原文標(biāo)題：
Recycling tyres
Fuel from your wheels
Turning old tyres into new, low-emission fuel
輪胎回收
從輪胎中獲取燃料
將舊輪胎變成新的、低排放的燃料

Old tyres can become a climate-friendly fuel
廢舊輪胎可轉(zhuǎn)化成氣候友好型燃料

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GETTING RID of old tyres has long been a problem. Every year more than a billion reach the end of the road.
長(zhǎng)期以來，處理舊輪胎一直是個(gè)問題。每年都有10多億個(gè)輪胎被丟棄在道路盡頭。

Until recently, most were thrown into landfills or piled up in storage yards, which occasionally caught fire.
大多數(shù)輪胎被扔進(jìn)垃圾填埋場(chǎng)或堆放在儲(chǔ)存場(chǎng)，這些堆放場(chǎng)地偶爾會(huì)發(fā)生火災(zāi)，直到最近才有所改觀。

Tougher environmental laws mean many countries now insist tyres are recycled.
許多國(guó)家出臺(tái)了更嚴(yán)格的環(huán)境法，這意味著他們會(huì)堅(jiān)持回收輪胎。

And they are, sort of. Some of the methods might be better than dumping them, but they are not especially green.
有些產(chǎn)生了效果。雖然有些方法比將輪胎傾倒在垃圾場(chǎng)更好，但它們并不是很環(huán)保。

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Energy recovery is one common method.

能源回收是一種常見的方法。

This involves burning tyres in an incinerator to generate electricity, or as a supplementary fuel to provide heat for cement kilns and other industrial processes. But that produces planet-warming pollution.

例如通過焚燒輪胎來發(fā)電，或作為補(bǔ)充燃料為水泥窯和其他工業(yè)過程提供熱量。但這會(huì)產(chǎn)生導(dǎo)致地球變暖的污染物。

Tyres can be used whole or shredded in construction projects, such as building embankments or repairing roads.

輪胎可以整個(gè)或切碎用于建設(shè)項(xiàng)目，如建造堤壩或修路。

There are, however, concerns about chemicals from the tyres leaching out and contaminating the ground.

然而，人們擔(dān)心輪胎中的化學(xué)物質(zhì)會(huì)滲出并污染地面。

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Some firms, therefore, have begun exploring an alternative, pleasingly symmetrical idea.

因此，一些公司已經(jīng)開始探索另一種令人愉悅的對(duì)稱性理念。

Since tyres are mostly made from hydrocarbons, it should be possible in principle to turn old tyres into low-carbon fuel which can be used to run the vehicles they came from.
由于輪胎主要由碳?xì)浠衔镏瞥桑虼嗽瓌t上應(yīng)該可以將舊輪胎轉(zhuǎn)化為低碳燃料，這些燃料可用于驅(qū)動(dòng)車輛。

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One of the most ambitious firms pursuing the idea is Wastefront, which is based in Oslo, in Norway.

挪威奧斯陸的Wastefront公司是追求這一理念的最具雄心壯志的公司之一。

Later this year the company will start building a giant tyre-recycling plant in Sunderland in north-east England.

今年晚些時(shí)候，該公司將開始在英格蘭東北部的桑德蘭建造一個(gè)巨大的輪胎回收廠。

In a couple of years, when the plant is fully operational, it will be able to turn 8m old tyres into new products, including some 25,000 tonnes of a gooey black liquid called tyre derived oil (TDO).
幾年后，當(dāng)工廠全面投入運(yùn)營(yíng)時(shí)，它將能夠把800萬個(gè)舊輪胎轉(zhuǎn)化為新產(chǎn)品，其中包括大約2.5萬噸粘稠的黑色液體，稱為輪胎衍生油（TDO）。

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The process works by deconstructing a tyre into its three main components.

該工藝的工作原理是將輪胎分解成3種主要成分。

One is steel, which is used to brace the structure of a tyre and which can be readily recycled.

