When the wind picks up at the foot of the Rockies, there are those who believe they can hear the future. At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, making alternative power sources competitive with fossil fuels has been a mission since the energy crisis of the 1970s. Scientists worked to create solar cells far more efficient than those currently available to homeowners. They believe the market for this technology is about to come of age. When it was installed, this was believed to be the largest residential solar-electric system in the United States. The homeowner is actually selling electricity back to the power company. "I also feel good because I've always been committed about the environment and doing something and we have to start as individuals to do things."
当落基山脚下起风时，有些人相信他们能听到未来。自上世纪70年代的能源危机以来，美国国家可再生能源实验室(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)一直致力于制造可与化石燃料媲美的替代能源。科学家们努力制造一种新的太阳能电池，效率远远高于目前的家用太阳能电池。他们相信这种技术的市场即将成熟。安装完成后，可以认为它是美国最大的家用太阳能电力系统。房主实际上是在把电卖给电力公司。“我也感觉很好，因为我一直致力于环保，切实做一些事情，我们必须从个人做起。”
But individuals can do only so much. Researchers here say, for renewable energy to really make a difference, it has to be on a large scale. There hasn't been any great sense of urgency for finding energy alternatives. For decades, low gas prices have kept Americans in their cars, usually alone. But a jumping gas prices often spotlights the search for something else to keep all those cars going.
但个人只能做这么多。这里的研究人员说，要想让可再生能源真正发挥作用，就必须大规模使用。寻找替代能源的紧迫感目前还没有出现。几十年来，因为油价较低，美国经常开车出门，而且是每人开一辆车。但汽油价格的不断上涨，促使人们寻找其他东西作为现在这些汽车的燃料。
What's in there now is a material that looks like straw or, it's actually the material that farmers just leave sitting on the ground after they go through when they harvest corn. We are trying to get farmers to collect this material so that we can run it through conversion technology to make new liquid fuels.
现在有一种看起来像稻草的材料，实际上是农民在收割玉米后留在地上的东西。我们正试图让农民收集这种材料，这样我们就可以通过转化技术将其转化生产新的液体燃料。
Since the energy crisis of the 70s, some farmers have been diverting part of their grain harvest to make a fuel called ethanol.
自上世纪70年代的能源危机以来，一些农民一直在用他们的部分粮食收成生产一种叫做乙醇的燃料。
But the emphasis now is on the stalks and stubble left on the ground after the harvest. "The cellulose attained here that actually is made up of sugars, is something that they can turn into ethanol on the same way that they're currently taking the corn grain that having it turned into fuel grade ethanol."
但现在的重点是收获后留在地上的玉米根。“这里获得的纤维素实际上是由糖组成的，这种纤维素可以采用他们现在把玉米粒转化成燃料级乙醇的方式转化为乙醇。”
The National Renewable Energy Lab has a plant that converts harvest leftovers and just about anything else into fuel. Proving that renewable energy technology is viable remains a struggle, at least in America. Wind turbines were pioneered in the United States, but countries in Europe use them to supply more meaningful amounts of power. With the current energy situation labeled a crisis, the urgency for finding reliable alternatives to fossil fuels may have arrived. And for renewable energy, the future may be now.
美国国家可再生能源实验室(National Renewable Energy Lab)有一台设备，可以把收获的剩余物和几乎任何其他东西转化为燃料。至少在美国，证明可再生能源技术是可行的仍然是一个难题。美国率先使用风力涡轮机，但欧洲国家使用它们来提供更多电力，十分有意义。在当前能源形势出现危机的情况下，必须马上寻找可靠的化石燃料替代品。可再生能源来的未来，可能就在现在。
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