VOA慢速英语--法国希望从海岸获得更多风能

France Hopes to Get More Wind Energy from Its Coasts

France recently launched its first floating wind turbine.

The new turbine is called Floatgen. It is near the country’s western coast.

Makers¹ of the turbine say it is able to provide electricity for as many as 5,000 homes.

It also is France’s first attempt at offshore² wind energy: electricity produced by turbines located in the ocean. The project cost $29.5 million.

A number of European businesses and research groups are supporting the Floatgen Project.

Bruno Geschier is head of sales and a marketing³ manager for Ideol, the company that coordinated⁴ the project.

He said the next step is to produce offshore wind farms. The goal, he said, is 50 much larger offshore turbines that are able to provide electricity to hundreds and thousands of people.

Geischier predicts that this might happen in less than 10 years because France is trying to decrease the country’s dependence⁵ on nuclear power.

Based in Brussels, Belgium, the industry group WindEurope predicts France will become Europe’s second biggest wind energy producer by 2030. Germany would remain the largest producer.

Currently, wind power produces about 4 percent of France’s electricity.

Pierre Tardieu is WindEurope’s Chief Policy Officer. He said that renewable energy, such as wind, is not only good for the planet. Today, it is much less costly⁶ than it used to be.

“This is true for France of course, but it is also true for Europe as a whole,” he said.

Leadership hopes

Increasing wind energy also fits with President Emmanuel Macron’s aim of helping⁷ lead efforts to limit the rise of world temperatures.

Last Tuesday, Macron’s government held an international meeting on climate financing. The meeting took place two years after the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed in the French capital.

Many European Union (EU) countries say they will likely meet the EU goal of getting 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. They may also increase their renewable energy goals for 2030.

But such goals remain hard to reach. France, for example, is one of several EU members not expected to reach the 2020 goals.

In addition, French environment minister Nicolas Hulot in November delayed a 2023 deadline for reducing the nation’s dependence on nuclear power. Currently, nuclear energy provides 75 percent of France’s electricity. The 2023 goal was to decrease that number to 50 percent. Hulot said the deadline could not be met.

Germany is a strong producer of renewable energy, but it also depends on fossil fuel. The country gets 40 percent of its energy from coal while wind and solar provide 30 percent.

The greater dependence on coal is partly the result of Germany’s reduction of nuclear power which still provides 30 percent of the country’s electricity.

With Floatgen, France hopes to go from being one of the EU’s slow movers to a wind power leader.

“I think that the French government understands that it’s not possible in the world today to continue just with nuclear power,” said Green Party Senator Ronan Dantec.

He said nuclear power is very expensive. Having a plan for renewable energy, he added, is important for industry in France and for the country’s future electricity needs.

Powering the oceans

Today, France is one of a few countries testing the use of floating wind turbines. The technology uses wires attached to the ocean floor and can be deployed⁸ in deeper waters than non-floating offshore turbines. This helps to make use of deep ocean winds -- which are often stronger and more continuous than winds on the coast.

Other countries are also moving forward with floating, offshore turbines. In October, Britain launched the world’s first floating wind farm off of the coast of Scotland. The farm can provide electricity for up to 20,000 homes.

“We’re late -- let’s be honest,” said France’s Junior Environment Minister Sebastien Lecornu during Floatgen’s launch in Saint-Nazaire.

Yet France is seeking to catch up.

“We have everything it takes to make this region big in terms of building wind turbines, both on land and offshore,” said Regional Council Vice-President Paul Jenneteau. He notes that the Floatgen turbine alone created 70 jobs.

“Imagine offshore wind farms here,” he added.

WindEurope’s Tardieu agrees, predicting Europe’s wind industry will generate more than 500,000 jobs by 2030, more than double today’s numbers.

Blades can be produced in Portugal and turbine structures in Poland, he said. Belgium can make the equipment boxes.

Not everyone supports floating wind farms

But the Floatgen Project is not welcomed by everyone. A few meters from the launch celebrations, riot police faced protesting workers.

“We face an uncertain future,” said Mathieu Pinault, a member of a trade union, as he spoke⁹ with other protesters. A fuel and coal heating plant has employed him for many years. Now, the company is slowly closing down.

He said renewable energy does not offer long-term jobs, but rather unstable¹⁰, part-time work.

But, renewable energy supporters disagree.

“Wind energy today already represents thousands of jobs,” said Ideol marketing manager Geischier. “It could represent much more than that, local jobs, but also brainpower.”

I’m Phil Dierking. And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

wind turbine – n. a large structure with blades that spin by pressure from wind and generate electricity

offshore – adj. located on the ocean away from the shore

deadline – n. a date or time when something must be finished

fossil fuel – n. a fuel (such as coal, oil, or natural gas) that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals

solar – adj. of or relating to the sun

region – n. a part of a country (or the world) that is different or separate from other parts in some way

trade union – n. an organization of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of its members

brainpower – n. the ability to think intelligently

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

4 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

6 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。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 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。

10 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。