Many people love the environment, but not all of them do much about it. Two Taiwanese men and one French woman recently went on a 14-day bike tour around Taiwan. Along the way, they planted 248 trees. This was done in preparation for the trio's bigger goalo do the same while cycling across China and Europe for six months. They plan to leave behind a 15,000-kilometer green corridor. These three avid cyclists have quit their engineering and teaching jobs and plan to plant one tree per day. They will ask a local at each location to take care of the tree as a sign of successful civil diplomacy, and they hope to promote environmental awareness with their trip.
『绿色骑迹』
虽然很多人都喜爱大自然环境,但并非每个人都会为周遭环境做些事。两位台湾籍男子和一位法国女性最近踏上了 14 天的自行车环台之旅。一路上,他们种植了 248 棵树,这是对 3 人的更远大的目标预作准备,此目标是他们将在为期 6 个月的单车横跨中国和欧洲的时候,做同样的事。他们计划留下 1万 5 千公里的绿色走廊。这 3 位狂热的自行车骑士已经辞去工程师和教书的工作,并计划每天种一棵树。他们会在每一个地点请当地人帮忙照顾树木,以作为成功国民外交的标记,他们也希望用此趟旅程来促进环保意识。
『绿色骑迹』的计划内容:2012年 4 月 22 日,在世界地球日的这一天,两位台湾籍男子及一位法国女性将骑着单车,以最低碳的方式横跨欧亚大陆。
旅程从北京开始,途中将经过中国、哈萨克、俄罗斯、白俄罗斯、波兰、德国、荷兰、比利时、法国、瑞士、意大利,最后在梵蒂冈画下句点。全程费时 180 天,里程总计 15,000 公里。
其中,因为树苗无法跨过国境,所以必须要取得当地原生物种。在行程规划中每 3 至 5 天就会进入类似台北规模的都市,在生活机能相对完善的前提下,无论是食物、水或是树苗,都可以在当地的花店采买到合适的原生物种,以解决物种取得的问题。
(数据源:http://www.bike-egg.org)
Printing Solar Cells on Paper and Clothes
A lot of people want to use solar energy, but they don't end up installing solar panels on their houses because they are too costly. One man, Miles Barr, has figured out a way to clear that hurdle by integrating solar panels on ordinary materials. He wants to make curtains, cell phone cases, and even shirtsleeves generate electricity from the sun. Barr got this idea when he was working on his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010. He tested making solar cells on saran wrap, copy paper, tissue paper, and other products. Barr found that he could cheaply add solar cells to any material, which could eventually lead to a profound change in energy production.
无所不在的太阳能电池
很多人都想要使用太阳能,但因为太阳能电池板太昂贵了,所以他们最终没能在自家屋顶上装设这类的设备。一位名为麦尔斯.巴尔的男子已经想出了一个办法,他想藉由结合普通材料和太阳能电池板来克服此障碍。他想要使窗帘、手机套、甚至衬衫袖子能从太阳能产生电力。巴尔在 2010 年攻读美国麻省理工学院博士学位时,想到了这个点子。他进行测试,将太阳能电池安装于保鲜膜、复印纸、卫生纸和其他产品上。巴尔发现他能够以低成本将太阳能电池附属在任何物质上,此发现最终可能会在能源制造上造成深远的改变。
太阳电池发电是一种可再生的环保发电方式,发电过程中不会产生二氧化碳等温室气体,也不会对环境造成污染。按照制作材料分为硅基半导体电池、染料敏电池、有机材料电池等等。而对于太阳电池来说最重要的参数是转换效率,目前在实验室所研发的硅基太阳能电池中,单晶硅太阳电池的效率为 25.0%,多晶硅太阳电池的效率为 20.4%,单晶体硅薄膜太阳电池的效率为 16.7%,非晶硅薄膜太阳电池的效率为 10.1%。(数据源:维基百科)