经济学人375:煤炭 未来的能源

　　Coal
煤炭
The fuel of the future, unfortunately
很不幸，这便是未来的能源
A cheap, ubiquitous and flexible fuel, with just one problem
这是一种廉价、易得且用途广泛的燃料，但仅存在着一个问题
WHAT more could one want? It is cheap and simple to extract, ship and burn. It is abundant: proven reserves amount to 109 years of current consumption, reckons BP, a British energy giant. They are mostly in politically stable places. There is a wide choice of dependable sellers, such as BHP Billiton (Anglo-Australian), Glencore (Anglo-Swiss), Peabody Energy and Arch Coal.
还能奢望更多的好条件吗？这是一种廉价，且便于获取、装运和燃烧的能源。它的储量十分丰富：英国能源巨头BP证实，现有的煤炭储量可供人们维持目前的消耗量长达109年。煤炭资源还大多分布于政治稳定的地区。可靠的煤炭供应商数量众多，如必和必拓、嘉能可，以及皮博迪和阿齐。
煤炭.jpg
Other fuels are beset¹ by state interference and cartels, but in this industry consumers—in heating, power generation and metallurgy—are firmly in charge, keeping prices low. Just as this wonder-fuel once powered the industrial revolution, it now offers the best chance for poor countries wanting to get rich.
其他能源均被国家或者卡特尔寡头所控制，但在煤炭产业当中，其供暖、电力和冶金业的消费者处于绝对主导地位，令价格持续低廉。正如当年这一完美的能源推动着工业革命的发展，现在它也为贫穷国家们提供着发家致富的绝佳机会。
Such arguments are the basis of a new PR campaign launched by Peabody, the world's largest private coal company. And coal would indeed be a boon², were it not for one small problem: it is devastatingly³ dirty. Mining, transport, storage and burning are fraught⁴ with mess, as well as danger. Deep mines put workers in intolerably filthy⁵ and dangerous conditions. But opencast mining, now the source of much of the world's coal, rips away topsoil and gobbles water. Transporting coal brings a host of environmental problems.
如此的论断正是皮博迪公司发起的新一轮公关活动的核心内容，而目前该公司是全世界最大的私人煤炭企业。煤炭本该成为上帝的惠泽，而若不是因为这一个小小的问题：它的破坏性污染。开采、运输、储存和燃烧使用的一系列过程中，不仅充满着问题，还具有相当的危险性。深入地下的矿井意味着矿工们要在难以忍受的肮脏以及危险的条件下工作。但目前大多数煤矿所进行的地表开采，不仅会使地表土壤流失，同时也消耗着大量的水。煤炭的运输还会带来一系列的环境问题。
The increased emissions⁶ of carbon dioxide from soaring coal consumption threaten to fry the planet, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reminded everyone in a new report this week. The CO2 makes the oceans acid; burning coal also produces sulphur dioxide, which makes buildings crumble⁷ and lungs sting, and other toxic⁸ chemicals. By some counts, coal-fired power stations emit more radioactivity than nuclear ones. They release tiny, lethal⁹ particulates¹⁰. Per unit generated, coal-fired stations cause far more deaths than nuclear ones, and more even than oil-fired ones.
正如联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会在这周最新的报告中所提醒的，持续增长煤炭消耗带来的二氧化碳排放的增加，使得地球温室效应加剧。二氧化碳的增加使得海水的酸度增加；与此同时，煤炭的燃烧产生二氧化硫和其他一些有毒化学物质，而这导致了建筑物结构的损伤以及人类肺部的损害。根据某种计算方式，煤炭发电厂所排放的辐射物质甚至比核电厂所排放的还要多。各大电厂所排放的都是极小的致命微粒。而煤电厂每单位发电排放的致命微粒要远比核电厂多，甚至比石油发电厂还要多。
But poverty kills people too, and slow growth can cost politicians their jobs. Two decades of environmental worries are proving only a marginal constraint¹¹ on the global coal industry. Some are trying to get out: in America Consol Energy is selling five mines in West Virginia to concentrate on shale¹² gas. Big coal-burners such as American Electric Power and Duke Energy are shutting coal-fired plants. Yet despite America's shale-gas boom, the federal Energy Information Administration reckons that by 2040 the country will still be generating 22% of its electricity from coal. The International Energy Agency has even predicted that, barring policy changes, coal may rival oil in importance by 2017. As countries get richer they tend to look for alternatives—China is scrambling¹³ to curb¹⁴ its rising consumption. But others, such as India and Africa, are set to take up the slack.
但贫穷问题也同样危害着人们的生命安全，而缓慢的经济增长更是会令政治家们失去自己的饭碗。二十年来的环境问题，证实了目前对于全球煤炭行业仅仅存在着一个最基本的限制。部分煤炭企业则试图抽身离开：美国康寿能源公司正在叫卖位于维吉尼亚西部的五个煤矿，从而专注于页岩气的开发。像美国电力和杜克能源等大型煤炭消耗的电力公司，则着手关闭他们旗下的煤电厂。但尽管美国页岩气开采实现了产量增长的井喷，联邦能源信息管理局预计截至2040年全国发电量中的22%会来自煤电厂。国际能源总署甚至还预言说，除非政策发生变化，煤炭的地位很可能在2017年便超越石油。随着国家的富强，宏观管理当局总倾向于在能源方面寻找煤炭的替代品---中国目前正积极削减节节攀升的煤炭消耗。但像印度和非洲地区的其他国家，正准备填补煤炭需求的短缺。
