Each Paragraph at a Glance
bright scene of new energy
fossil fuel is likely to die
renewables' problem
renewalbes need a lot of investment
only 7% is from renewables
subsidy problems
price of energy slumps
little investment in conventional energy
marginal cost
renewables push expensive producers off
intermittency
grid's upgrade
long-run vs. short-term
where to invest
insulate
collapse
clean-energy paradox
eat its own tail
investment shy away from renewables
business model and markets are broken
eat into demand
utility death spiral
prices high and low
less dependence on the grid
towards subsidy-free
package
storage
innovation
obscure and slow
not a success that can be copied
Outline
Renewables flourish in some places and forecast the death of fossil fuel. But they have implied problems. Though subsidized heavily, they only consist 7% of the whole energy. The low prices of renewables are driving utilities as well as investment away. Intermittency of renewables can be solved by storage and grid's upgrade, but these are too far away to settle the present problems. Renewables shall be provided in a package in a subsidy-free style. While tech firms are making innovative progress on renewables, it is obscure that who shall pay for the public part of the package and the progress may be slow. The current success in small places are not the full picture.
Words and Phrases
south-facing roofs
cowsheds are blanketed with blue photovoltaic(PV) solar panels
If something such as snow?blankets?an area, it covers it.
After the football game, the terraces were blanketed with trash.
photovoltaic 形容詞?‘電子’光電伏特的
produce manure that generates biogas...
Manure?is animal faeces, sometimes mixed with chemicals, that is spread on the ground in order to make plants grow healthy and strong.
biogas n. 生物氣稽亏，沼氣
back up the wind and solar generators
backup分開來就是動詞了
All told, the village produces...
as a complete total, altogether
He counted three times and there were 128 yuan, all told.
the villagers are handsomely rewarded for their greeness
A?handsome?sum of money is a large or generous amount. (FORMAL)
Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, earns a handsome profit on real estate.
A handsome woman has an attractive appearance with features that are large and regular rather than small and delicate. 這個解釋挺有意思壶冒，那個女明星算handsome?朱莉婭·羅伯茨？
in 2016 they pocketed about 6m from subsidies
If you say that someone?pockets?something such as a prize or sum of money, you mean that they win or obtain it, often without needing to make much effort or in a way that seems unfair. (JOURNALISM)
When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman pockets the final victory.
If you are?out of pocket, you have less money than you should have or than you intended, for example because you have spent too much or because of a mistake.
After the stock market's disaster, I was out of pocket.
sb. has a point
sb.'s idea is right
I have to admit you have a point on it.
the things (that) it is based on are?anathema?to electricity markets
If something is?anathema/?n'?θ?m?/ to?you, you strongly dislike it.
Snape was anathema to James Potter.
governments poured $150bn into supporting such investment
If something such as information?pours?into a place, a lot of it is obtained or given. =flood
注意pour sth. into (doing) sth.
He poured great effort into raising his children after his wife passed away.
...is still very much the exception, not the rule
If something is the rule, it is the normal state of affairs.
In terms of reducing climate risks
in the matter of截歉；on the subject of胖腾；especially about 關于；特別是
In terms of money they're quite rich, but not in terms of happiness.
In terms of skill he is an old hand.
brought with it falling cost
bring with sb. sth. 可以用來表示隱含的瘪松，不那么強烈的因果關系
Renewables are still on the pricey side in many places 與前面的falling cost形成對比
In terms of age he is still on the young side.
a lot less subsidy than it has attracted to date
to date FORMAL?up to the present time
iPhone is still a star product to date, but what about 5 years later?
a perennial disappointment
You use?perennial /p?r'eni?l/?to describe situations or states that keep occurring or which seem to exist all the time; used especially to describe problems or difficulties.
A perennial plant lives for several years and has flowers each year. Perennialis also a noun.多年生的（植物）
a revenue-neutral economy-wide carbon tax
revenue-neutral?Taxing procedure that allows the government to still receive the same amount of money despite changes in tax laws. The government may lower taxes for one particular group of people, but raise taxes for another group. This allows the revenue that they receive to remain unchanged (neutral).
economy-wide involving the whole of a country's economy: Employment in services fell by 50,000 last month, contributing to the slight rise in the economy-wide unemployment rate.
produced gluts and pushed down prices
[N-COUNT] usu sing, usu with supp If there is a?glut?of?something, there is so much of it that it cannot all be sold or used.
There's a glut of agricultural products in Western?Europe.
...a world oil glut.
=surplus
[VERB] be V-ed with n, V n
If a market?is?glutted?with?something, there is a glut of that thing. (BUSINESS)
The region is glutted with hospitals...
Soldiers?returning from the war had glutted the job market.
this has been somewhat masked?by...
If one thing?masks?another, it prevents people from noticing or recognizing the other thing.
