下迴路管線的壽命 跟房子的一樣長。

As each home switches over, a new kind of utility is taking hold --

當每個房子都切換系統後， 一種新的公用事業就會接手，

a distributed utility,

這是一種讓房子

made up of homes exchanging renewable energy with the ground.

都能從地底下獲取用之不竭的 再生能源的分散式公用事業。

This new infrastructure is simple, local and inexpensive to operate,

這項新的公共建設在執行上簡單、 便宜，而且影響範圍小。

and it represents a permanent and wholesale shift

同時也代表著永久、大規模地

away from fossil fuels.

遠離化石燃料。

The groundwork is being laid, so to speak,

下面這個概念的基礎已經打好了：

for the idea that maybe we don't need to destroy the world

其實我們不需要為了讓家裡

in order to keep our rooms at a comfortable temperature.

保持舒適的溫度而毀了世界。

Let's leave the Arctic Circle and the seafloor alone,

就讓北極圈和海底

bypass the refineries and the pipelines

遠離那些煉油廠和管線，

and stop worrying that our families will accidentally be poisoned in the night.

也不要再擔心家人 會不小心在睡夢中中毒。

Instead, let's use the massive amounts of energy

就用那些已經存在於每棟建築物之下、

that are already right there for the taking,

隨時可以取用的大量能源來代替吧。

right beneath every building on earth.

Thank you.

謝謝。