Electricity is a secondary energy source

 

　　电是二级能源

 

　　Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. Electricity is both a basic part of nature and one of the most widely used forms of energy.

 

　　电是指电能的传递或电荷的流动。电既是自然界的基本构成要素之一，也是人类普遍使用/应用最广泛的能源形式之一。

 

　　Electricity is actually a secondary energy source, also referred to as an energy carrier. That means that customers get electricity from the conversion of other sources of energy, such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, or wind energy. These sources of energy are called primary energy sources. The energy sources used to make electricity can be renewable or nonrenewable, but electricity itself is not renewable or nonrenewable.

 

　　电实际上是一种二级能源，也被称作能源载体。也就是说，人类通过其他形式的能源转换获得电，例如：煤、天然气、核能、太阳能、风能。这些能源叫作一级能源，有些是可再生能源，有些是不可再生能源。但是电本身 没有可再生或不可再生之分。

 

　　Electricity use has dramatically changed daily life电的使用极大地改变了日常生活

 

　　Before electricity became available more than 100 years ago, houses were lit with candles and kerosene lamps, food was cooled in iceboxes, and rooms were warmed by wood-burning or coal-burning stoves.

 

　　100多年前电能尚未开发/尚未为人所用，人们用蜡烛或煤油灯照明，用放满 冰块的箱子冷却/冷藏食物，靠柴炉或煤炉来取暖。

 

　　Scientists and inventors have worked to decipher the principles of electricity since the 1600s. Some notable accomplishments were made by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that lightning is electricity. Thomas Edison invented the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb.

 

　　17世纪以来，科学家和发明家们致力于破解电的原理。本杰明?富兰克林， 托马斯?爱迪生，尼古拉?特斯拉取得的成就最为瞩目。本杰明?富兰克林证明 了闪电的本质即是电。托马斯?爱迪生发明了第一个持久耐用/能持久照明的白炽 灯泡。

 

　　Prior to 1879, direct current (DC) electricity had been used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. In the late 1800s, Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which reduced the cost of transmitting electricity over long distances. Tesla’s inventions used electricity to bring indoor lighting to homes and used electricity to power industrial machines.

 

　　1879年之前，使用直流电的弧光灯被用作室外照明。19世纪末，尼古拉?特斯拉开创了交流电的发电、输电和使用，降低了远距离输电的成本。尼古拉?特斯拉的发明使电用于室内照明，也使电驱动工业机器。

 

　　Despite its great importance in daily life, few people probably stop to think what life would be like without electricity. Like air and water, people tend to take electricity for granted. But people use electricity to do many jobs every day-from lighting, heating, and cooling homes to powering televisions and computers.

 

　　尽管电对于我们的日常生活意义重大，但是几乎没人会停下来思考如果没有电我们的生活会变成什么样子。人们往往把电看作是理所当然，就像空气和水一 样。但是，人们每天用电来做很多事情，家庭照明、取暖、制冷/降温，还有电视、电脑的供电。