solar parks, wind farms and hydroelectric power plants to generate power.

太陽能集電站、風力發電廠，以及水力發電廠生產能源。

As global warming and climate change continue to take centre stage,

正當全球暖化和氣候變遷成為我們持續關注的焦點，

which countries are leading in generating power through renewable energy?

究竟哪一個國家會在再生能源發電領域中居領導地位？

And what are the challenges preventing mass adoption?

而在面對大量使用再生能源時又會面臨了哪些挑戰？

In 2018, more than a quarter of the world's energy was generated from renewable sources,

在 2018 年，世界上超過四分之一的能源是由再生能源所提供的，

thanks to costs coming down and more green policies taking off.

這要歸功於成本的降低，以及更多的環保政策的施行。

Renewable energy can come from many sources.

再生能源有許多的來源。

The most common are solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydropower.

最常見的有太陽能、風能、地熱能、生質能以及水力。

In sunny Singapore, solar power would seem like the natural fit.

在陽光普照的新加坡，使用太陽能是再自然不過的事。

So what's preventing its mass adoption?

所以究竟是什麼原因沒有普及地量產呢？

Well, it's not that straightforward.

這個嘛，原因並非顯而易見。

For one, the unpredictable cloud cover over the tiny city-state.

其中之一的原因是，這個小國上方的雲的動向是不可預測的。

And not all countries have the same potential to harness clean energy

而非全部的國家都有相同的潛能來擷取乾淨能源，

or the right environment for certain energy infrastructure.

或者對的環境來支持特定能源的基礎建設。

Let's take a look at who's leading the energy revolution.

我們來看看誰是這一波能源革命中的領頭羊。

China, the United States, Brazil, India and Germany have the biggest

中國、美國、巴西、印度以及德國有世界上

renewable power capacity worldwide, in no small part due to their size.

最大的再生能源發電量，因為它們都擁有廣大的國土面積。

Remove hydropower from the mix and Germany moves up to number three

去除水力發電來算的話，德國將排名第三位，

and Japan takes the number five spot.

而日本居於第五位。

But it's no coincidence that these six countries also make the list of the world's biggest energy consumers,

但無獨有偶的是這六個國家都是世界上使用能源量的前六名，

meaning that even if they were producing renewable energy at capacity,

也就是說即使他們生產大量的再生能源，

it still makes up a small proportion of their overall energy mix.

還是只佔了他們藉由各種方式生產的能源量的一小部分。

Divide renewable power capacity by the number of people living in the country,

以再生能源發電量除以國家居住人口數，

and you get a very different mix of countries.

你會得到一個非常不同的國家排名結果。

Iceland is the world leader, followed by Denmark.

冰島是世界的領頭羊，丹麥居次。

Germany and Sweden are tied in the third spot.

德國和瑞典並列第三。

And Finland rounds out the top five.

芬蘭位居世界前五。

But the most telling metric is likely the role of renewables in a country's overall energy mix.

但最直得注意的部分應該是再生能源在一個國家發電現況中扮演的角色。

Nordic and Latin American countries have a good showing on this list.

北美及拉丁美洲國家在這樣的範疇中表現不錯。

More than 75% of Norway, New Zealand, Brazil and Colombia's energy production comes from renewables.

挪威、紐西蘭、巴西以及哥倫比亞的能源生產量有超過 75% 來自於再生能源。

Venezuela, Canada, Sweden and Portugal also make a good showing.

委內瑞拉、加拿大、瑞典以及葡萄牙也有不錯的表現。

But for big oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the U.A.E and Algeria,

但對於世界上主要石油生產國如沙烏地阿拉伯、科威特、阿拉伯聯合大公國以及阿爾及利亞來說，

renewables are unsurprisingly near non-existent.

不意外地，再生能源像是從沒有存在過的一件事情。

But again, not all countries have equal geographies and policies.

但依然，並非全部的國家都擁有相同的地理環境以及能源政策。

Think of renewable energy as something bespoke, with each country harnessing the environment

把再生能源當作某種商品來看的話，每個國家只能從他們獨特的地理環境

according to its unique surroundings.

中擷取再生能源。

Norway has 1,660 hydropower plants and more than 1,000 storage reservoirs.

挪威有 1,660 座水力發電廠，以及超過 1,000 座電力儲存水庫。

It is possible for Norway to depend on hydropower because of the country's long coastlines,

對擁有綿延海岸線、陡深峽谷以及大量的地表流動水文的挪威而言，

steep valleys and high levels of running water.

依賴水力發電之稱國家能源的政策是可行的。

In neighbouring Sweden, where forests make up 63% of its land mass,

在鄰近的瑞典，其地理樣貌有 63% 是森林，

bioenergy is increasingly being used for heating, as well as for electricity production.

生質能源在供給暖氣的使用逐漸增加，同樣地，生質能也被用來發電，

11% of its electricity is also derived from around 3,600 wind turbines.

而瑞典 11% 的電力來自於約 3,600 座的風力發電機組。

Likewise in Brazil, which has rivers and huge swathes of the Amazon rainforest within its borders.

類似於巴西， 境內有許多河流和廣袤的亞馬遜雨林。

Clean energy, including hydropower, accounted for 42% of its electricity production in 2017.

乾淨能源，包括水力發電，在 2017 年佔其電力生產量的 42%。

Ditto for Colombia and Venezuela, countries known for hydroelectricity.