第一種是用于支撐輪胎結(jié)構(gòu)的鋼，這部分可以很容易回收利用。

The second is carbon black, a powdery, soot-like form of carbon used to improve the durability of the tyre.

第二種是炭黑，一種粉狀、煤煙狀的碳，用于提高輪胎的耐用性。

The third is rubber. Some of that will be natural rubber obtained from the sap of rubber trees. Some will be the synthetic sort, which is made in factories from crude oil.
第三種是橡膠。其中有些是從橡膠樹的汁液中提取的天然橡膠。有些是合成橡膠，即在工廠里用原油煉制而成。

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In order to do the deconstructing, the tyres are first shredded and the steel bracing removed.

為了進(jìn)行解構(gòu)，首先將輪胎切碎并拆除鋼支架。

The remaining material then goes through a process called pyrolysis.

然后，剩余的材料要經(jīng)過“熱解”過程。

This involves exposing a material to high temperatures in the absence of air.

這個(gè)過程是將材料暴露在高溫且真空的環(huán)境中。

That causes the rubber to decompose into a mix of hydrocarbon gases, which are drawn off. What is left behind is pure carbon black.
這使橡膠分解成碳?xì)浠衔餁怏w的混合物，這些氣體被抽走，剩下的物質(zhì)是純碳黑。

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Once the drawn-off gas has cooled down, a proportion of it liquefies into TDO.

一旦抽出的氣體冷卻下來，其中一部分氣體就會(huì)液化成輪胎衍生油。

The remaining gases, which include methane, are funnelled back around to be burned, fuelling the reactor.

剩余的甲烷等氣體被輸送回?zé)峤庵車?，為反?yīng)器提供燃料。

This, says Vianney Valès, Wastefront’s boss, creates a closed-loop system that prevents emissions.

Wastefront的老板維亞尼·瓦雷斯說，這創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)零排放的閉環(huán)系統(tǒng)。

The overall output of the process by weight is 40% TDO, 30% carbon black, 20% steel and 10% gas.

該工藝的總產(chǎn)量按重量計(jì)分別是 40% 輪胎衍生油、30%炭黑、20% 鋼和 10% 氣體。

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The carbon black can be re-used to make new tyres.

炭黑可重新用于制造新輪胎。

That is of interest to tyre-makers because it helps efforts to become carbon neutral.

輪胎制造商對(duì)此很感興趣，因?yàn)檫@有助于實(shí)現(xiàn)碳中和。

Producing new carbon black requires the partial burning of heavy oil residues or coal, which produces plenty of greenhouse-gas emissions.
而且新的炭黑生產(chǎn)需要部分燃燒重油殘?jiān)蛎禾?，這會(huì)產(chǎn)生大量的溫室氣體排放。

[Paragraph 9]

The recovered TDO is similar to crude oil fresh from the ground, and is well-suited for making diesel.

回收的輪胎衍生油類似于從地下開采的新原油，很適合用于制造柴油。

To do that, Wastefront is working with Vitol, a Swiss company that is the world’s largest independent oil trader, and which operates a number of refineries around the world.
為此，Wastefront公司正在與瑞士維托爾公司開展合作。后者是世界上最大的獨(dú)立石油貿(mào)易商，在世界各地經(jīng)營(yíng)著多家煉油廠。

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While not completely carbon-neutral, diesel made from TDO does produce an 80-90% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, compared with the conventional fuel.

雖然不能達(dá)到完全碳中和，但與傳統(tǒng)燃料相比，用輪胎衍生油制造的柴油確實(shí)能減少80-90%的二氧化碳排放，而二氧化碳是主要的溫室氣體。

The future market for cleaner fuels is likely to remain substantial, even though electric vehicles are steadily replacing those with combustion engines.

