经济学人386:能源效率融资 钱不是万能的

 　　Financing energy efficiency

　　能源效率融资

　　Money for nothing

　　钱不是万能的

　　Green loans are proving less popular among homeowners than expected

　　事实证明绿色贷款在房主中并不如预期受欢迎

　　RETROFITTING houses to use less energy should be a no-brainer for homeowners. Over time, money spent on ways to reduce heat loss from draughty houses should produce a handsome return in lower fuel bills. In practice, many are cautious. Some improvements, such as solid-wall insulation¹ and solar panels, can take over 25 years to cover their initial cost. Few owners are willing to wait that long: by then many are likely to have sold up and moved on.

　　对于大多数房主来说为了节能而翻新房屋是一件再简单不过的事了。房主把钱花在运用某些方法上使透风的房子能够减少热损失，随着时间的推移，这些钱应该会因为低额的燃料费而产生丰厚的回报。但是事实上，大多数屋主还是很谨慎的。像换上绝缘墙、太阳能电池板这样的翻新措施往往要花上超过25年的时间才能回本。大多数房主都不愿意这么做，因为到那时很多人可能已经把房子卖掉了或者已经搬走了。

　　绿色贷款.jpg

　　Several governments have started finance schemes designed to address this problem. Since 2008 PACE programmes have offered American homeowners loans to finance improvements, repaid through higher local taxes on the property, whoever it belongs to. In Britain, the Green Deal offers loans over a 25-year period, with repayments² added to energy bills. Countries including France and Canada have similar initiatives.

　　一些政府已经为解决此问题而开始了融资计划。2008年以来，“清洁能源财产评估”计划已经为很多美国房主提供了低息贷款，以资助他们进行房屋设施的翻新改善。这种贷款通过对该房屋征收更高的地方税而得以偿还。在英国，“绿色协议”会提供超过25年期的贷款，该贷款通过追加能源账单而得以偿还。包括法国、加拿大在内的国家也采取了类似的举措。

　　In theory, these schemes should boost investment in common energy-saving measures, such as extra insulation and new boilers³, as the first owner does not have to pay all the costs upfront. But enrolment rates have disappointed, according to Sean Kidney at the Climate Bonds Initiative, a think-tank. In Britain, just 1% of those assessed for the Green Deal have signed up. In Berkeley, California, home of the first PACE scheme, the take-up rate is similarly paltry⁴.

　　按理说，这些方案应该会促进在节能措施上的投资，比如在购买额外的绝缘设备和新的热水器的时候，首次购买者不必预先支付所有费用。但是根据来自气候债券倡议智囊团的肖恩·基德尼所说，这些方案的采纳率令人失望。在英国，仅有1%同意签署了“绿色协议”。在“清洁能源财产评估”计划出台的地方，也就是加利福尼亚州的伯克利，该方案的采纳率也是非常得低。

　　Homeowners are unimpressed chiefly because the interest rates on the loans look high. The Green Deal charges 7%; some PACE schemes a hefty 8%. As these rates are fixed⁵ for decades, they will inevitably⁶ look unattractive when short-term interest rates are low.

　　房主不愿意采纳这些方案的主要原因是看似颇高的贷款利率。“绿色协议”提供的贷款利率为7%，“清洁能源财产评估”计划提供的贷款利率更是达到了相对较高的8%。尽管这些利率将保持几十年不变，但是在短期利率较低的时候，就像现在，这些利率就不可避免地看上去毫无吸引力。

　　Many people also doubt they will save enough on their energy bills to cover the repayments. For instance, claims in Britain that installing loft⁷ insulation can cut energy bills by 20% have been dented⁸ by a government study that found it reduced gas consumption by only 1.7% on average. Others fear that green loans may reduce the value of their home. In America, firms that underwrite mortgages are hostile to PACE loans.

　　许多人也会怀疑自己是否能节省下足够的能源费用来支付贷款在英国，有人宣称，安装阁楼绝缘材料能砍掉20%的能源费用，但一项政府研究打击了这一断言，该研究发现，该材料平均仅能降低1.7%的天然气消耗。而其他人则担心绿色贷款会使自己的房屋贬值。在美国，抵押贷款的承销公司坚决反对“清洁能源财产评估”计划提供贷款。

　　Green loans have not been a flop⁹ everywhere. Around 250,000 households in Germany sign up for them each year. They do so because they need pay only 1% interest on them each year, thanks to an annual public subsidy¹⁰ of 1.5 billion. Whether that is an efficient use of taxpayers’ money is another question.

　　然而，绿色贷款也不是在哪儿都遭遇窘境。在德国，每年都有近25万户人家会签署绿色贷款协议。他们这样做的原因是每年他们只需要为此支付1%的利息，因为每年政府都会发放15亿欧元（约21亿美元）的公共财政补贴。然而这是否是有效利用纳税人的钱又成了另一个问题。

1 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

2 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

3 boilers   

锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even then the boilers often burst or came apart at the seams. 甚至那时的锅炉也经常从焊接处爆炸或裂开。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The clean coal is sent to a crusher and the boilers. 干净的煤送入破碎机和锅炉。

4 paltry   

adj.无价值的，微不足道的

参考例句：

• The parents had little interest in paltry domestic concerns.那些家长对家里鸡毛蒜皮的小事没什么兴趣。
• I'm getting angry;and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours.我要生气了，如果你不能振作你那点元气。

5 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

6 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

7 loft   

n.阁楼，顶楼

参考例句：

• We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs.我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
• By converting the loft,they were able to have two extra bedrooms.把阁楼改造一下，他们就可以多出两间卧室。

8 dented   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• The back of the car was badly dented in the collision. 汽车尾部被撞后严重凹陷。
• I'm afraid I've dented the car. 恐怕我把车子撞瘪了一些。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。