《经济学人》双语：如何实现绿色能源的迅速转型？

原文标题：
Green energy
Plug and pay
To decarbonise faster, let renewables firms make money
绿色能源
即用即付
要想尽快脱碳，就得让可再生能源公司有钱可赚

Governments must accept that green power is pricey
各国政府须接受绿色能源价格很贵的事实

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AMID THE misery of war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis, there is a glimmer of good news. The green transition has speeded up.

由于乌战和全球能源危机，人们处于痛苦之中，但也有一个好消息：绿色能源转型进程加快了。

True, a spike in natural-gas prices fuelled greater demand for coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels.

的确，天然气价格的飙升推动了人们对煤炭（最不清洁的化石燃料）的更大需求。

But it also led consumers to use energy more efficiently.And, more significantly, it spurred investment in renewables around the world.

但这也促进了消费者更有效地使用能源。更重要的是，它加快了世界各地对可再生能源的投资。

Last year global capital spending on wind and solar assets was greater than investment in new and existing oil and gas wells for the first time.

去年，风能和太阳能相关的全球投资首次超过了新油井、现有油井、天然气井相关的投资。

Governments in America and Europe are spending billions on subsidies for clean tech over the next decade.
欧美政府未来10年将花费数十亿美元来补贴清洁技术。

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As a happy consequence, the green transition may have accelerated by five to ten years.
好消息是，绿色转型可能已经提前了5-10年。

Yet the remarkable thing is that the transition could have proceeded at a faster pace still.
然而，值得一提的是，绿色转型还可以更快些。

Even as governments have loosened the purse-strings, they have begun to blunt the incentives to invest.
尽管各国政府放松了钱袋子，但是他们也开始削弱了投资动力。

Sharpening them again will be vital, as on today’s trajectory the world is unlikely to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, the milestone for limiting temperature rises to 1.5°C above pre-industrial averages by 2100.
再次提高投资动力将至关重要，因为按照现如今的发展轨迹，世界不太可能在2050年实现净零碳排放，这是到2100年将气温上升限制在比工业化前平均水平高1.5°C的里程碑。

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One problem is obtaining permits. Endless delays stop firms that want to invest from breaking ground.
问题之一是获得许可难。无休止的拖延让潜在的投资公司望而却步。

This has long been an obstacle to new projects in America and Europe; the worrying thing is that some places are going backwards.
长期以来，这一直是欧美新项目的障碍；令人担忧的是，有些地方正在背道而驰。

The gains from cutting red tape are large. The International Energy Agency, an official forecaster, estimates that renewables generation would rise by an extra 25% by 2027 if bureaucratic and financing barriers were removed.
减少繁文缛节能带来巨大收益。官方预测机构“国际能源署”估计，如果清除路官僚和融资障碍，到2027年可再生能源发电量将另增加25%。

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The bigger problem is that some renewables providers are now rethinking their investments altogether, because energy projects are becoming less attractive.
更大的问题是，一些可再生能源供应商正在重新考虑投资决策，因为能源项目的魅力减弱了。

Price caps and various taxes, together with rising costs, are putting them off.
价格上限、各种税收，成本上涨，这些因素都让投资者踌躇不前。

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Between January 2021 and April 2022 logistical hiccups, post-lockdown rebounds and war-induced disruptions together buoyed the prices of everything from shipping to industrial metals, which in turn raised the prices of solar modules and turbines.
2021年1月至2022年4月期间，物流中断、疫情反弹和战争因素共同推高了所有商品（从运输到工业金属等）的价格，这反过来又推高了太阳能组件和涡轮机的成本。

Higher interest rates have made money dearer—a headache for builders of green plants, which are much hungrier for capital than their fossil-fuel-fired counterparts.
更高的利率使得资金成本也更高——这令绿色工厂的建设者们头疼，因为绿色能源工厂比化石燃料工厂更急需资金。