盡管電動(dòng)汽車正在穩(wěn)步取代燃油汽車，但清潔燃料的未來市場(chǎng)可能仍然很大。

Fossil-fuelled vehicles will remain on the road for decades to come, particularly large commercial vehicles like lorries, which are harder to electrify and which are big burners of diesel. The fuel will also be needed by trains and ships.

在未來的幾十年里，路上仍有化石燃油車輛行駛，尤其是像卡車這樣大型商用車，它們更難實(shí)現(xiàn)電氣化，而且它們是柴油的大消耗者?；疖嚭洼喆矊⑿枰@種燃料。

So, anything that helps to clean up overall emissions during what will be a long transition to the electrification of transport is useful—especially if it also shrinks a mountainous waste problem.
因此，在交通工具電氣化的漫長(zhǎng)過渡過程中，任何有助于減少整體排放的方法都是有用的--特別是如果它還能減少推積如山的廢舊輪胎問題。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量690左右）
原文出自：2023年5月27日《The Economist》Science & technology版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
炭黑Carbon Black是一種黑色的粉末狀物質(zhì)，通常由煤炭、木材或石油等有機(jī)原材料在高溫下裂解或氧化制成。它的主要成分是碳元素，具有良好的抗紫外線、導(dǎo)電、耐磨等特性，因此廣泛應(yīng)用于橡膠、塑料、油墨、顏料、化妝品等行業(yè)中。

輪胎衍生油Tyre Derived Oil是一種從廢舊輪胎中提取的能源，通常通過輪胎熱解或輪胎焚燒來生產(chǎn)。輪胎衍生油可以作為燃料，用于發(fā)電、加熱和生產(chǎn)化學(xué)品。它是一種可再生能源，有助于減少?gòu)U棄物的數(shù)量和環(huán)境污染。與傳統(tǒng)石油相比，輪胎衍生油的碳排放少，并且可以在工業(yè)和交通領(lǐng)域的許多應(yīng)用中替代傳統(tǒng)燃料。但是，輪胎衍生油也存在一些挑戰(zhàn)，例如生產(chǎn)成本高、技術(shù)難度大以及質(zhì)量不穩(wěn)定等問題。因此，輪胎衍生油的開發(fā)和應(yīng)用需要綜合考慮生產(chǎn)成本、技術(shù)可行性、環(huán)境影響等因素。

碳中和Carbon Neutral是指將自身所排放的碳排放量與其所吸收或減少的碳排放量相抵消，從而在環(huán)境上達(dá)到零碳排放的狀態(tài)。這意味著在生產(chǎn)或消費(fèi)過程中產(chǎn)生的碳排放量將被抵消或減少，以減少對(duì)環(huán)境的影響。碳中和是實(shí)現(xiàn)可持續(xù)發(fā)展與減少溫室氣體排放的關(guān)鍵。企業(yè)、城市和國(guó)家都可以采用碳中和的方法來達(dá)到減少碳排放和環(huán)境保護(hù)的目標(biāo)。碳中和的實(shí)現(xiàn)方式包括使用可再生能源、提高能源效率、種植樹木、投資碳抵消項(xiàng)目等。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個(gè)）
And they are, sort of. Some of the methods might be better than dumping them, but they are not especially green.
有些產(chǎn)生了效果。雖然有些方法比將輪胎傾倒在垃圾場(chǎng)更好，但它們并不是很環(huán)保。

The overall output of the process by weight is 40% TDO, 30% carbon black, 20% steel and 10% gas.
該工藝的總產(chǎn)量按重量計(jì)分別是 40% 輪胎衍生油、30%炭黑、20% 鋼和 10% 氣體。

So, anything that helps to clean up overall emissions during what will be a long transition to the electrification of transport is useful—especially if it also shrinks a mountainous waste problem.
因此，在交通工具電氣化的漫長(zhǎng)過渡過程中，任何有助于減少整體排放的方法都是有用的--特別是如果它還能減少推積如山的廢舊輪胎問題。