Britain Accelerates toward Cleaner Future—with Wheat
依托小麥—英國(guó)加速邁向綠色未來
1. Wheat never used to get Charlie Goldsack excited. He's got fields of the stuff down on his farm, but as a cash crop there was one big problem: it didn't generate much cash. Rock bottom prices saw to that.
1、小麥從未讓查利·戈德薩克興奮過。雖然他的農(nóng)場(chǎng)大片大片地種著這東西，但作為一種商品作物，它的一大缺陷就是創(chuàng)收有限。最低價(jià)在那兒決定著呢。
2. But now, the farmer hopes his wheat might literally become the driving force of his 1,400-acre Friar Maine farm in southern England.
2、但現(xiàn)在，這位農(nóng)場(chǎng)主希望小麥能夠給他在南英格蘭的1400英畝的費(fèi)賴爾緬因農(nóng)場(chǎng)帶來活力。
3. Instead of heading to the bakery, Goldsack's harvest will now go to a nearby plant for conversion into bioethanol—part of accelerating British efforts to introduce cleaner car fuel.
3、今后，戈德薩克所收獲的小麥將不再送往面包房，而是供應(yīng)給附近一家工廠生產(chǎn)生物酒精——這是英國(guó)加速引進(jìn)清潔汽車燃料行動(dòng)的一部分。
4. "For a lot of farms, it was barely economic to grow wheat any more," he says. "This is just what we need—a new market. Hopefully it can soak up all the surplus and raise prices."
4、“對(duì)許多農(nóng)場(chǎng)來說，再種小麥幾乎已經(jīng)無利可圖了，”他說，“這正是我們所需要的——一個(gè)新市場(chǎng)。但愿它能消化掉所有過剩的小麥，從而抬高小麥的價(jià)格。”
5. The simple arithmetic looks compelling. Goldsack's roughly 250 acres could yield enough wheat to produce a million miles' of car fuel.
5、這個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的算法看上去挺有說服力：戈德薩克的大約250英畝小麥，就足以生產(chǎn)供一輛汽車行駛100萬英里的燃油。
6. Extrapolate that across all of Britain's farmland and you get enough bioethanol to account for 5 percent of all fuel used annually by British motorists—a target the government wants hit by 2010. In a pleasing symmetry, the amount of wheat required would be around 3 million tons, roughly equal to the excess produced each year that is unwanted by the domestic market.
6、以此推算，整個(gè)英國(guó)的農(nóng)場(chǎng)足夠供應(yīng)每年全國(guó)5%的機(jī)動(dòng)車燃料消耗量。英國(guó)政府希望到2010年達(dá)到這一目標(biāo)。隨之而來的好處是，為此所需的小麥數(shù)量將在300萬噸左右，大致相當(dāng)于國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)每年的剩余量。
7. "If this soaks up that surplus then it could add eight or nine pounds to the price of wheat," enthuses Goldsack, estimating that this would be worth about J 10,000 （$17,445） a year to his investment-starved farm.
7、“如果該計(jì)劃能夠消化掉所有剩余小麥，小麥的價(jià)格就會(huì)（每噸）上漲8、9英鎊，”戈德薩克興奮地說，并且預(yù)計(jì)這會(huì)給他急需投資的農(nóng)場(chǎng)帶來每年1萬英鎊（1.7440萬美元）的收益。
8. While President Bush last week emphasized the need for cleaner cars for reasons of energy security, Britain's motivations are slightly different. As a signatory to the Kyoto pact on climate change, Britain must reduce carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2010. With motoring accounting for almost one-third of emissions, and greener fuels like bioethanol estimated to reduce greenhouse gas output by around two-thirds, the logic appears indisputable.
8、布什總統(tǒng)上周強(qiáng)調(diào)推廣清潔能源汽車的必要性，理由是出于能源安全上的考慮，而英國(guó)的動(dòng)機(jī)則略有不同。作為有關(guān)氣候變化的京都議定書的簽署國(guó)，到2010年英國(guó)必須將碳排放量減少20%.由于汽車的排放量占總排放量的近1／3，而像生物酒精這樣的綠色燃料預(yù)計(jì)可使溫室氣體的排放量減少約2／3，因而推廣清潔燃料的合理性無可爭(zhēng)議。
Will oil companies stand in the way?
