GRE阅读练习：可再生能源革命引发新争议

>>GRE阅读训练：GRE阅读练习：可再生能源革命引发新争议

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One of Ignacio Galan's early jobs as an engineer was to design lead-acid batteries for the milk floats that used to trundle around Britain's streets.

作为工程师，Ignacio Galan早期的一个工作是为在英国街道上行驶的送牛奶的马车设计铅酸电池。

So the 66-year-old Spaniard, who heads Iberdrola, one of the world's largest utilities, claims he has been thinking about the storage of electricity for his whole career.

所以这位66岁的西班牙人，作为Iberdrola项目——世界上最  大的公共事业项目之一的负责人，声称在他的整个事业里一直在考虑电能储存的问题。

That is useful, because for the second time since he took over Iberdrola in 2001, the industry faces a fork in the road.

这是很有用的，因为在他在2001年第二次接手Iberdrola这个项目的时候，这个行业正面临着分岔路口。

This time round, the big debate in energy is about batteries and storage.

这一次，关于能源问题的大争论主要集中在电池和存储方面。

The first time, Mr Galan blazed the right trail.

第 一次，格兰先生开辟了一条正确的道路。

He made a prescient bet on renewable energy, turning Iberdrola into one of the world's largest providers of onshore wind while at the same time underpinning returns with relatively safe, regulated electricity networks in America (Avangrid) and Britain (ScottishPower).

他对可再生能源有先见之明的确信，将伊维尔德罗拉公司成为世界上最 大的陆上风力供应商，同时支撑其电力运行返回相对安全，控制着美国(avangrid子公司)和英国(ScottishPower子公司)的电力网络。

Some European peers, such as Germany's E.ON and RWE, took the opposite approach, prioritising conventional fossil-fuel-fired power plants in less regulated markets.

但一些欧洲同行，如德国的E.ON和莱恩，采取了相反的做法，在不那么规范的市场里，他们优化传统化石燃料发电厂处。

In the past five years, the Germans have been through near-death experiences, and have belatedly created stand-alone renewables and grid businesses.

所以在过去的五年中，德国的公司经历了接近死亡的经验，迟迟才创造了独立的可再生能源和电网企业。

Iberdrola's share price has more than doubled.

而Iberdrola公司的股价却早已翻了一倍多。

The renewables revolution has, in turn, caused the latest dilemma, because intermittent sun and wind require ways of storing electricity as a backup.

不过，因为间歇性的太阳和风能需要储存电力作为备份，所以可再生能源革命也带来了新的问题。

Battery firms like Tesla, as well as some utilities, see a mixture of rooftop photovoltaics, home-mounted batteries and electric vehicles as the way of the future, with power being stored locally and new business models emerging to manage customers' energy use remotely.

像特斯拉这样的电池公司，以及一些公用事业公司，将屋顶太阳能电池、家用电池和电动汽车作为未来的一种混合方式，将电力储存在本地，这种新的商业模式可以远程管理客户的能源使用。

But Mr Galan is sceptical that batteries can last long enough to handle intermittency, or that customers will care enough about distributed energy to make the domestic-battery business compelling.

但Galan先生则质疑电池是否可以持续足够长的时间来处理间歇性，或者消费者是否会关心国内电池行业中的核心问题——分布式能量。

“I can't imagine saying to my wife that we have a choice between a new fridge and the latest Powerwall battery.”

Galan先生指出“我无法想象告诉我的妻子，我们将在新冰箱和新Powerwall电池之间做出选择。”

Instead, he believes there is more to be gained by using renewable energy to pump water up to hilltop reservoirs, and letting it flow downhill to produce hydroelectricity when needed.

相反，他认为通过利用再生能源将水抽到山顶水库会更有利，并在需要时让它流向山下来产生水电。

Iberdrola has already done this with its successful $1.3bn Cortes La Muela project in Spain, completed in 2013.

2013年Iberdrola公司已经在西班牙花13亿成功地做完了Cortes La Muela项目。

It is building a large pumped-hydro storage facility in northern Portugal.

它正在葡萄牙北部建造一个大型抽水蓄能设施。

Mr Galan does not dismiss batteries altogether.

Galan先生并没有忽略电池。

But he thinks it would be better for utilities to deploy them to regulate the intermittency of electricity supply in substations, rather than putting them in homes.

但他认为对于公共事业来说，调动它们管理变电站供电的间歇性好过于把它们放在家里。

His reservations about fully distributed electricity may be self-serving.

他对全分布式电力的保留可能是自私的。

If users buy batteries to help them cut loose from grids, network operators would have to raise prices to remaining customers, causing a “utility death spiral”.

如果用户购买电池而不再使用电网，电网运营商就只好对剩余客户提升价格，从而导致“公用事业死亡螺旋”。

Yet it is probable that centralised electricity will survive, especially in big cities.

然而，集中供电很可能会幸存下来，尤其是在大城市。

And do not write off Iberdrola's predictive powers.

不要低估了Iberdrola的预测能力。

“They could see the future,” says Antonella Bianchessi of Citigroup.

花旗集团Antonella Bianchessi说“他们可以预见未来”。

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