America's gas boom has prompted its coal miners to seek new export markets, sending prices plunging¹⁵ on world markets. So long as consumers do not pay for coal's horrible side-effects, that makes it irresistibly¹⁶ cheap. In Germany power from coal now costs half the price of watts¹⁷ from a gas-fired power station. It is a paradox¹⁸ that coal is booming in a country that in other respects is the greenest in Europe. Its production of power from cheap, dirty brown coal (lignite) is now at 162 billion kilowatt¹⁹ hours, the highest since the days of the decrepit²⁰ East Germany.
美国天然气市场的繁荣，促使着本地煤炭企业到海外拓展市场，推动者煤炭国际价格的下跌。只要一天消费者们仍不用对燃烧煤炭的副作用承担责任，那么煤炭价格将依旧保持那让人难以拒绝的低廉。在德国，煤炭发电的成本仅为天然气发电的一半。这是一个多么自相矛盾的情况：煤炭正推动着其经济的发展，而在其他方面，德国却是欧洲最环保的国家。由廉价、肮脏的棕色煤块（褐煤）所产生的电力，目前已经达到了自东德时期以来的最高水平，达到了1620亿千瓦时。
Japan, too, is turning to coal in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. On April 11th the government approved a new energy plan entrenching²¹ its role as a long-term electricity source.
随着福岛核电站事故的发生，日本也转向于使用煤炭发电。在4月11号，日本政府颁布了新的能源规划，以巩固煤炭作为长期发电燃料的地位。
International coal companies face two worries. One is that governments may eventually impose punitive²² levies²³, tariffs²⁴ and restrictions²⁵ on their mucky product. The other is the global glut²⁶. Prices for thermal²⁷ coal are at 80-85 a tonne, which barely covers the cost of capital. Some Australian producers are even mining at a loss, having signed freight contracts with railways and ports that make them pay for capacity whether they use it or not.
国际煤炭公司面临着两大问题。首先是各大政府或许最终会对他们肮脏的产品征收惩罚性的税费、增加关税以及增设限制。其次，便是全球煤炭市场的供过于求。电煤的价格位于每公吨80至85美元之间，而这仅仅只够补偿资金成本。由于签订了铁路和港口的运输合同，部分澳洲供应商甚至还处于亏损的经营状态。
One answer to that is cost-cutting and efficiency, much stressed by companies such as BHP Billiton. Unlike oil and gas, coal is geologically simple and does not require a costly²⁸ array of drills, platforms and pipes. If the price is too low, companies can decide to stop production and await better times. But thriftiness²⁹ with capital has its limits: the cost of mining is going up, as the easiest coal seams are worked out.
其中一个解决之道，在于成本削减和效率提升，而一些公司已大力着手实施，例如必和必拓。与油气资源不同，煤炭开采的地理复杂程度低，不需要成本高昂的钻井平台和输送管道。如果价格太低，公司可以选择停止开采以等待更好的机会。但缩减投资规模也有它的局限：在最便利的煤层开采完毕后，接下来的煤炭开采成本便会持续上升。
Some companies have tried to switch efforts to “met” coal, which fuels smelters. This was thought to be scarcer and more profitable. But that theory has suffered. Supplies of met coal have proved more abundant than expected.
一些公司已经尝试去开发冶金煤炭市场。冶金煤炭，是专为熔炉供热使用的煤炭，而这部分的资源曾被人认为是较为稀缺且利润丰厚。然而，这一想法显然与事实不同。冶金煤炭的供应已经被证实了远比设想的要充足。
Perhaps the biggest hope for all involved in the coal industry is technology. Mining and transporting coal will always be messy, but this could be overlooked were it burned cheaply and cleanly. Promising³⁰ technologies abound³¹: pulverising coal, extracting gas from it, scrubbing emissions and capturing the CO2. But none of these seems scalable in the way needed to dent³² the colossal³³ damage done by coal. And all require large subsidies—from consumers, shareholders³⁴ or taxpayers³⁵.
也许对所有煤炭行业相关的人来说，最大的希望是在于科技的发展。虽然煤炭开采和运输问题将一直存在，然而，如果它的燃烧利用能变得更为干净和低廉，上述小问题肯定会被大家所忽略。大量的技术值得我们去期待：煤炭粉碎、煤块提取燃气、气体排放净化以及二氧化碳捕获。但对于减少由煤炭造成的巨大伤害方面，这些技术都没有所需要的促进作用。与此同时，这些技术的开发还需要来自消费者、企业股东以及纳税人的巨额资助。
A 5.2 billion taxpayer-supported clean-coal plant in Mississippi incorporates all the latest technology. But at 6,800 per kilowatt, it will be the costliest³⁶ power plant yet built. At those prices, coal is going to stay dirty.
在密西西比州，一座由政府出资价值52亿美元的清洁煤炭发电厂，集中了所有最新科技。但那儿每千瓦时的发电成本高达6800美元，创下了有史以来的电厂发电最高的成本。如此高价的清洁代价，意味着煤炭目前还得贴着污染的标签。

