The last operating coal power plant in Britain closed this week, ending more than 140 years of coal-fired electricity and proving that major economies can wean themselves off the dirtiest fossil fuel.

英國最后一座運行中的煤電廠本周關(guān)閉，結(jié)束了其140多年的燃煤發(fā)電歷史，這證明主要經(jīng)濟體是可以擺脫最骯臟的化石燃料的。

“It’s a massive movement,” said Dave Jones, an electricity analyst at Ember, a London-based think tank. “The fact that the first country in the world to have a coal power plant, to lean so heavily into coal starting the industrial revolution, is now out of coal is extremely symbolic.”

倫敦智庫Ember的電力分析師戴夫-瓊斯說：“這是一場大規(guī)模的運動。世界上第一個擁有煤炭發(fā)電廠的國家，在工業(yè)革命之初如此倚重煤炭，如今卻已不再使用煤炭，這一事實極具象征意義?！?/b>




Long before global warming emerged as an issue, experts had proved that burning coal posed environmental and health threats. Coal plants pollute the air, cause acid rain and contaminate the soil and water with mercury. In Britain, the London Great Smog of 1952 probably killed as many as 12,000 people and prompted a government crackdown on the widespread use of coal for household heating.

早在全球變暖成為一個問題之前，專家們就已經(jīng)證明，燃煤會對環(huán)境和健康造成威脅。煤炭工廠污染空氣，造成酸雨，還有汞元素會污染土壤和水資源。在英國，1952年的倫敦煙霧事件可能導(dǎo)致了多達12000人的死亡，并促使政府對家庭取暖廣泛使用煤炭的行為進行了打擊和遏制。

In the 20th century, as trains, ships, stoves and other machines switched to oil and gas, coal retained its central role in running the turbines that power plants use to generate electricity. In recent decades, efforts to turn off coal-fired power plants have accelerated given their outsize contribution to global warming.

20世紀，雖然火車、輪船、爐灶和其他機器改用石油和天然氣，但煤炭在發(fā)電廠的渦輪機運轉(zhuǎn)中仍發(fā)揮著核心作用。近幾十年來，鑒于燃煤發(fā)電廠對全球變暖的巨大貢獻，各國加強了關(guān)閉燃煤發(fā)電廠的努力。

Although Britain still uses coal for steel manufacturing, which accounts for 2 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, experts say the country’s transition from coal-fueled electricity offers lessons to other countries seeking to phase it out.

盡管英國的鋼鐵制造業(yè)仍在使用煤炭，而煤炭排放占全國溫室氣體排放的2%，但專家們表示，英國從煤炭發(fā)電的過渡歷程為其他尋求逐步淘汰煤炭的國家提供了借鑒。

Joel Jaeger, a climate and energy research at the World Resources Institute, said Britain’s transition from coal is “truly historic” and “proves that other countries can also achieve rapid speeds of coal reduction.”

世界資源研究所氣候與能源研究員喬爾-耶格說，英國的煤炭轉(zhuǎn)型“確實具有歷史意義”，“證明其他國家也可以實現(xiàn)煤炭使用的快速削減”。

Few economically developed countries have completely phased out coal. Most that have, such as Iceland, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, have little need for coal because they generate plenty of power with an older generation of carbon-free technologies: hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants and geothermal reservoirs.

經(jīng)濟發(fā)達國家很少完全淘汰煤炭。大多數(shù)國家，如冰島、瑞士、瑞典和挪威，幾乎不需要煤炭，因為它們使用老一代無碳技術(shù)發(fā)電：水電大壩、核電站和地熱。

Britain is one of the first countries, and the largest, to phase out coal by relying heavily on wind and solar. Portugal also did so, but it is smaller and less heavily industrialized. Germany has tried, but it still produces about a quarter of its power with coal and does not plan to complete its phaseout until 2038.