相同情況也在哥倫比亞和委內瑞拉可以看到，它們也都是知名的水力發電國家。

One famous cautionary tales about over-reliance on one form of renewable energy comes from Venezuela,

其中一個關於過度依賴再生能源的警世寓言來自委內瑞拉

which depends heavily on the Guri dam for about 60% of the country's electrical needs.

委國重度依賴 Guri 水壩，該水壩生產約佔全國 60% 的電力需求。

In 2010 and 2016, droughts caused the dam's water to fall so low, the government had to declare emergencies.

在 2010 和 2016 年時，乾旱造成水壩水位降得太低，以至於政府需要宣布國家進入緊急狀態。

So where does the energy race go from here?

所以能源競賽自此會怎麼發展下去？

Well, an increasing number of countries are recognizing the urgent need to tackle,

這個，就要談到越來越多國家認知到減緩氣候變遷的急迫性，而需要採取

or slow down climate change.

相對應的措施。

Investing in renewable energy is one of the major steps.

投資再生能源是其中一個主要的步驟。

From the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, an increasing number of signatories are joining

從京都議定書到巴黎氣候協定顯示，越來越多國家加入

international environmental agreements to lower emissions of greenhouse gases.

國際環境協定以便於降低溫室氣體的排放。

The Paris Agreement brought together 195 nations to tackle climate change in 2015,

在 2015 年，巴黎氣候協定集合了 195 個國家力量共同面對氣候邊謙，

though it has had a few setbacks since.

雖然期間面對了一些挫敗。

The United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. So we're getting out.

川普：「美國將從巴黎氣候協定退出，我們不參加。

But we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that's fair.

但是，我們會開始協商，並且我們會看我們能不能達成公平的協議。」

Other targets include the UN Sustainable Development Goal for Affordable and Clean Energy,

其他的目標包含聯合國對於可負擔且節淨的能源的持續發展目標，

which includes increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030.

內容有增加在 2030 年之前再生能源增加全球使用再生能源發電的份額。

In the meantime, countries have set unilateral targets as well.

與此同時，國家也需要設定各國自身需要達成的目標。

More than 60 countries are planning to bring their carbon footprint to zero by 2050,

超過六十個國家計劃要在 2050 年之前，將他們國家的碳足跡降至零，

with the European Union aiming to become the first climate neutral economy.

且歐盟目標成為全世界第一個氣候中和的經濟體。

But most renewable energy sources are still subject to unpredictable forces of nature.

但大多數的再生能源源頭仍然受到不可抗的自然因素影響。

Imagine a drought rendering a dam useless and taking out a country's sole electricity supply.

想像一個受到乾旱侵襲的水壩，無法擔當挑起全國單一電力來源的重責大任。

Or intermittent energy from wind or solar sources. What then?

或者風力或太陽能間歇性發電的特性。那該怎麼辦？

That's where innovation and new technologies kick in.

這就是創新和新科技需要解決的切入點。

Remember when billionaire Elon Musk tweeted that he would install a battery storage system

記得當億萬富翁 Elon Musk 在推特上說他會在 100 天之內在南澳大利亞安裝一個電池儲存系統

in South Australia within 100 days, or deliver it for free?

如果辦不到，他就將設施免費捐出去這件事情嗎？

The Tesla battery system now holds the title for the largest lithium-ion battery in the world.

特斯拉電池系統是目前全世界最大的鋰離子電池。

It can currently store 129 megawatt-hours of energy

目前的能源儲存量是 129 百萬瓦小時，

from wind turbines by renewable power company Neoen.

並可從 Neoen 製造的風機所生產的再生能源進行充電。

This is enough to meet the needs of 30,000 homes.

這約當可提供 30,000 家戶一年所需電力。

Now, Neoen has plans to upgrade its capacity by 50% to 150 megawatts.

現階段，Neoen 計畫要提升 50% 的電池容量，達到 150 百萬瓦。

More localised microgrid systems are already powering remote locations,

更多的所謂地區性微電網系統已經準備好要為偏遠地區提供電力，

like these far-flung islands in Southeast Asia, and providing reliable energy storage.

如那些需要搭乘飛機才能抵達的東南亞島嶼，替它們提供可靠的能源儲存系統。

But to power the world with renewable energy, we're going to need much more storage than that.

但是要達到整個世界都用再生能源發電，我們還需要比那還多更多的儲存容量才有可能實現。

3D printing is seen as a way to reduce the cost of producing solar panels or wind turbines.

3D 列印看似一個降低太陽能板和風力機扇葉製造成本的可行辦法。

Ten years ago, the cost of a solar panel installation in the United States was $8.50 per watt.

十年前，美國太陽能板的安裝建置成本費用是每瓦 8.50 美金。

It's now $2.99 per watt. That's a 65

現在只要每瓦 2.99 美金。降低了 65%。

Harvesting kinetic energy is seen as another option, with some already pioneering technology

將動能轉換成電能儲存起來似乎是另一個選擇，藉由一些尖端科技

that will transform your footsteps into electricity.

我們甚至能將你的腳步轉換成電力使用。

While the world is shifting to renewable energy, economic growth and a growing population

正當世界轉型到再生能源時，經濟發展以及持續增加的人口，

mean global energy demand is still increasing.

意味著全球能源需求將持續上升。

Not only do renewables have to meet the energy demands of today, but also tomorrow.

我們不僅需要能夠使用再生能源來滿足今天的能源需求，同時也要替未來做準備。

Hey guys, thanks for watching.

謝謝大家收看。

Subscribe if you haven't already and comment if you have any thoughts on renewable energy.

如果還沒訂閱的請訂閱，並且留下你對於再生能源的看法。