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Machines sharing information with other machines is more efficient than having one of us humans gumming up the works. But could a smart grid or precision farming, in which the machines inform each other and make subsequent decisions, significantly reduce energy use and, thus, greenhouse gas pollution?
比起人们总是把事情弄糟，机器之间如果共享信息，那么办事效率会更高。然而，在智能电网和精准农业时代，机器之间互相通信、作下一步决定，这是否会极大地减少能源消耗和温室气体污染呢？
A new report from eclectic billionaire Richard Branson's Carbon War Room says yes. The report claims potential savings of nearly 20 percent of current global emissions, or more than 9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The changes could come quickly too, with pollution down 1.5 billion metric tons by the end of the decade.
亿万富翁理查德·布兰森的碳作战室新发布的一项报告对这一观点表示赞同。该报告称：机器共享信息将使全球温室气体的排放减少近20%，目前全球每年的排放量超过90亿吨。这些变化会很快来临，在这个十年结束时，排放的温室气体会下降到15亿万吨。
But what are we really talking about? First off, it's smart meters for home energy use that maximize efficiency. And building-wide systems that ensure the lights or air conditioning turn off when not needed. It's also smart transportation—planes, trains and automobiles that can talk to each other to more efficiently move goods and people. Finally, it's smart agriculture—for example, sensors in the ground that measure moisture or fertility and prevent farmers, or their automated proxies, from over-watering or applying too much fertilizer.
但是我们真正的主题是什么呢？首先是管理家庭供能的智能仪表，它能最大限度地提高效率。健全的系统会确保电灯和空调在不需要时自动关掉。其次是智能交通——飞机，火车和汽车如果能自由交流的话，会更高效地输送货物和乘客。最后是智能农业——例如，用来测量湿度或者土壤肥力的地面传感器，它能防止农民们过度浇水或者过度施肥。
Many barriers exist to ubiquitous machine-to-machine communication, not least of which is a lack of shared standards. But enabling the machine conversation might ease our climate change crisis.
将机器与机器通信普及到现实生活中还存在许多障碍，尤其体现在缺少一个公认的标准。但让机器对话可能会缓解气候变化危机。
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