石油公司會(huì)出來阻撓嗎?
9. But there is a snag. Experts warn that biofuels are very expensive to produce—roughly twice as costly as gasoline—and can only become viable with generous government subsidies.
9、不過存在一個(gè)障礙。專家警告說，生物燃料的生產(chǎn)成本非常高—大約是汽油的兩倍，除非政府提供慷慨的補(bǔ)貼，否則缺乏可行性。
10. They also note that it will be difficult to create a network of "gas" stations selling bioethanol, since many of Britain's current gas stations are owned by petrochemical giants that have little interest in supplying a product that challenges their own hegemony. Britain's biggest energy producer, BP, says it is "looking at" introducing bioethanol, but none of its 1,300 gas stations throughout the United Kingdom sell the product yet.
10、他們還提醒說，建立銷售生物酒精的加“油”站網(wǎng)絡(luò)也非易事，因?yàn)橛?guó)現(xiàn)有的加油站多為石化巨頭所有，供應(yīng)這種燃料將會(huì)挑戰(zhàn)它們自身的霸權(quán)，因而它們對(duì)此沒有什么興趣。英國(guó)最大的能源生產(chǎn)商BP表示，它們將會(huì)“考慮”引進(jìn)生物酒精，但其旗下的1300個(gè)在英國(guó)境內(nèi)的加油站尚無一開始出售這一產(chǎn)品。
11. "One man and his chip pan （deep-fat fryer used to make French fries） may be able to turn fat （from cereal grains） into petrol, but he's a long way from being able to take on BP," says Nick Matthews, principal fellow at the Warwick Manufacturing Group, a research body in central England.
11、“一個(gè)人加上一口煎鍋（用宋炸薯?xiàng)l的深底油鍋）也許能夠把（谷類作物的）脂肪轉(zhuǎn)化成汽油，但要撼動(dòng)BP則遠(yuǎn)非易事，”英格蘭中部一家研究機(jī)構(gòu)華威制造工程學(xué)院的負(fù)責(zé)人尼克·馬修斯表示。
12. "I can make black pop and sell it in bottles," he continues, "but can I take on Coca-Cola? They have such massive branding and distribution that no one's going to buy my stuff."
12、“我能生產(chǎn)黑色汽水并裝瓶出售，”他接著說，“但我能撼動(dòng)可口可樂嗎?他們有雄厚的品牌和龐大的營(yíng)銷系統(tǒng)，沒有人會(huì)買我的東西。”
13. "Oil companies want to get the benefit of vertical integration in their system; therefore, unless there is the regulatory and fiscal framework to stimulate it, it won't happen of its own accord;" Mr. Matthews adds. Still, some bioethanol is already creeping into usage here, not as a separate fuel with a pump of its own, but as a blend that is mixed with petrol in a ratio of about 1 in 20, for use in ordinary cars. Any richer mix than that and cars must undergo a relatively inexpensive adaptation to replace rubber and aluminum parts, which would be eroded by bioethanol.
13、“石油公司希望將其納入自身的產(chǎn)品鏈以獲取好處，因此，除非有法規(guī)和財(cái)政手段作為激勵(lì)，否則這一切不會(huì)自然而然地發(fā)生，”馬修斯先生補(bǔ)充道。不管怎樣，已經(jīng)有一些生物酒精漸漸進(jìn)入消費(fèi)領(lǐng)域。不過不是單獨(dú)出售，而是以1：19的比例與汽油混合供普通汽車使用。超過這一比例，汽車必須稍事改裝，換掉容易受生物酒精腐蝕的橡膠和鋁制部件。
14. Ford and Saab have produced "flex fuel" cars that can run on either boiethanol or normal petrol, or any combination of the two. A pilot project in southwest England is introducing cars running on E85 （a fuel made of 85 percent bioethanol） within the local police force. Gas stations at supermarkets in the region are preparing to install E85 pumps to supply the new fleet. The US, generally acknowledged to be a step ahead of Britain on biofuel, has an estimated 600 stations that offer E85.
