2023年经济学人 谁来为钢铁行业绿色化买单(1)

 

 

    Steelmaking has to get greener. But who'll pay?

    钢铁行业必须变得更加环保。但谁来为此买单？

    Dates assigned to environmental targets often seem reassuringly¹ - or complacently² - distant.

    为实现环保目标定下的日期往往遥远得令人安心或自满。

    By 2050, the British government has promised, the country's net emissions³ of greenhouse gases will be zero.

    英国政府承诺，到2050年，英国将实现温室气体“净零排放”。

    Its advisers⁴ on the Climate Change Committee have recommended that steelmaking, which belches⁵ about one-tenth of Britain's industrial emissions, should be "near-zero" by 2035.

    英国气候变化委员会的顾问建议，到2035年，钢铁行业的排放量应该“接近于零”。而目前，这个数字约占英国工业排放量的十分之一。

    If that sounds leisurely⁶, it is anything but.

    这听起来不是什么要紧事，但事实绝非如此。

    Both steelmakers and ministers must make uncomfortable decisions, involving billions of pounds and thousands of jobs, uncomfortably soon.

    钢铁制造商和部长们必须尽快做出决定，这些令人不快的决定事关数十亿英镑和数千个工作岗位。

    Britain's two biggest industrial emitters are steelworks: Tata Steel UK's at Port Talbot in south Wales and British Steel's at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.

    英国最大的两个工业排放者是：位于南威尔士塔尔伯特港的塔塔钢铁英国公司，和位于林肯郡斯肯索普的英国钢铁公司。

    Both make iron and then steel in blast and basic oxygen furnaces, using iron ore, coke - made from coal - and other materials.

    这两家公司都使用铁矿石、用煤制成的焦炭和其他材料，在鼓风炉和碱性氧气炉中先炼铁，然后炼钢。

    A first step to greener steel would be to switch to electric arc furnaces (EAFS), in which the main inputs⁷ are scrap⁸ steel and electricity.

    让钢铁行业更环保的第一步是改用电弧炉（EAFS），用这种炉子冶炼投入的主要是废钢和电力。

    (The total cut in carbon emissions depends on how the electricity is generated.)（碳排放的总减少量取决于发电方式。）

    British Steel is also looking at carbon capture.

    英国钢铁公司也在考虑使用碳捕获技术。

    A further green goal for the global industry is to use hydrogen in "direct reduction", a process that reduces iron ore to metallic⁹ iron for feeding into EAFS.

    全球钢铁行业的另一个环保目标是在“直接还原”中使用氢能，“直接还原”是一种将铁矿石还原为金属铁的过程，还原后的金属能够使用电弧炉再次冶炼。

    The clock is ticking: one blast furnace at Port Talbot will need replacing, refurbishing or decommissioning in perhaps three years.

    时钟在滴答作响：塔尔伯特港的鼓风炉可能要在三年内更换、翻新或正式停用。

    The cost of switching Port Talbot to EAFS has been put at up to 3bn Pounds ($3.6bn).

    把塔尔伯特港的原有设备全部换为电弧炉的成本预计将高达30亿英镑（合36亿美元）。

    Upgrading Scunthorpe will also cost a ten-figure sum.

    斯肯索普的设备升级也将花费十位数的金额。

    These would be gulpworthy amounts even in a thriving industry.

    即使是在蓬勃发展的行业，这些数字也令人难以接受。

    But steel in Britain is struggling.

    但英国的钢铁行业正在艰难抗争。

    Last year output slid by 16% to 6.1m tonnes, the lowest amount since 1932.

    去年，英国钢铁产量下滑16%，至610万吨，为1932年以来的最低值。

    British Steel, bought out of insolvency¹⁰ by Jingye, a Chinese company, in 2020, is reportedly contemplating¹¹ 800 job cuts at Scunthorpe.

    英国钢铁公司于2020年被中国敬业集团收购，目前英国钢铁公司正考虑在斯肯索普裁员800人。

    Last month Liberty Steel said it would reduce production at its EAF in Rotherham, in Yorkshire, and idle other facilities; as many as 400 jobs may go.

    上个月，自由钢铁公司表示，将减少约克郡罗瑟勒姆电弧炉的钢铁产量，停用其他设施；并可能会裁员多达400人。

    Indian-owned Tata Steel UK did make a profit before tax in 2021-22, but that was the first for 13 years.

    印度拥有的塔塔钢铁英国公司在2021-22年实现了税前盈利，但这是13年以来的第一次。

1 reassuringly   

ad.安心，可靠

参考例句：

• He patted her knee reassuringly. 他轻拍她的膝盖让她放心。
• The doctor smiled reassuringly. 医生笑了笑，让人心里很踏实。

2 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 belches   

n.嗳气( belch的名词复数 )；喷吐；喷出物v.打嗝( belch的第三人称单数 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气）

参考例句：

• A volcano belches smoke and ashes. 火山喷出黑烟和灰土。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A volcano belches forth smoke and ashes. 火山喷出烟和尘埃。 来自互联网

6 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

7 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

8 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

9 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

10 insolvency   

n.无力偿付，破产

参考例句：

• The company is on the verge of insolvency.该公司快要破产了。
• Normal insolvency procedures should not be applied to banks.通常的破产程序不应当适用于银行。

11 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。