Allthatextracarbondioxideblockingouratmospheremightbeus...

来源：语文精选馆 2.98W

问题详情：

All that extra carbon dioxide blocking our atmosphere might be useful for something new. In a process described at the American Chemical Society meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, the carbon from piped-in air was spun into tiny nanofibres— a raw material used to build strong composites(复合材料) such as those used in aircraft, fitness equipment and sports cars.

A team led by Stuart Licht of George Washington University in Washington DC has designed a process that actively uses carbon from the air and turns it into a product that can be sold for much more than the cost to produce it. Carbon nanofibres sell for about $25,000 per ton, but making a ton of them using this process would cost only about $1,000. “We’re transforming the CO2 into something useful,” says Licht. “We hope there’ll be significant demand.”

The technique works in an electrolytic cell(电解槽)，in which atmospheric carbon breaks up in lithium carbonate, a common industrial chemical. So far, the team’s efforts have revealed no unexpected barriers. The electric current could come from conventional sources but Licht has also successfully run it on solar power. If it’s used on a large scale, the process could in theory have a great effect on fighting climate change. “We calculate that with a physical area less than 10 per cent the size of the Sahara Desert, out process could remove enough CO2 to decrease atmospheric levels to those of the pre-industrial revolution within 10 years,” Licht says.

That’s a fearless project—and not everyone believes it. “I’m extremely skeptical of these ideas, ” says Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford, California. Caldeira doubts whether this kind of solar-to-chemical conversion(转化) is near being economically working. “I would be highly surprised if these people have broken this nut,” he says.

Nate Lewis of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena says one limitation of using Licht’s method on a large scale might be that carbon dioxide would be used up. Getting CO2 from the atmosphere above an area with high efficiency would mean that more would have to blow in from elsewhere after only a few hours. “It will require much longer time than they calculate,” Lewis says.

59. By mentioning the numbers in Paragraph 2, the author means that __________.

A. carbon nanofibres are significantly valuable

B. there’s a great demand for carbon nanofibres

C. carbon nanofibres can benefit the government

D. it’s worthwhile producing carbon nanofibres

60. Who will be most likely to support the team’s efforts?

A. Physicists　　　B. Astronomers　　　C. Physcians　　　D. Environmentalists

61. What does Ken Caldeira mean by saying “this nut” (underlined part)?

A. The technique isn’t quite practical.

B. Carbon nanofibres aren’t very marketable.

C. Carbon nanofibres aren’t so environmental as we thought.

D. The technique needs to be acknowledged by more people.