評論
打印
Leaders
領導者
Renewable Energy Targets: A green red herring
再生能源目標：用綠色來轉移注意力
The goal should be to curb global warming, not to achieve 100% renewable energy.
目標應該是遏制全球變暖，而不是實現100%的可再生能源。
Not that long ago, the world wondered whether clean energy could survive without lavish government support.
在不久前，人們想知道在沒有政府的大力支持下，清潔能源是否能存活下來。
Now the question is how far it can spread.
現在的問題是清潔能源的應用范圍能擴散到多遠。
The number of electric vehicles, which breached 1m in 2015, last year reached 2m; countries like France and firms like Volvo are looking ahead to the demise of the internal combustion engine.
在2015年，電動車的數量達到了100萬，去年達到了200萬。像法國這樣的國家和像沃爾沃這樣的公司正在展望內燃機的消亡。
In electricity generation, too, momentum is with the greens.
在發電上也是如此，動力與環保相結合。
In June the Chinese province of Qinghai ran for seven consecutive days on renewable energy alone; in the first half of this year wind, solar and hydro generated a record 35% of Germany's power.
六月時，中國的青海省連續七天都只靠清潔能源。在今年的上半年，風能，太陽能和水利能發電創紀錄地占了德國電力的35%.
Greater success is breeding greater ambition.
更大的成功孕育更大的野心。
California is proposing to reach 60% renewable energy by 2030; 176 countries have clean-energy goals.
加利福尼亞提議在2030年時可再生能源將達到60%，176個國家有著清潔能源的目標。
Hawaii, America's most oil-dependent state, has pledged to be 100% renewable by the middle of the century.
美國最依賴石油的州，夏威夷，保證在這個世紀中葉將100%使用可再生能源。
So have 48 poor countries vulnerable to climate change.
所以只有48個貧窮國家易受氣候變化的影響。
This week the number of multinationals making a commitment to running their operations on 100% renewable energy rose to 100.
本周，承諾將100%使用可再生能源運營其業務的跨國公司增至100家。
Even if such targets are never met, they galvanize effort.
雖然這些目標絕不會實現，但是他們激發了人們的努力。
They also provide reassurance about long-term climate policy, despite reversals such as America's withdrawal from the Paris agreement.
他們還提供關于長期氣候政策的保證，盡管出現過如美國退出巴黎協定等一些反轉情況。
The resulting economies of scale help bring down the costs of wind and solar projects.
由此產生的規模經濟有助于降低風能和太陽能項目的成本。
But not every target is helpful.
但是并非每一個目標都是有益的。
To see why, consider that goal of 100% renewable energy. It makes solving climate change seem deceptively easy.
這是為什么呢？考慮到100%的可再生能源的目標使得解決氣候變化看起來過于簡單。
In fact, though wind and solar can generate all a country's electricity on some days, renewables still account for less than 8% of the world's total power output.
實際上，雖然風能和太陽能可以在幾天之內可以產出一個國家所有的用電，但是可再生能源依然占世界總電力輸出量少于8%。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