In Europe the glut of renewables is more starkly seen for what it is.
stark(BARE)/stɑ?k/US/stɑ?rk/?adjective?bare, simple or obvious, especially?without decoration or anything which is not necessary; severe or extreme
Stark changes have taken place in the forest.
stark(COMPLETELY)/stɑ?k/US/stɑ?rk/?adverb?completely or extremely
The boys went to swim in the pond, stark naked.
starkers/?stɑ?.k?z/US/?stɑ?r.k?z/?adjective[after verb]UK?INFORMAL OFTEN HUMOROUS?naked
The result has been havoc for the old-style utilities.
[N-UNCOUNT]?Havoc?is great disorder, and confusion. 注意是不可數名詞咸作。
What you did has caused havoc in the party.
wrote off 120bn pounds of assets because of low power prices
If someone?writes off?a debt or an amount of money that has been spent on a project, they accept that they are never going to get the money back. (BUSINESS)
Finally, the boards decided to write off the debt of the broken client.
If you write someone or something off, you decide that they are unimportant or useless and that they are not worth further serious attention. =dismiss
Lacking skill, I'm afraid to be written off.
If someone?writes off?a vehicle, they have a crash in it and it is so badly damaged that it is not worth repairing. (BRIT)
My rich friend lent a Lamborghini and I wrote if off.
If you?write off?a plan or project, you accept that it is not going to be successful and do not continue with it.
The country conceded that it was going to write off hosting the Olympics.
that were deregulated in the late 20th century
To?deregulate?something means to remove controls and regulations from it.
A market economy is an economic system where decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution are deregulated.
lowering wholesale prices
[N-UNCOUNT] usu N n [ADV] ADV after v sold?wholesale [ADJ] ADJ n 批發(fā)
at first blush
[literary] when first thought of or considered? 乍一想，經初步考慮:
The solution was, at first blush, a workable one.
renewables are intermittent
[ADJ]Something that is intermittent happens occasionally rather than continuously. =sporadic /sp?r'?d?k/
[N] intermittency
It is rather annoying that the door of our building goes wrong intermittently.
such plants are shut out of the market
If you?shut?something or someone?out, you prevent them from getting into a place, for example by closing the doors.
If you shut out a thought or a feeling, you prevent yourself from thinking or feeling it. =block out
If you?shut?someone?out?of something, you prevent them from having anything to do with it.
Due to the maximum amount of application, Chinese citizens are shut out of the visa lottery of the U.S.
in the doldrums
the doldrums/d'?ldr?mz/ [pl] parts of the ocean near the equator where there is little or no wind 赤道附近無風的海域; 赤道無風帶.
If an activity or situation is in the doldrums, it is very quiet and nothing new or exciting is happening.
The consumer market stays in the doldrums, which implies an?economic malaise.
fossil-fuel production capacity clings on
cling (on) to sth phrasal verb?to try very hard to keep something
The old dictator clung on for years.
backup diesel generators
[N-MASS] Diesel or diesel oil is the heavy oil used in a diesel engine. 柴油
[N-COUNT] A?diesel?is a vehicle which has a diesel engine.
IDC centers need backup diesel generators in case of a power failure.
Solar cannibalises its own competitiveness away
If one of a company's products?cannibalizes?the company's sales, people buy it instead of any of the company's other products. (BUSINESS)
shy away from them
If you?shy away from?doing something, you avoid doing it, often because you are afraid or not confident enough.
We frequently shy away from making?decisions.
I often shy sway from talking to pretty girls.
Ever-lower capital costs could go some way to bucking this trend.
go some way towards doing sth also go a long way towards doing sth, to help a little or a lot to make something happen? 對于做某事有點（很有）幫助:
ideas that go some way towards reducing environmental problems? 對于減少環(huán)境問題略有幫助的想法
Nuclear fusion goes a long way to providing energy to humans.
buck the trend?to be noticeably different from the way that a situation is developing generally, especially in connection with financial matters:
This company is the only one to have bucked the trend of a declining industry.
While smartphones see a decline in global market, Chinese manufacturers buck the trend.
private investment will dry up
If a supply of something?dries up, it stops.
Investment could dry up and that could cause the economy to falter...
If you?dry up?when you are speaking, you stop in the middle of what you were saying, because you cannot think what to say next.
I always dry up when asked some personal questions.
they also eat into demand
If something?eats into?your time or your resources, it uses them, when they should be used for other things.
I am fed up with trifles that eat into my time.
not least because it has had to...
there are several reasons but this is an important one
moderate the fluctuations of renewable energy
If you?moderate?something or if it?moderates, it becomes less extreme or violent and easier to deal with or accept.
If something fluctuates, it changes a lot in an irregular way.
fluctuation?[N-VAR] usu N in/of n
faces an incipient "utility death spiral"
An?incipient/?ns'?pi?nt/ situation or quality is one that is starting to happen or develop. (FORMAL)
...an incipient economic recovery...
