Thirsty Clean Energy May Add to Water Stressed World, Newscientist, July 19th, 2013
对清洁能源的需求可能会给水资源增加压力，新科学家科技杂志，2013年7月19日
As the world gets hotter and drier thanks to our predilection for burning fossil fuels.
由于我们对燃烧化石燃料的偏爱，世界变得越来越炎热，越来越干燥。
The choices we make balancing power and water are already becoming an urgent issue in the fight against climate change, says Amanda Fencl of the Stockholm Environment Institute.
斯德哥尔摩环境研究所的阿曼达·芬斯尔说，我们保证水电平衡的这一选择在应对气候变化的角度上已经成为了一个紧迫的问题。
While cutting emissions is necessary to curb global warming, some renewable and clean energy sources use more water than fossil fuel-powered plants,
美国能源部发布的一份报告指出，虽然削减温室气体排放是遏制全球变暖所必备的条件，但一些可再生能源和清洁能源比化石燃料发电厂需要更多的水资源。
finds a report released by the US Department of Energy - DoE) that looked at how resilient the US's power infrastructure is to climate change.
这份报告对美国电力基础设施是否能面临气候变化的考验进行了探讨。
The biggest users of water in the US are power plants, particularly the fossil fuel and nuclear plants that together generate almost 90 per cent of the nation's energy.
在美国，水资源使用大户是发电厂，尤其是化石燃料发电厂和核电厂为美国创造了90%的能源。
Nearly half the water the US consumes is used to cool these plants and drive their turbines. But some renewable and clean energy sources also need a lot of water, says the DoE report.
美国所消耗的水资源中，有将近一半的水资源是用于冷却这些发电设备和驱动涡轮机的。但是，美国能源部的报告指出，一些可再生能源和清洁能源也需要大量的水资源。
The main consumer is hydropower, which requires large reservoirs of water to generate electricity.
消耗的主力军是水力发电，这就需要储蓄大量的水来发电。
Other technologies use it indirectly, to irrigate biofuel crops, for example, or cool and wash solar panels.
其他的技术可以使用水资源来灌溉生物燃料作物，例如冷却和清洗太阳能电池板。
Currently renewable and clean energy technologies only make up a small proportion of the US's energy mix-for example, hydroelectric provides 7 per cent of the county's power,
目前，可再生能源和清洁能源仅仅占据了美国能源结构的一小部分，例如，水力发电提供了7%的国家能源，
and solar less than 1 per cent-but if the US is going to meet its target of reducing carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, renewables and clean energy will need to feature more heavily in future.Thank you.
而太阳能提供的能源不超过1%，但如果美国要满足到2050年，碳排放量减少80%的目标，可再生能源和清洁能源需要在未来发挥更大的作用。谢谢。
