CORVALIJS. Ore.-- Engineers at Oregon Suite University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial (微生物的)fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater，opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell extra electricity.
The new technology ,developed at OSU, can now produce 10 to 50 more times the electricity, per volume, than most oilier approaches using microbial fuel cells,and 100 times more electricity than some.
Researchers say this could eventually change the way that wastewater is treated all over the world, replacing the widely used “activated sludge (泥浆) ” process that has been in use for almost a century. The new approach would produce significant amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater,
“If this technology works on a commercial scale the way we believe it will ,the treatment of wastewater could be a huge energy producer, not a huge energy cost.” said Hong Liu ，an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering. “This could have an impact around the world, save a great deal of money, provide better water treatment and promote energy sustainability.”
The biodegradable (能降解的）characteristics of wastewater, if developed to their full potential, could theoretically provide many times the energy that is now being used to process them, with no additional greenhouse emissions.
OSU researchers reported several years ago on the promise of this technology, but at that time the systems in use produced far less electrical power. With new concepts, the technology can now produce more than two kilowatts per cubic meter of liquid reactor volume.
The new system also works better than an alternative approach to creating electricity from wastewater, based on anacrobic (臭氧的）digestion that produces methane (甲烷）.It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn’t have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of possible release of methane, a significant greenhouse gas.
小题1:Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A．The treatment of wastewater is a huge energy cost.
B．Wastewater is being treated differently over the world.
C．Waste treatment plants have found a new way to power themselves.
D．Microbial fuel cells will produce more electricity from wastewater.小题2:What can we learn about the new technology from the passage?
A．It can produce 100 times more electricity than any approach used today.
B．Through it more electricity can be created and water can be cleaned better.
C．It has already changed the way that wastewater is treated all over the world
D．It has opened the door to put microbial fuel cells to productive use.小题3:What attitude does Professor Liu hold towards the new technology?
A. Supportive. B. Critical. C Unconcerned. D. Curious.
小题4:According to the last paragraph, why does the new system work better than the alternative approach?
A．Because it is co-friendly and treats wastewater more effectively.
B．Because it can make full use of anaerobic digestion producing methane.
C．Because it may produce less methane than the alternative approach.
D．Because it can produce 10 times the energy than the alternative approach.
