VOA慢速英语2019 中国计划建造更多的煤电厂

Many world leaders are gathering¹ in Madrid, Spain to discuss how to reduce the world's temperatures. As they meet, China is expected to receive a lot of attention. China is the largest producer of carbon gases linked to rising temperatures.

许多世界领导人将会聚到西班牙马德里讨论如何降低全球的气温。当他们见面时，中国将会受到广泛关注。中国是最大的碳气体排放国，这类气体与气温上升有关。

Development and Energy Mix

发展与能源构成

China burns about half the coal used in the world each year. Coal is a fossil fuel that releases carbon dioxide and other gases when it is burned.

中国每年大约燃烧了全球煤炭用量的一半。煤炭是一种化石燃料，它燃烧时会释放出二氧化碳和其它气体。

Between 2000 and 2018, China's yearly carbon gas emissions² increased by nearly two hundred percent. China now releases about 30 percent of the world's total.

在2000年到2018年期间，中国每年的碳排放量增长了近200%。中国目前的碳排放量大约占到了全球总量的30%。

However, China is also the leading market for solar energy devices, wind turbines and electric vehicles. It builds about two-thirds of the world's solar cells, which create electricity from sunlight.

然而，中国也是太阳能、风力涡轮机和电动汽车的主要市场。该国建造了全球约2/3的太阳能电池，这些电池通过日光发电。

Kevin Tu is with the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and works in Beijing. "We are witnessing many contradictions in China's energy development," he said. "It's the largest coal market and the largest clean energy market in the world."

涂凯文（音译）在哥伦比亚大学全球能源政策研究中心工作。他说：“我们正在见证中国能源发展中的很多矛盾。它是全球最大的煤炭市场和最大的清洁能源市场。”

But China's government notes that the country's yearly economic growth has slowed to about six percent. That is China's lowest level of growth in 25 years. Chinese officials are increasing their support for coal and other heavy industries. That is because those industries are important parts of China's energy system and economy. At the same time, the country is reducing subsidies⁴ for renewable energy.

但是中国政府指出，该国经济年增长率已放缓至6%。这是中国25年以来的最低水平。中国官员正在增加对煤炭和其它重工业的支持。那是因为这些行业是中国能源体系和经济的重要组成部分。同时该国开始减少对可再生能源的补贴。

Recent media reports and satellite pictures suggest that China is building or planning to complete new coal power centers with a total electricity production of 148 gigawatts. That number is nearly equal to all the electricity produced by coal in the European Union. That estimate comes from Global Energy Monitor, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco.

最近的媒体报道和卫星图片显示，中国正在建设或计划完成一些总发电量为148吉瓦的新的煤电厂。这一数字几乎等同于欧盟所有的煤炭发电量。这一估算来自于全球能源监测这家总部位于旧金山的非营利组织。

Separately, investment in China's renewable energy industries dropped almost 40 percent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year. That information comes from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research organization.

另外，2019年上半年中国对可再生能源行业的投资与去年同期相比下降了近40%。该信息来自于彭博新能源财经这家研究机构。

Last week in Beijing, China's vice³ minister of ecology and environment, Zhao Yingmin, spoke⁵ to reporters. He said energy resources that are not based on carbon already make up 14.3 percent of the country's electricity production. He did not say if China would promise to lower its emissions targets anytime soon.

中国生态与环境部副部长赵英民上周在北京接受了记者采访。他说，非化石能源已经占到了中国发电量的14.3%。他没有说明中国近期是否会承诺降低其排放目标。

"We are still faced with challenges of developing our economy, improving people's livelihoods," he said.

他说：“我们仍然面临着发展中国经济、改善人民生活水平的挑战。”

China and the Environment: Difficult Issues

中国与环境的难题

Critics say China is the world's biggest producer of gases linked to climate change. Supporters say China is the biggest producer of clean energy equipment. However, both claims are somewhat misleading.

批评人士表示，中国是全球最大的温室气体排放国。支持者表示，中国是最大的清洁能源设备生产国。然而这两种说法都有一定的误导性。

"China has a really mixed record. On the one hand, it's seen rapidly rising emissions over the past two decades," notes Jonas Nahm, an energy expert at Johns Hopkins University. "On the other hand, it's shown it's able to innovate⁶ around manufacturing — and make new energy technologies available at scale, faster and cheaper," he said.

约翰·霍普金斯大学的能源专家乔纳森·纳姆指出：“中国的数据确实毁誉参半。一方面，中国在过去20年里的碳排放量迅速上升。而另一方面，中国表明了它有能力在制造领域进行创新，并且可以大规模、更快、更廉价地提供新能源技术。”

Bloomberg New Energy Finance says China's manufacturing helped bring down the cost of solar panels by 80 percent between 2008 and 2013. Prices for wind turbines and lithium-ion batteries also dropped sharply because of Chinese manufacturers.

彭博新能源财经表示，从2008年到2012年，中国制造业帮助将太阳能电池板的成本降低了80%。由于中国制造商的缘故，风力涡轮机和锂离子电池的价格也急剧下降。

"If we have any chance to meet climate targets, we have to do a lot by 2030 — and we won't be able to do it without China's clean-energy supply chain," Nahm said.

纳姆指出：“如果我们有机会实现气候目标，我们必须在2030年前做很多工作。而如果没有中国的清洁能源供应链，我们将无法做到这一点。”

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 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。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。