盖茨联手马云、扎克伯格投资新能源

 　　Bill Gates has pulled together a multinational¹ band of investors² to put billions into clean energy.

　　比尔·盖茨联合了多国投资者，将向清洁能源领域投资数十亿美元。

　　The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist is set to announce his latest endeavor, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition³, at the climate change summit in Paris alongside President Obama and French President Francois Hollande.

　　这位微软联合创始人、慈善家将于巴黎气候变化大会上宣布他的最新举措——创建“能源突破发展联盟”。届时，美国总统奥巴马、法国总统奥朗德也将在场。

　　The fund will be fed by a group that spans more than two dozen public and private entities⁴ -- including national governments, billionaire philanthropists, investment fund managers and tech CEOs.

　　项目出资方来自20多个公共和私人实体，包括国家政府、身家上亿的慈善家、投资基金经理以及科技公司的首席执行官。

　　盖茨联手马云、扎克伯格投资新能源

　　"The renewable technologies we have today, like wind and solar, have made a lot of progress and could be one path to a zero-carbon energy future. But given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths -- and that means we also need to invent new approaches," Gates said in a statement.

　　盖茨在声明中说：“风能和太阳能等人类所具备的可再生能源技术已经得到了显著发展，这些能源很有可能是未来二氧化碳零排放的一条出路。但这项挑战极为艰巨，我们还需探索其它出路，也就是说，我们需要投资新领域。”

　　Among the list of backers are Alibaba CEO Jack⁵ Ma, Mark Zuckerberg ofFacebook, Meg Whitman of HP and Virgin⁶ Group's Richard Branson.

　　该项目的赞助者名单上，包括阿里巴巴集团CEO马云、脸书CEO马克·扎克伯格、惠普的梅格·惠特曼以及维珍集团的理查德·布兰森。

　　More than a dozen governments have also committed to double their spending on carbon-free energy development over the next five years.

　　此外，还有十多个国家的政府已承诺，将在未来五年内加倍投资无碳能源的发展。

　　"Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund," Gates added.

　　盖茨补充道：“最终在能源研发上取得突破的将会是私营企业，但他们研发所依赖的基础研究只有政府才负担得起。“

　　According to government data, the U.S. spends about $5 billion on energy R&D compared to $31 billion on health care research and nearly $70 billion on defense⁷ research.

　　美国政府发布的数据显示，该国在能源研发领域的投资约为50亿美元。相比之下，医疗研究的投资为310亿美元，国防研究的投资则接近700亿美元。

　　There is no fund raising goal for private investors in the Gates initiative. But the fund represents billions in money to seed promising⁸ ideas in large-scale clean energy production.

　　盖茨的此项计划没有对私人投资者设定募资目标，但项目募资总额高达数十亿美元，这些资金将为清洁能源未来的大规模生产创造可能性。

　　The fund says it will invest broadly and focus on five key areas: electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial uses, agriculture and projects that make energy systems more efficient.

　　该基金的投资范围很广，主要关注五个领域：发电与储电、交通运输、工业应用、农业生产以及那些能提高能源系统效率的项目。

　　For example, Gates says more research is needed in new kinds of batteries -- "flow batteries" -- that he says hold more promise than current battery technology.

　　盖茨表示，比如新型电池领域就需要进行更多的研究。他认为“液流电池”要比现在的电池技术更有前途。

　　According to Gates, the goal is to spur new clean energy tech while combating climate change by "keeping global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees."

　　盖茨认为，项目的目的是“将全球升温幅度控制在2摄氏度以内”，以应对气候变化，与此同时，该项目还会促进新型清洁能源技术的发展。

　　Reducing global reliance on fossil fuels also holds the potential for massive economic benefits, Gates added.

　　他补充道，降低全球对化石燃料的依赖也能带来巨大的经济效益。

　　"It would help millions more people escape poverty and become more self-sufficient," Gates wrote. "And it would stabilize⁹ energy prices, which will have an even bigger impact on the global economy as more people come to rely on energy in their daily lives."

　　盖茨写道：“这能帮数百万人脱离贫困、自给自足，还能稳定能源价格——在人们日常生活越来越依赖能源的今天，能源价格稳定对全球经济的影响愈发重要。

　　Vocabulary

　　philanthropist：慈善家

　　zero-carbon：不含碳的

1 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 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。

9 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。