[ti:World’s Largest Carbon Capturing Plant Launches in Iceland] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]A Swiss company that developed technology [00:03.88]to capture carbon dioxide from the air [00:08.00]says it has launched the world’s largest plant [00:12.96]to do so in Iceland. [00:16.56]The company is called Climeworks AG. [00:21.48]It said the plant began operations on Wednesday. [00:27.36]The plant is not far from Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. [00:33.28]The system captures carbon dioxide, CO2, [00:38.96]directly from the air and then deposits the gas underground. [00:45.56]The company partnered with Icelandic [00:48.72]carbon storage provider Carbfix on the project. [00:54.84]Climeworks says the plant is designed to capture [01:00.08]up to 3,600 metric tons of CO2 per year. [01:08.32]That is the same amount of CO2 [01:12.04]produced by about 790 automobiles [01:16.76]during a year, Reuters news agency reported. [01:21.88]The International Energy Agency, IEA, [01:27.48]estimates that this year, CO2 emissions worldwide [01:33.40]will rise 1.5 billion metric tons [01:38.44]to a total of 33 billion metric tons. [01:43.68]Direct air capture is one of the few technologies [01:48.88]that can remove carbon dioxide [01:51.92]directly from the atmosphere. [01:55.60]Many scientists see the process as critical [02:00.64]to limiting harmful pollutant emissions. [02:04.92]Such emissions are caused mainly by human activities. [02:11.28]They can trap heat in the atmosphere [02:14.84]and create higher temperatures. [02:18.00]Many scientists blame this warming [02:22.04]for increased heatwaves, wildfires, [02:26.16]floods and rising sea levels across the world. [02:32.28]The new plant is called Orca. [02:35.44]Its name is based on the Icelandic word for energy, Orka. [02:42.60]It uses eight large containers [02:45.92]that look like those used in the shipping industry. [02:49.88]A series of high-tech filters and blowers [02:54.56]attached to the containers capture CO2. [02:59.52]The captured carbon is then mixed with water [03:03.96]and pumped deep underground, [03:06.56]where it slowly turns into rock. [03:10.64]Both technologies are powered by renewable energy [03:15.44]from a nearby geothermal plant. [03:19.68]Direct air capture is still a new and costly technology. [03:25.80]But developers hope to bring down the price [03:29.76]by increasing operations as more companies [03:33.88]and individuals seek the technology. [03:37.52]Currently, there are 15 direct air capture plants operating worldwide. [03:44.68]The IEA estimates the plants capture [03:48.92]more than 9,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. [03:55.12]The American oil company Occidental is currently developing [04:01.32]the largest direct-air-capture center. [04:05.44]It aims to pull 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide [04:11.72]from the air around some of its Texas oilfields. [04:16.80]I’m Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM