科技英语 综合教程石油大学(华东)b+c.pdfVIP

制作人: 中国石油大学(华东) xue yue 科技英语 综合教程 石油大学 (华东) 1-7 单元 Text B + Text C /news/2004/10/1028_041028_alternative_energy_2.html The Future of Alternative Energy Cameron Walker for National Geographic News October 28, 2004 Residential energy use in the United States will increase 25 percent by the year 2025, according to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts. A small but increasing share of that extra power will trickle in from renewable sources like wind, sunlight, water, and heat in the ground. Last year alternative energy sources provided 6 percent of the nations energy supply, according to the DOE. The future belongs to renewable energy, said Brad Colllins, the executive director of the American Solar Energy Society, a Boulder, Colorado-based nonprofit. Scientists and industry experts may disagree over how long the worlds supply of oil and natural gas will last, but it will end, Collins said. 制作人: 中国石油大学(华东) xue yue While renewable energy is generally more expensive than conventionally produced supplies, alternative power helps to reduce pollution and to conserve fossil fuels. People sometimes get caught up in cost-effectiveness, said Paul Torcellini, a senior engineer at the DOEs National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. But it can be a question of values and what we spend our money on. Below, a look at some recent developments in renewable-energy technology: Solar Power Photovoltaic, or solar-electric, systems capture light energy from the suns rays and convert it into electricity. Today these solar units power everything from small homes to large office buildings. Technological improvements have made solar-electric modules more cost-effective. In the 1980s the average price of energy captured with photovoltaics was 95 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. Today that price has dropped to around 20 cents per kilowatt-ho