英國是最早淘汰煤炭的國家之一，也是淘汰規(guī)模最大的國家，現(xiàn)在其主要依靠風能和太陽能。葡萄牙也這樣做了，但它的規(guī)模較小，工業(yè)化程度較低。德國也進行了嘗試，但其煤炭發(fā)電量仍占總發(fā)電量的四分之一左右，并計劃在2038年之前完成淘汰工作。


Germany’s clean-energy transition has been slower because it has few hydroelectric dams, and it shut down all of its nuclear plants, which together generated 30 percent of the country’s electricity in 2000. Britain gets about 15 percent of its electricity from nuclear plants, while Portugal makes about a quarter of its power with hydroelectricity.

德國的清潔能源轉(zhuǎn)型速度較慢，因為它的水電大壩很少，而且它關(guān)閉了所有的核電站，這些核電站在2000年時的發(fā)電量占全國總發(fā)電量的30%。英國約15%的電力來自核電站，而葡萄牙約四分之一的電力來自水力發(fā)電。

Although market forces — first competition from cheap natural gas and later from cheaper renewables — helped Britain phase out coal, experts say government policy played a major part.

盡管市場力量--首先是來自廉價天然氣的競爭，后來是來自廉價可再生能源的競爭--幫助英國逐步淘汰煤炭，但專家表示，政府政策也發(fā)揮了重要作用。

“The United Kingdom demonstrated that with the right policies, it’s possible to transition away from coal power while maintaining the reliability of the electricity system,” said Jennifer Morris, a principal research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative.

麻省理工學院能源計劃首席研究科學家詹妮弗-莫里斯說：“英國證明，只要政策得當，就有可能在保持電力系統(tǒng)可靠性的同時實現(xiàn)煤電轉(zhuǎn)型?！?/b>

The European unx created a cap-and-trade regime in 2005, when Britain was still a member, but that policy was not very effective because the price of carbon was too low, Morris said. But in 2013, the country set a higher carbon price, forcing many coal plants to close.

莫里斯說，2005年，當英國還是歐盟成員國時，歐盟就建立了限額交易制度，但由于碳價過低，該政策并不十分有效。但在2013年，英國制定了更高的碳價格，迫使許多煤炭工廠關(guān)閉。

Even as political power shifted between the Labour and Conservative parties, Britain pressed ahead with policies to promote clean energy. It set legally binding greenhouse gas emissions targets, regulated air pollution, and encouraged the expansion of renewable energy by introducing a system to ensure wind and solar developers could sell power at a stable, profitable price.

即使在工黨和保守黨的政治權(quán)力交替之際，英國仍大力推行促進清潔能源的政策。英國制定了具有法律約束力的溫室氣體排放目標，對空氣污染進行監(jiān)管，并通過引入一項制度來確保風能和太陽能開發(fā)商能夠以穩(wěn)定、有利可圖的價格出售電力，從而鼓勵可再生能源的發(fā)展。

The transition away from coal has been slower in the United States than in Britain. Although the United States has adopted some similar policies, including pollution controls and incentives for renewable developers, U.S. policy has fluctuated more dramatically as party control of Congress and the White House has alternated between Republicans and Democrats.

與英國相比，美國的煤炭淘汰進程較為緩慢。盡管美國采取了一些類似的政策，包括污染控制和對可再生能源開發(fā)商的激勵措施，但隨著共和黨和民主黨輪流控制國會和白宮，美國的政策波動更為劇烈。

For instance, an Environmental Protection Agency rule finalized in April requires coal plants expected to operate past 2039 to reduce their emissions by 90 percent by 2032. But it faces legal challenges, and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed to overturn it if elected.

例如，環(huán)境保護局在四月份敲定的一項規(guī)定，要求預(yù)計會運營到2039年以后的煤電廠在2032年之前將排放量減少90%。但這一規(guī)定面臨著法律挑戰(zhàn)，共和黨總統(tǒng)提名人特朗普誓言如果當選，將推翻這一規(guī)定。

Although a quarter of U.S. coal capacity is set to retire by 2029, “it will take dedicated policies to phase out the remaining coal plants,” Morris said. She recommended a carbon tax, which lawmakers have consistently rejected, or an emissions cap such as the EPA rule.

