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The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is making an effort to increase battery production in the country.
美国能源部正在努力增加该国的电池产量。
The DOE recently announced it would provide $3.5 billion to companies that produce batteries and the important minerals that go into them.
美国能源部最近宣布，其将向生产电池和电池所需重要矿物的公司提供35亿美元。
Officials see batteries as an important climate solution.
官员们将电池视为一种重要的气候解决方案。
The devices can power cars and store clean electricity made from solar panels or wind turbines.
电池可以为汽车提供动力，并存储太阳能电池板或风力涡轮机产生的清洁电力。
The idea is to use fewer fossil fuels for cars and power plants.
这个主意的目的是减少汽车和发电厂使用的化石燃料。
Lithium ion is currently the favored battery for electric vehicles and clean electrical storage.
锂离子电池目前是电动汽车和清洁电力存储器的首选电池。
The DOE wants to strengthen the supply.
美国能源部希望加强供应。
The agency estimates that by 2030 demand for lithium batteries will increase by as much as 10 times.
该机构估计，到2030年，锂电池的需求量将会增长10倍之多。
President Joe Biden's administration has set a goal of lowering the pollution that causes climate change to zero by 2050.
美国总统乔·拜登的政府设定了到2050年将导致气候变化的污染降至零的目标。
It also wants electric automobiles to represent half of all new car sales by 2030.
美国政府还希望到2030年电动汽车的销量占所有新车销量的一半。
Some officials, industry experts and others are concerned that the supply of battery materials will not keep up with the demand.
一些官员、行业专家和其他人担心，电池材料的供应将会跟不上需求。
Others worry that too much of the industry is located in Asia.
其他人则担心，亚洲在该行业所占的份额过大。
Jodie Lutkenhaus of the Texas A&M University said she is closely watching U.S. battery production and manufacturing.
得克萨斯A&M大学的朱迪·鲁特肯豪斯说，她正在密切关注美国的电池生产和制造情况。
"I'm worried that we may not catch up and end up in the same situation we're in now with the semiconductor industry," she said.
她说：“我担心我们可能会赶不上，最终会陷入与目前我国半导体行业相同的境地。”
Pandemic closings and suspensions slowed manufacturing in Asia.
疫情期间停业和暂停减缓了亚洲制造业的生产速度。
A microchip shortage resulted, affecting the availability of vehicles and electronic products.
导致微芯片短缺，影响了车辆和电子产品的供应。
"The same thing can happen with batteries if we don't diversify where batteries are made and where materials are sourced," Lutkenhaus said.
鲁特肯豪斯说：“如果我们不使电池的制造地和材料来源多样化，同样的事情也会发生在电池上。”
She said the U.S. must take part in battery production and manufacturing to avoid possible worldwide shortages in the future.
她说，美国必须参与电池的生产和制造，以避免未来可能会出现的全球电池短缺。
A measure called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $6 billion in total financing for battery manufacturing, including the processing of materials needed to make them.
一项名为《两党基础设施法》的法案为电池制造业提供了总计60亿美元的融资，其中包括制造电池所需材料的加工。
So far, 15 projects are receiving the assistance.
到目前为止，有15个项目正在接受援助。
They include companies that mine minerals like graphite and nickel that are used in lithium batteries.
其中包括开采用于锂电池的石墨和镍等矿物的公司。
Later, contracts will go to other companies, including finance and chemistry businesses.
之后，合同将会流向其他公司，包括金融和化学公司。
Here's how it works: A company might want to build a factory to make special materials for electric cars.
它的运作方式是这样的：一家公司可能想要建一家工厂，生产电动汽车所需的特殊材料。
It estimates the cost of building the facility and commits to covering half of the cost.
它估计了建造该设施的成本，并承诺承担一半的成本。
If the company is selected for the program, the government payment would cover the other half.
如果该公司被选中参加该项目，政府将会支付另一半成本。
Albemarle, a major lithium producer, received financing for a factory in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
主要锂生产商雅保在北卡罗来纳州金斯山的一家工厂获得了融资。
The factory processes lithium from ore collected around the world.
该工厂用从世界各地收集的矿石加工锂。
The company said that in addition to EVs, demand for lithium also comes from electronics like medical devices and smartphones.
该公司表示，除了电动汽车，医疗设备和智能手机等电子产品也需要锂电池。
Without the DOE financial support, the project "would have likely progressed along a different time scale," Albemarle said in an email.
雅保在一封电子邮件中表示，如果没有美国能源部的财政支持，该项目“可能会按照不同的时间尺度推进”。
Matthew McDowell is with the Georgia Institute of Technology.
马修·麦克道尔就职于佐治亚理工学院。
He said the law has changed U.S. battery manufacturing in the past three years.
他说，这项法案在过去三年里改变了美国的电池制造业。
He is excited, he said, about the new batteries for clean energy storage, including solid state batteries, which could possibly hold more energy than lithium ion.
他说，他对用于储存清洁能源的新电池感到兴奋，其中包括固态电池，它可能比锂离子电池储存的能源更多。
Tom Moerenhout of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy said it will be difficult to increase the worldwide supply of minerals for the predicted battery demand in 2030.
哥伦比亚大学全球能源政策中心的汤姆·莫伦霍特表示，到2030年，要增加全球矿物供应以满足预计的电池需求是很困难的。
"It's pretty huge," he said, noting that a new mine on average takes 16 years to begin commercial production.
“相当困难，”他说，并指出一个新矿平均需要16年才能开始商业生产。
But with the price of lithium rising, Moerenhout said, different battery types become more interesting.
但莫伦霍特说，随着锂电池价格的上涨，不同类型的电池变得更加有吸引力。
One he hopes to see increase is sodium ion batteries to help with the electrical grid.
他希望看到钠离子电池的增长，以帮助电网。
"The potential is quite huge," he said, because they are safe and not costly.
“其潜力是巨大的，”他说，因为它们既安全又低廉。
Companies can officially request financing through mid-March.
企业可以在3月中旬之前正式申请融资。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