14、福特和薩博公司已生產(chǎn)出了既可使用普通汽油、又可使用生物酒精或兩者混合物的“彈性燃料”汽車。在英格蘭西南部的一個(gè)試驗(yàn)項(xiàng)目為當(dāng)?shù)鼐炫鋫淞耸褂肊85（含有85%生物酒精）燃料的汽車。當(dāng)?shù)爻械募佑驼菊郎?zhǔn)備安裝E85加油機(jī)以供應(yīng)這批新車所需。在生物燃料方面公認(rèn)為比英國(guó)領(lǐng)先一步的美國(guó)，已有大約600個(gè)加油站提供E85燃料。
A push from government
政府的推動(dòng)
15. A recent government ruling could force oil companies to equip their gas stations similarly. Just as it did with electricity generation, the government has said it will order energy groups such as BP to ensure that a certain proportion of their products are made from renewable resources. It has yet to give an exact figure, but industry insiders predict it will be around 3 percent.
15、政府新近做出的規(guī)定將迫使石油公司的加油站具備類似的能力。與過去對(duì)待發(fā)電問題一樣，政府表示將命令諸如BP這樣的能源集團(tuán)確保它們一定比例的產(chǎn)品來自可再生資源。雖然具體的數(shù)字尚未確定，但業(yè)內(nèi)人士預(yù)測(cè)其將會(huì)在3%左右。
16. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will come into operation in 2008. For Malcolm Shepherd, managing director of a company created last year to make bioethanol from farm produce, this could make all the difference.
16、《可再生交通燃料法》將于2008年生效。對(duì)于馬爾科姆·謝潑德先生來說，一切將因此而改變。謝潑德先生是去年成立的一家利用農(nóng)產(chǎn)品生產(chǎn)生物酒精的公司的總經(jīng)理。
17. "If they （oil companies） fail to fulfill the quota, they will have to pay penalties," he notes. "The obligation will open up forecourts （gas stations） to the biofuel industry."
17、“如果它們（石油公司）未能達(dá)到這一限額，就得支付罰款，”他說，“這一法律將為生物燃油工業(yè)打開前場(chǎng)（加油站）。”
18. Mr. Shepherd's company, Green Spirit, is building one of Britain's first major bioethanol factories—where crops are turned into fuel—in southern England. It estimates that as many as 10 others will be required nationwide to satisfy British demand alone.
18、謝潑德先生的公司Green Spitit正在英格蘭南部建造的工廠，是英國(guó)首批大型生物酒精工廠之一，谷物在這里被轉(zhuǎn)化為燃料。預(yù)計(jì)，單是為滿足英國(guó)本國(guó)的需求，就需要再建設(shè)10個(gè)類似的工廠。
Enough land to "feed the machine"?
有足夠的土地“喂飽”那些機(jī)器嗎?
19. Matthews notes that the US and Brazil are world leaders in biofuel usage because of the formidable acreage at their disposal. "Here it's completely uneconomic," he says. "Oil prices would have to be astronomically high to make it worthwhile."
19、馬修斯指出，美國(guó)和巴西之所以在生物燃料的利用方面領(lǐng)先世界，主要是因?yàn)樗鼈儞碛锌扇纹渲涞倪|闊耕地。“在英國(guó)，這一點(diǎn)毫無經(jīng)濟(jì)意義可言，”他說，“除非油價(jià)漲得離譜，才會(huì)使生物燃料變得有意義。”
20. Professor Stephen Glaister, a transport expert at Imperial College London, takes an even broader view. "It's all about the arithmetic," he says. "Energy comes from the sun. It's just a question of whether there's enough sunlight and enough land to capture it to produce sufficient volumes of energy."
20、倫敦帝國(guó)學(xué)院的交通問題專家斯帝芬·格萊斯特教授把眼光放得更遠(yuǎn)。他說：“歸根結(jié)底，這是一個(gè)算法問題，能源來自太陽。問題只在于是否有足夠的陽光，以及是否有足夠的土地宋捕捉這些陽光，然后生產(chǎn)出足量的能源來。”
