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中，啤酒花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.
一家小型公司认为，种植这种藤本植物对于确保世界上最受欢迎的酒精饮料——啤酒中的一种成分的供应至关重要。
Hops are traditionally grown in areas like Bavaria, Germany, the Czech Republic, or the northwestern United States.
传统上，啤酒花生长在巴伐利亚、德国、捷克共和国或美国西北部等地区。
That is because the plants need a climate that has long summer days and mild temperatures.
这是因为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.
然而，研究表明，环境变化正在降低啤酒花的产量和质量。
It is a growing problem for the beer industry.
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.
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%。
Czech yields fell by more than 40 percent because of unusually hot weather.
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.
西班牙的埃科诺克是一家小企业，还被称为初创企业。
Ekonoke is growing hop vines indoors to solve the problem.
埃科诺克公司正在室内种植啤酒花藤来解决这个问题。
The company uses nearly 95 percent less water than traditional outdoor farming systems.
与传统的户外农业系统相比，该公司用水量减少了近95% 。
"We're on a mission to save the world's beer," Ines Sagrario, co-founder of Ekonoke, told the Reuters news agency.
埃科诺克联合创始人伊内斯·萨格拉里奥对路透社表示：“我们肩负着拯救世界啤酒的使命。”
The start-up's 11-member team of scientists experiments with different groupings of light and fertilizer and water mixtures.
这家初创公司由11名科学家组成，他们对光、肥料和水的混合物进行了不同组合的实验。
The goal is to increase production of substances such as alpha-acids and essential oils.
目标是增加α酸和精油等物质的产量。
These give hops the bitter and fruity smells that are enjoyed by beer lovers.
这些物质会使得啤酒花散发出苦涩和果香，而这正是啤酒爱好者所青睐的。
A large number of sensors are attached to the vines to measure water and carbon dioxide levels.
藤蔓上安装了大量的传感器来测量水分和二氧化碳含量。
Special LED lights change colors in the growing area.
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秀，”埃科诺克的科学家哈维尔·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，埃科诺克正在与Hijos de Rivera集团合作，该集团是受欢迎的 埃斯特拉啤酒的制造商。
The growers said the next step is to increase production to three rooms of up to 400 plants each.
种植者说，下一步是将产量增加到三个房间，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.
萨格拉里奥说，未来，可以在啤酒制造商附近设立室内种植区。
These growing areas could reuse the carbon dioxide released during fermentation.
这些种植区可以重复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.
该公司是百威英博(Anheuser-Busch InBev) 100+可持续发展加速器计划的一部分。
This program aims to give financing to companies that offer improvements in environmental and social problems.
该计划旨在为改善环境和社会问题的公司提供资金。
ABI's Willy Buholzer called the business "very promising."
ABI的威利·布霍尔泽称这项业务“非常有前景”。
But he said it remains to be seen if it can grow and sell hops that are able to compete with traditional producers.
但他表示，能否种植和销售能够与传统生产商竞争的啤酒花，仍有待观察。
"You should not underestimate traditional (outdoor) hop growers.
你不应该低估传统的(户外)啤酒花种植者。
They always come up with new ideas," he added.
他们总能想出新的点子。
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困难是其高昂的能源成本。
But Buholzer believes high energy prices will return to normal.
但布霍尔泽认为，高能源价格将恢复正常。
He added that special varieties and more harvests could make indoor farming competitive in pricing.
他补充说，特殊的品种和更多的收成可以使室内农业在定价方面具有竞争力。
"You can't make beer without hops, and they don't want to produce less," Sagrario said.
“没有啤酒花就不能酿造啤酒，他们不想减产，”萨格拉里奥说。
Ekonoke's plan, she added, is to set up indoor growing areas around the world.
她补充说，埃科诺克的计划是在世界各地建立室内种植区。
"This can be grown anywhere: Madrid, Sevastopol or Timbuktu."
“这种植物可以在任何地方种植：马德里、塞瓦斯托波尔或廷巴克图。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔报道。
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