2007年VOA标准英语-India Sees Wind as Partial Answer to Its Perenn

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
13 May 2007

dwarfed1 by giant windmills built by the Danish Development Agency in northern Philippines (File)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070605/1103160.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Villagers are dwarfed by giant windmills built by the Danish Development Agency in northern Philippines (File)

The Asian Development Bank is helping² to finance a 100-megawatt wind energy plant in India as part of a drive to promote renewable energy sources in Asia. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, India has emerged as the world's fifth-largest producer of wind energy.

India's first windmills were built about two decades ago, when a handful of small industries invested in wind turbines to escape the country's perennial³ power outages.

Today, windmills dot the landscape in several southern and western states, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, producing a total of 6000 megawatts of power.

Now, with the economy soaring and the country hungry for energy, large private sector⁴ groups have begun making major investments in wind power. The government is offering tax breaks and other incentives⁵ to encourage them.

The latest initiative comes from India's largest private power company, Tata Power.

The company is building wind power facilities to produce 100 megawatts of power in Maharashtra state, with the help of an $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Ajay Sagar, head of the private sector and financial services group at the ADB in New Delhi, says wind power may account for only a tiny part of India's overall energy mix. But he says it is crucial for a rapidly industrializing country to explore clean energy sources.

"Renewable energy initiative is very important although the size could be small. But the advantages to the environment are huge," said Sagar. "For this Tata power project itself, it will contribute to a reduction of greenhouse gas emission⁶ by approximately 2.6 million tons of carbon dioxide during its projected life of 20 years."

So far, wind energy accounts for a meager⁷ one percent of the total power produced in the country. But India is now the world's fifth largest wind energy producer - behind Germany, Spain, the United States and Denmark.

India is also the third-largest consumer of electricity in Asia, behind China and Japan. More than two-thirds of the country's power is produced by thermal⁸ plants, and most of those are highly polluting coal-fired plants.

Over the next five years, wind energy generation is expected to more than double, with industries adding about 8000 megawatts to existing capacity.

That is still far short of India's potential wind-power generation, which has been estimated at 45,000 megawatts.

The government has identified more than 200 windy sites suitable for wind farms. Most of them are in southern and western India.

1 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

4 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

5 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

7 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

8 thermal   

adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的

参考例句：

• They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。