2021年经济学人 电岛--一个有关低碳生活的实验

Europe

欧洲板块

Greece

希腊

Electric island

电岛

An experiment in low-carbon living

一个有关低碳生活的实验

A butterfly-shaped island in the central Aegean hopes to become Greece's first carbon-free tourist destination.

一个位于爱琴海中部的蝴蝶形状的岛屿希望成为希腊第一个无碳旅游地。

Under a deal with the government, Volkswagen, a carmaker, has donated several new electric vehicles for use by Astypalea's public services; it will sell others at cost price to its 1,200 year-round residents.

根据与政府的协议，汽车制造商大众捐赠了几辆新的电动汽车供阿斯帕利亚的公共服务部门使用，且将以成本价将其其他产品出售给该地1200名常住居民。

In return, the government has bumped up subsidies¹ for islanders to buy electric cars and will build a hybrid² solar and wind-fuelled power plant to replace a cluster of polluting diesel-fired generators³.

作为回报，政府提高了对岛民购买电动汽车的补贴，并将建造一个太阳能和风力混合动力发电厂以取代那些污染严重的柴油发电机。

Unlike other nearby islands, Astypalea is not connected to Greece's electricity grid⁴.

阿斯特帕利亚与附近的其他岛屿不同，那里没有连接希腊的电网，

With only 3,000 rooms for visitors in small hotels or flats, tourism is still low-key.

且只有3000个小酒店或公寓房间供游客住宿，旅游业仍很低调。

Many residents make a living the old-fashioned way: raising goats, keeping bees and fishing.

许多居民仍以传统方式谋生：喂养山羊、养蜂和捕鱼。

The island was selected for Volkswagen's e-mobility experiment after Nikos Komineas, the go-ahead mayor, contacted the transport ministry⁵ for help in finding an electric bus to try out on its rugged⁶ roads.

继Nikos Komineas之后，大众选择了该岛作为电动汽车的试验点，这位“行动积极”的市长联系了交通运输部，希望能找到一辆电动巴士以便在崎岖的道路上试用。

Most islanders sound keen on the project. Mr Komineas expects the number of private cars on Astypalea to fall by a third overthe next five years.

大多数岛民听上去都对这个项目很感兴趣。Komineas先生预计未来五年内阿斯特帕利亚的私家车数量将下降三分之一。

Its residents, he says, will get around on escooters and electric minibuses, which will be free, linked to a mobile-phone app and available round the clock.

他说，这里的居民将乘坐小型摩托车和电动小巴出行，这些都是免费的，且与手机应用程序连接，可以提供24小时服务。

Some observers detect a whiff of greenwashing.

而一些观察人士察觉到了一丝“漂绿(一个组织展现出来的表面的或不诚恳的关注环境的表现)”的味道。

A tender for a solar park that would generate half the island's electricity within three years will not get under way before the tourist season ends.

在旅游旺季结束之前，一个将在三年内为该岛提供一半电力的太阳能园区将不会进行投标。

A single wind turbine will be installed only in 2026, assuming the licensing⁷ process goes smoothly⁸.

如果许可程序进行顺利，那么只有在2026年才能安装一台风力涡轮机。

That is not normally the case in the Aegean, where islanders worry that tourists will go elsewhere if the view is spoiled by a turbine 200 metres high.

但在爱琴海却不是这样，岛上的居民担心如果200米高的涡轮机破坏了这里的风景，游客就会去别的地方。

And even then, the hybrid power unit is planned to cover only about 80% of summer demand. But it is a start.

即使到那时，该混合动力机组也只能满足夏季需求的80%左右。不过这只是一个开始。

1 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》

2 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

3 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

7 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

8 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。