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Such costs would be manageable if they could be passed on. But governments are increasingly micromanaging power markets to keep prices low, or to raise revenue of their own.
如果这些成本能够转嫁出去，那么成本是可控的。但为了维持低电价，或为了增加财政收入，各国政府正越来越多地对电力市场进行微观管理。

The EU has imposed a price cap on renewable generators, and many European countries have implemented a windfall tax on their profits.
欧盟规定了可再生能源发电商的价格上限，而且许多欧洲国家对其还征收了暴利税。

Around the world, auctions for renewables contracts are being designed to keep electricity cheap—so cheap that generators will struggle to make money.
在世界范围内，可再生能源合同的拍卖目的是为了维持低电价--但低到发电商很难赚钱的程度。

The result has been squeezed profits. The four largest Western turbine-makers are losing money.
结果是利润受挤压。西方4大涡轮机制造商正在亏损。

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This is clogging up project pipelines.
这会堵住“项目管道”。

From America to Asia, wind developers are trying to revise their bids or renegotiate financing deals, delaying construction.
美国和亚洲等风能开发商正努力修改标书或重新谈判融资协议，推迟了建设。

Some are withdrawing from big tenders, decrying projects as “uninvestible”.

一些公司退出了大型招标，谴责项目“不可投资”。

In America many solar projects are stalled, and in Europe fewer agreements to buy the power they generate are being signed.
在美国，许多太阳能项目都停滞不前，而在欧洲，签署购买太阳能发电的协议也寥寥无几。

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Governments are keen to keep power prices low today, but that may be a false economy if it reduces the renewables spending needed for tomorrow.
如今各国政府都热衷于维持低电价，但如果这减少了未来所需的可再生能源支出，这可能是一种错误的节约。 

And as more wind and solar capacity is built, developers will probably need to withstand even bigger cost increases: a shortage of copper, say, would push up the prices of cables and wires, and a scarcity of trained workers needed to maintain and operate turbines would boost wages.
随着风能和太阳能发电能力越来越强，开发商可能需要承受更大的成本增长: 比如铜的短缺会推高电缆和电线的成本，而维护和操作涡轮机的优秀工人的短缺将推高工资成本。

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All this means that, if investing is to stay attractive, green power will need to be sold at higher prices than governments would like.
所有这些都意味着，如果投资要保持吸引力，绿色能源的售价必须高于政府的预期。

If the energy transition is to happen fast, there must not be a race to the bottom.
如果要实现能源的迅速转型，那么一定不能出现逐底竞争现象。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量823左右，有删减）
原文出自：2023年2月18日《The Economist》Leaders版块。

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
新能源与可再生能源的区别。新能源的种类：包括太阳能、地热能、风能、海洋能等。可再生能源的种类：再生能源包括太阳能、水能、风能、生物质能、波浪能、潮汐能、海洋温差能、地热能等。

暴利税Windfall Tax是针对行业取得的不合理的过高利润征税。通过测算各种资源的成本、各种费用以及利润空间，保证留给企业足够的收入用于可持续发展的开支后，计算出暴利阶段，主要为了调控垄断行业的高利润。在中国，“暴利税”指的是中国相关垄断行业企业，如石油、房地产和股市等行业收取的特别收益金。

逐底竞争Race to the bottom是国际政治经济学的一个著名概念，意指在全球化过程中，资本流遍世界，就是为了寻找最高的回报率。因此，政府在有关福利体系、环境标准和劳工保障的政策执行方面会受限制，意味发展中国家必须竞相削减工资水平和福利待遇以吸引国际企业投资设厂。

【重点句子】（3 个）
One problem is obtaining permits. Endless delays stop firms that want to invest from breaking ground.
问题之一是获得许可难。无休止的拖延让潜在的投资公司望而却步。

Price caps and various taxes, together with rising costs, are putting them off.
价格上限、各种税收，成本上涨，这些因素都让投资者踌躇不前。

If the energy transition is to happen fast, there must not be a race to the bottom.


如果要实现能源的迅速转型，那么一定不能出现逐底竞争现象。