1 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

2 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。

3 devastatingly   

adv. 破坏性地，毁灭性地，极其

参考例句：

• She was utterly feminine and devastatingly attractive in an unstudied way. 她温存无比，魅力四射而又绝不矫揉造作。
• I refuted him devastatingly from point to point. 我对他逐项痛加驳斥。

4 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

5 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

6 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

7 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

8 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

9 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

10 particulates   

n.微粒，粒子( particulate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Techniques for controlling particulates include filtering, washing, centrifugal separation, and electrostatic precipitation. 控制颗粒污染物的技术包括过滤、洗涤、离心分离、静电沉降。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Only micronic particulates penetrate to the depth of the lung. 只有微细粒子穿透到肺深部。 来自辞典例句

11 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

12 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

13 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

15 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 irresistibly   

adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地

参考例句：

• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside. 她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was irresistibly attracted by her charm. 他不能自已地被她的魅力所吸引。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

18 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

19 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。

20 decrepit   

adj.衰老的，破旧的

参考例句：

• The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
• A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。

21 entrenching   

v.用壕沟围绕或保护…( entrench的现在分词 )；牢固地确立…

参考例句：

• It has the same effect of entrenching the elite in corrupt economies. 它有着令精英陷入腐败经济的相同效应。 来自互联网
• This in entrenching on other domains. 这是在侵占别人的领土。 来自互联网

22 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

23 levies   

（部队）征兵( levy的名词复数 )； 募捐； 被征募的军队

参考例句：

• At that time, taxes and levies were as many as the hairs on an ox. 那时，苛捐杂税多如牛毛。
• Variable levies can insulate farmers and consumers from world markets. 差价进口税可以把农民和消费者与世界市场隔离开来。

24 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

25 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

26 glut   

n.存货过多，供过于求；v.狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• The glut of coffee led to a sharp drop in prices.咖啡供过于求道致价格急剧下跌。
• There's a glut of agricultural products in Western Europe.西欧的农产品供过于求。

27 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

28 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

29 thriftiness   

节俭，节约

参考例句：

• Taoism has always advocated thriftiness and plain life. 道教历来倡导节俭、朴素的生活。
• That's a positive feeling. Now I added only to my thriftiness but also independence and endurance. 通过这事，我不仅长了点经济头脑，也变得更加独立，更具忍耐力了。

30 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

31 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

32 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

33 colossal   

adj.异常的，庞大的

参考例句：

• There has been a colossal waste of public money.一直存在巨大的公款浪费。
• Some of the tall buildings in that city are colossal.那座城市里的一些高层建筑很庞大。

34 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

35 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

36 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网