莫里斯說，盡管美國四分之一的煤炭產(chǎn)能將在2029年之前會退役，但仍“需要專門的政策來逐步淘汰剩余的煤電廠”。她建議征收碳稅（立法者一直拒絕征收碳稅），或制定排放上限（如美國環(huán)保署的規(guī)定）。

Among the world’s advanced economies, South Korea and Japan have made the slowest progress on replacing coal. These countries have less land available for wind and solar farms, and have fewer natural-gas reserves.

在世界發(fā)達經(jīng)濟體中，韓國和日本在煤炭替代方面的進展最為緩慢。這些國家可用于風能和太陽能發(fā)電場的土地較少，天然氣儲量也較少。

Japan’s clean-energy transition was also hampered in 2011 by the Fukushima meltdown, after which the country scaled back nuclear generation.

2011年，日本的清潔能源轉(zhuǎn)型也因福島核泄漏事故而受阻。


Developing countries such as China and India have no prospect of abandoning coal anytime soon. China is installing renewable power faster than any other country in the world, but coal generation is also necessary to fuel the country’s rapid development.

中國和印度等發(fā)展中國家并不指望在短期內(nèi)放棄煤炭。中國安裝可再生能源發(fā)電設(shè)備的速度比世界上任何其他國家都快，但煤炭發(fā)電也是推動中國快速發(fā)展所必需的。


Last year’s United Nations climate change negotiations in Dubai stalled over resistance from China and India to committing to phasing out fossil fuels. The conference finally adopted a plan to phase “down” fossil fuels.

去年在迪拜舉行的聯(lián)合國氣候變化談判因中國和印度抵制承諾逐步淘汰化石燃料而陷入僵局。會議最終通過了一項逐步“減少”化石燃料的計劃。

Even after coal is gone from the electricity mix, countries will be confronted with the next phase of the clean-energy transition: completely decarbonizing the power sector.

即使在煤炭從電力組合中消失之后，各國還將面臨清潔能源轉(zhuǎn)型的下一階段：電力部門完全去碳化。

“The environmental community has been pretty focused on coal because it is the most polluting fossil fuel and because it is low-hanging fruit,” Jaeger said. “I think it’s going to be harder than the coal transition.”

“環(huán)保界一直非常關(guān)注煤炭，因為它是污染最嚴重的化石燃料，也因為它是較容易實現(xiàn)的目標，”耶格說。“我認為這將比煤炭轉(zhuǎn)型更加困難?！?/b>

Renewables are fueled by blowing wind and shining sun, which are not always available. Beyond some share of power generation — 80 percent or so, Jaeger said — renewables must be backed up by dependable supplies that don’t emit greenhouse gases, which rules out natural gas.

可再生能源的動力來源于風吹日曬，但風吹日曬并非隨時都有的。耶格說，除了一定比例的發(fā)電量（80%左右）外，可再生能源還必須有不排放溫室氣體的可靠供應(yīng)作為后盾，這就排除了天然氣。

Grid-scale batteries have become cheaper but can still provide only about eight hours of backup power. The U.S. and British governments have shown revived interest in nuclear power, but both countries have struggled in recent decades to build plants quickly and cheaply.

電網(wǎng)規(guī)模的電池已經(jīng)變得越來越便宜，但仍然只能提供大約八小時的備用電力。美國和英國政府對核電重新表現(xiàn)出了興趣，近幾十年來，兩國都在努力快速、廉價地建造核電站。

Meanwhile, as electric vehicles and heat pumps become more common and power-hungry technologies such as artificial intelligence grow, Britain, the United States and others will be trying to make this daunting energy transition just as electricity demand is rising.

與此同時，隨著電動汽車和熱泵的普及，以及人工智能等耗電技術(shù)的發(fā)展，英國、美國和其他國家將在電力需求不斷增長的同時，努力實現(xiàn)這一艱巨的能源轉(zhuǎn)型。