and a lot of wind. They’re free. They’re clean. No CO2 emissions. So, what’s the problem?

和大量的風。他們是免費的。他們是乾淨的。沒有二氧化碳排放。那麼，有什麼問題呢？

Why do solar and wind combined provide less than 2% of the world’s energy?

為什麼太陽能和風能加起來提供的能源不到世界的2%？

To answer these questions, we need to understand what makes energy, or anything else for that matter,

為了回答這些問題，我們需要了解是什麼造就了能量，或者其他任何東西。

cheap and plentiful. For something to be cheap and plentiful,

便宜又多。對於某件事情來說，便宜又多。

every part of the process to produce it, including every input that goes into it,

生產過程中的每一個環節，包括投入的每一個環節。

must be cheap and plentiful. Yes, the sun is free. Yes, wind is free.

一定是便宜又多的。是的，太陽是免費的。是的，風是免費的。

But the process of turning sunlight and wind into useable energy on a mass scale is far from free.

但是，將陽光和風大規模地轉化為可利用的能源的過程遠非免費。

In fact, compared to the other sources of energy -- fossil fuels, nuclear power,

事實上，與其他能源--化石燃料、核電相比，。

and hydroelectric power, solar and wind power are very expensive.

和水力發電，太陽能和風力發電的成本非常高。

The basic problem is that sunlight and wind as energy sources are both weak

基本的問題是，作為能源的陽光和風都是弱的。

(the more technical term is dilute) and unreliable (the more technical term is intermittent).

(技術性較強的說法是稀釋)和不可靠(技術性較強的說法是間歇性)。

It takes a lot of resources to collect and concentrate them, and even more resources to make them

收集和集中這些資源需要大量的資源，而使它們成為資源則需要更多的資源。

available on-demand. These are called the diluteness problem and the intermittency problem.

可按需提供。這就是所謂的稀釋性問題和間歇性問題。

The diluteness problem is that, unlike coal or oil, the sun and the wind don’t deliver

稀釋性問題是，與煤或石油不同，太陽和風並不能提供

concentrated energy -- which means you need a lot of additional materials

集中的能量--這意味著你需要大量的額外材料。

to produce a unit of energy. For solar power, such materials can include

以產生組織、部門能量。對於太陽能，這些材料可以包括

highly purified silicon, phosphorus, boron, and a dozen other complex compounds like titanium

高純度的硅、磷、硼和其他十幾種複雜的化合物，如鈦。

dioxide. All these materials have to be mined, refined and/or manufactured in order to make

二氧化碳。所有這些材料都必須經過開採、提煉和/或製造，才能製造出下列材料

solar panels. Those industrial processes take a lot of energy.

太陽能板。這些工業過程需要大量的能源。

For wind, needed materials include high-performance compounds for turbine blades and the rare-earth

風力發電所需的材料包括渦輪葉片的高性能化合物和稀土。

metal neodymium for lightweight, specialty magnets, as well as the steel and concrete

用於輕質、特種磁鐵的金屬釹，以及鋼和混凝土磁鐵。

necessary to build structures -- thousands of them -- as tall as skyscrapers.

需要建造與摩天大樓一樣高的結構 -- -- 數千座；

And as big a problem as diluteness is, it’s nothing compared to the intermittency problem.

而稀釋度雖然是個大問題，但與間歇性問題相比，根本不算什麼。

This isn’t exactly a news flash, but the sun doesn’t shine all the time.

這並不是什麼新聞快訊，但太陽並不是一直在照耀。

And the wind doesn’t blow all the time. The only way for solar and wind to be truly useful

而且風也不是一直在吹。只有這樣，太陽能和風能才能真正發揮作用

would be if we could store them so that they would be available when we needed them.

如果我們能把它們儲存起來，以便在我們需要的時候可以使用。

You can store oil in a tank. Where do you store solar or wind energy? No such mass-storage

你可以把油儲存在油罐裡。你把太陽能或風能儲存在哪裡？沒有這樣的大規模存儲

system exists. Which is why, in the entire world, there is not one real or proposed independent,

體系的存在。這就是為什麼，在整個世界上，沒有一個真正的或提議的獨立。

freestanding solar or wind power plant. All of them require backup. And guess what the

獨立式太陽能或風力發電站。它們都需要備份電源。你猜怎麼著

go-to back-up is: fossil fuel. Here’s what solar and wind electricity look

備用的是：化石燃料。以下是太陽能和風能發電的情況

like in Germany, which is the world’s leader in “renewables”. The word erratic leaps to mind.

像在德國，它是世界上 "可再生能源 "的領頭羊。不穩定這個詞躍然紙上。

Wind is constantly varying, sometimes disappearing completely.

風向是不斷變化的，有時會完全消失。

And solar produces little in the winter months when Germany most needs energy.

而在德國最需要能源的冬季，太陽能的產量很少。

Therefore, some reliable source of energy is needed to do the heavy lifting. In Germany’s

是以，需要一些可靠的能源來完成重任。在德國的

case that energy is coal. So, while Germany has spent tens of billions of dollars to subsidize

的情況下，能源是煤炭。所以，雖然德國花了幾百億美金來補貼

solar panels and windmills, fossil fuel use in that nation has not decreased, it’s increased

太陽能電池板和風車，該國化石燃料的使用不減反增。

-- and less than 10% of their total energy is generated by solar and wind.

-- 而太陽能和風能佔其總能源的比例不到10%。

Furthermore, switching back and forth between solar and wind and coal to maintain a steady

此外，在太陽能和風能、煤炭之間來回切換，以保持穩定。

flow of energy is costly. Utility bills for the average German have gone up so dramatically

能源的流動是昂貴的。普通德國人的水電費大幅上漲。

that “energy poverty” has become a popular term to describe those who cannot pay

注意到 "能源貧困 "已成為一個流行的術語，用來形容那些無力支付能源費用的人。

-- or who can barely pay -- their electricity bills. If those bills one day go down, the reason

-- 或幾乎無法支付電費的人。如果有一天這些賬單減少了，原因是什麼？

will not be more solar and wind energy, but lower oil and coal prices.

將不是更多的太陽能和風能，而是更低的石油和煤炭價格。

There’s no free lunch. And there’s no free energy. And that very much includes the

沒有免費的午餐。也沒有免費的能源。這在很大程度上包括

highly expensive energy from the sun and the wind.

來自太陽和風的高成本能源；

I’m Alex Epstein of the Center for Industrial Progress, for Prager University.

我是工業進步中心的亞歷克斯-愛潑斯坦，代表普拉格大學。