=impending
fall precipitously around the world
A?precipitous/pr?s'?p?t?s/ change is sudden and unpleasant.
When the news spread like wildfire, the company's stock price surged precipitously.
levellised cost of electricity, also Levelized cost of electricity(LCOE), also known as Levelized Energy Cost (LEC), is the net present value of the unit-cost of electricity over the lifetime of a generating asset.
keep demand in line with supply
in agreement with 符合宵睦；根據
liken the upheaval facing utilities to that...
If you?liken?one thing or person?to?another thing or person, you say that they are similar.
The pain is often likened to being drilled?through the side of the head.
=compare
nibble away at bits of utilities' traditional business models
When an animal?nibbles?something, it takes small bites of it quickly and repeatedly.
Nibble away?means the same as?nibble
scream blue murder, also scream bloody murder (American & Australian informal)
to shout or to complain very loudly
slow and fitful
Something that is?fitful?happens for irregular periods of time or occurs at irregular times, rather than being continuous.
leaving climate risks largely unabated
If something continues?unabated, it continues without any reduction in intensity or amount.
The fighting has continued unabated for over 24 hours.
...his?unabated enthusiasm for cinema.
lay?waste the world's conventional electricity utilities
cause wide and great damage to记罚；destroy and leave in ruins 損毀；蹂躪
Enemy soldiers laid waste the land.
覺得做完邏輯圖后心好累壳嚎，各個主體間的關系真是剪不斷理還亂桐智。后來參考了篤師的邏輯圖末早，覺得她真是清晰了好多。如果要用幾句話概括這篇文章说庭，我會說：可再生能源發(fā)電的邊際成本很低然磷，好處在于可以淘汰高邊際成本的化石燃料，壞處在于不斷壓低電力批發(fā)價導致可再生能源本身也缺乏盈利點刊驴，進一步導致投資熱情的大幅下降姿搜；另一方面，老舊的電網使得化石缺脉、水力痪欲、核能發(fā)電不得不繼續(xù)運轉作為可再生能源的后備，與降低碳排放背道而馳攻礼。下一步政府應該仔細考慮補貼方式业踢、升級電網、加強電力儲備設施建設礁扮，使得新老能源之間進行平滑的過度升級知举。
One more thing...
補充閱讀更為簡約地說明了可再生能源目前面臨的困境以及應對建議。首先太伊，為了降低碳排放雇锡，政府通過補貼推動可再生能源的發(fā)展，但是將其強行接入“古老”的電網是問題的核心僚焦。
文章進一步小結了造成困難局面的三個原因：1）政府補貼扭曲了市場锰提；2）綠色能源的非不間斷供電，使得傳統(tǒng)發(fā)電方式無法退市芳悲；3）綠色能源極低的邊際成本壓低電價立肘，同時使能源行業(yè)收入劇減。
我的感想是名扛，任何我們認為“好”的東西谅年，并不會一廂情愿地受到所有人地歡迎，也不是說就能毫無障礙地融入現有環(huán)境并發(fā)展壯大肮韧。即使是對所有人都“好”融蹂，是絕對地發(fā)展方向，也需要我們仔細設計以何種方式逐步成長弄企。
作為一個馬齒徒增而不成熟的人超燃，我的思維通常十分簡單，一個東西“好”桩蓉，那就可以大干快上淋纲，有什么問題嗎？但是通過這幾天學習的這篇文章院究，讓我認識到這種單線思維的重大缺陷洽瞬。我們是需要思考推廣“好”東西會碰到什么阻礙以及如何解決本涕。
文章對于綠色能源困局的解決方法也進行了討論。首先伙窃，新技術是可以幫助綠色能源更好地適應現有電網菩颖，例如通過電池存儲，調度用電時間從而削峰填谷为障。小的模塊化發(fā)電組也可以帶來更高的靈活性晦闰。（超）高壓輸電則可以讓不同區(qū)域的電力進行互補。而最重要的改進則在于對現有電力市場的升級鳍怨。電價應該更及時地反映綠色能源發(fā)電的“顛簸“呻右，電力緊缺的時候就提高用電電價和發(fā)電電價，我認為就是既然消費者享受了綠色能源的低價鞋喇，那么在其不能發(fā)電時你要靠其他的電力來源就多付費唄声滥。你不愿意就自己用電池做好存儲。其次是對于不間斷供電服務的”保險化”侦香，如果消費者需要電網為自己的太陽能板做備份落塑，那就體現在他的電力賬單上。
對于這樣的解決建議罐韩，我認為首先應該確保消費者的電費下降憾赁，不然他們不會有動機擁抱綠色能源，畢竟用傳統(tǒng)的電網可是能保證隨時供電的散吵。那么政府就要設計好用戶遷移的路徑龙考。就像文章最后說的，決策者需要認識到現在的問題不是出在綠色能源上矾睦，而是電價機制太落后了洲愤。
