In large buildings outside Madrid, Spain's capital, hop vines grow under special lights and close supervision.
在西班牙首都马德里郊外的大型建筑里，啤酒花葡萄藤在特殊的灯光和密切的监督下生长。
A small company believes growing the vines will be important to ensuring a supply of an ingredient in beer, the world's most popular alcoholic drink.
一家小公司认为，种植这种葡萄对于确保对于确保世界上最受欢迎的酒精饮料--啤酒的原料供应至关重要。
Hops are traditionally grown in areas like Bavaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, or the northwestern United States. That is because the plants need a climate that has long summer days and mild temperatures.
传统上，啤酒花生长在德国巴伐利亚、捷克共和国或美国西北部等地区。这是因为这些植物需要夏季白昼长、温度温和的气候。
However, research shows environmental changes are driving down yields and quality of hops. It is a growing problem for the beer industry.
然而，研究表明，环境变化正在降低啤酒花的产量和质量。对于啤酒行业来说，这是一个日益严重的问题。
Industry groups say U.S. production was down 12 percent in 2022, while German production decreased by 21 percent. Czech yields fell by more than 40 percent because of unusually hot weather.
行业组织表示，美国的产量在2022年下降了12%，而德国的产量下降了21%。由于异常炎热的天气，捷克的产量下降了40%以上。
Spain's Ekonoke is a kind of small business known as a start-up. Ekonoke is growing hop vines indoors to solve the problem. The company uses nearly 95 percent less water than traditional outdoor farming systems.
西班牙的Ekonoke是一家被称为初创企业的小企业。Ekonoke正在室内种植啤酒花藤来解决这个问题。该公司使用的水比传统的户外耕作系统少了近95%。
We're on a mission to save the world's beer, Ines Sagrario, co-founder of Ekonoke, told the Reuters news agency.
Ekonoke公司的联合创始人伊内斯·萨格里奥告诉路透社："我们的任务是拯救世界上的啤酒"。
The start-up's 11-member team of scientists experiments with different groupings of light and fertilizer and water mixtures.
这家初创公司的11人科学家团队对不同的光照、肥料和水的混合物分组进行实验。
The goal is to increase production of substances such as alpha-acids and essential oils. These give hops the bitter and fruity smells that are enjoyed by beer lovers.
其目标是增加α -酸和精油等物质的产量。这些成分给啤酒花带来了啤酒爱好者喜欢的苦涩和果香。
A large number of sensors are attached to the vines to measure water and carbon dioxide levels. Special LED lights change colors in the growing area.
藤蔓上安装了大量的传感器来测量水分和二氧化碳水平。特殊的LED灯会在种植区域改变颜色。
These hops have never seen any sunlight, only our own light show, said Javier Ramiro, a scientist with Ekonoke.
“这些啤酒花从来没有见过阳光，只有我们自己的灯光表演。”Ekonoke的科学家哈维尔·拉米罗说。
To finance its research and growth plans, Ekonoke is working with the Hijos de Rivera group, makers of the popular Estrella Galicia beer.
为了资助其研究和发展计划，Ekonoke正在与Hijos de Rivera集团合作，该集团是受欢迎的Estrella Galicia啤酒的制造商。
The growers said the next step is to increase production to three rooms of up to 400 plants each.
种植者说，下一步是将产量扩大到三个房间，每个房间最多可种植400棵植物。
Sagrario said that in the future, indoor growing areas could be set up near beer makers. These growing areas could reuse the carbon dioxide released during fermentation.
萨格里奥说，未来，室内种植区域可以建在啤酒制造商附近。这些种植区可以再利用发酵过程中释放的二氧化碳。
The company is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev's (ABI) 100+ sustainability accelerator program. This program aims to give financing to companies that offer improvements in environmental and social problems.
该公司是百威英博(ABI) 100+可持续发展加速器计划的一部分。该项目旨在为改善环境和社会问题的公司提供融资。
ABI's Willy Buholzer called the business "very promising." But he said it remains to be seen if it can grow and sell hops that are able to compete with traditional producers.
ABI的威利·布霍尔泽称这项业务“非常有前景”。但他表示，该公司是否能够种植和销售能够与传统生产商相媲美的啤酒花，还有待观察。
You should not underestimate traditional (outdoor) hop growers. They always come up with new ideas, he added.
“我们不应该低估传统的(户外)啤酒花种植者。他们总能想出新点子。”
The most obvious difficulty indoor farming faces, he said, is its high energy cost.
他说，室内农业面临的最明显的困难是能源成本高。
But Buholzer believes high energy prices will return to normal. He added that special varieties and more harvests could make indoor farming competitive in pricing.
但布霍尔泽认为，高能源价格将恢复正常。他补充说，特殊的品种和更多的收成可以使室内农业在价格上具有竞争力。
You can't make beer without hops, and they don't want to produce less, Sagrario said.
萨格里奥说:“酿造啤酒不可能没有啤酒花，他们可不想减产。”
Ekonoke's plan, she added, is to set up indoor growing areas around the world. "This can be grown anywhere: Madrid, Sevastopol or Timbuktu."
她补充说，Ekonoke的计划是在世界各地建立室内种植区。“它可以在任何地方种植:马德里、塞瓦斯托波尔或廷巴克图。”
Words in This Story
vine - n. a plant that has very long stems and that grows along the ground or up and around something
ingredient -n. one of the things used to make a food product
yield - n. the amount of something that is produced by a plant, farm, etc.
fertilizer - n. a substance (such as manure or a special chemical) that is added to soil to help the growth of plants
ferment - v. to go through a chemical change that results in the production of alcohol
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