一個環保主義者的現實困境

How, as a prosperous westerner, do you free yourself from the guilty knowledge that your bequest to planet earth will be a hotter and less hospitable climate? In the hours between breakfast and lunch, Britons and Americans are responsible for more carbon emissions than someone living in India is likely to produce in an entire day. European governments hope to reduce this deadly toll by offering big subsidies for measures that will lessen our dependence on fossil fuels. Billions have been spent, yet progress is slow.

作爲一個富有的西方人，你明知給地球留下的將是更炎熱和更不宜人的氣候，如何從這種負罪感中解脫？一個英國人或者美國人在早餐和午餐之間的幾個小時裏製造的碳排放量，已超過了一個印度人一整天可能製造的排放量。歐洲各國政府希望，通過爲旨在降低我們對化石燃料依賴度的措施提供鉅額補貼，來減緩這種會造成極大破壞的影響。雖然已經花了數十億，然而進展緩慢。

For more than two decades I have been helping utility companies around the worldmake electricity generation cleaner. For most of that time, however, my personal environmental credentials have been a muddier shade of green. The guilt began at home (a draughty 19th-century house heated by oil, one of the dirtiest-burning fuels) and it followed me everywhere I went in my petrol-guzzling car. Heating homes and getting around accounts for more than half of the energy used in Britain. Spurred on by my wife, our family asked ourselves: how little could we use?

超過20年來，我一直幫助世界各地的公共事業公司推進清潔發電。然而，過去逾20年的大部分時間裏，我個人在環境方面的表現就不那麼綠色了。這種負罪感始於我的家中（一棟通風良好的19世紀房屋，靠燃油供暖，這是最骯髒的燃料之一），在我開着我那輛高油耗的汽車時如影隨形地跟隨着我。房屋供暖和交通出行佔英國能源使用量的一半以上。在妻子的激勵下，我們全家人都問自己：我們能儘量減少能耗嗎？

Our first step was choosing a sustainable form of heating. My wife was keen on subsidised solar panels, but I could not in good conscience spend thousands of taxpayers’ pounds pointing photovoltaic cells at London’s gloomy skies. Instead we chose two air-source heat pumps to provide heat and hot water.

我們的第一步是選擇一種使用可持續能源的供暖方式。我的妻子對有補貼的太陽能電池十分熱衷，但我實在無法心安理得地在倫敦陰沉的天空下用着納稅人花了數千英鎊補貼的光伏電池。於是我們選擇了兩臺空氣源熱泵來供應暖氣和熱水。

At the time there were no subsidies for these gadgets, which work like air conditioners in reverse — heating the building and making outside air a bit colder. Worse, no local heating engineer had even heard of them; we pitched in to send our tradesman on a training course organised by the Swedish manufacturer. One thing he learnt was that we would need a “three-phase” industrial-grade electricity supply — which doubled the system’s cost and wrecked the economics. But we were on a mission.

空氣源熱泵就像是起相反作用的空調——提高室內溫度，同時讓外部氣溫略微降低。當時政府對這些設備沒有補貼，更糟糕的是，當地沒有一個供暖工程師聽說過這種設備；我們分擔了一部分費用，把我們的工程師送去參加那家瑞典制造商組織的一個培訓課程。他了解到的一件事是，我們需要“三相”工業級電源——這使整個系統的成本增加一倍，經濟上極不划算。但我們義無反顧。

The system worked for a day; then it stopped. Daily calls to Sweden resulted in software updates, which in turn revealed further flaws. Then the manufacturer closed for Christmas, leaving us without heat during one of the coldest winters on record — a reminder of the difficulties that come with new technology. After six months, we had everything running smoothly, but now the numbers on our electricity meter were ticking up so fast that our supplier’s billing system declared that we had the decimal point in the wrong place.

這個系統只工作了一天就罷工了。我們每天打電話給瑞典的製造商，換來了軟件升級，然而這個舉動卻引出了更多問題。然後聖誕節到了，設備製造商關門歇業，我們只得在沒有供暖的情況下度過了有記錄以來最冷的一個冬天——這提醒我們新技術往往伴隨着怎樣的困難。6個月後，一切都運行順利了，但如今我們電錶上的數字跳得飛快，以至於供電公司的計費系統稱我們把小數點的位置搞錯了。

Next we needed a more sustainable form of transport. With my 50th birthday looming, I test drove an electric car and fell in love with the acceleration that takes your breath away, and automation that nearly drives the car for you. The sticker price was a shock, even with a government rebate. But in the grip of obsession, I rationalised it as a green investment. Waiting for delivery gave us time to install the government-subsidised charging point. Unfortunately our home’s souped-up electricity could not deliver the needed 32 amps, so I had to pony up again for thicker wires.

下一步，我們需要一種使用可持續能源的出行方式。隨着我五十歲生日臨近，我試駕了一輛電動汽車，並愛上了那種讓人屏息的推背感和幾乎不用自己動手的自動駕駛功能。即使有政府退稅，這輛車的標價依然高得讓人咂舌。但我實在爲之癡迷，因此我爲自己找了個“綠色投資”的正當理由。等待車送來的時間裏，我們安裝了政府補貼的充電樁。遺憾的是，家中已經增強過的供電系統無法提供充電樁所需的32安培電流，所以我不得不再次爲更粗的電纜自掏腰包。

The new wheels arrived in time for my birthday, and my wife whisked me away for a surprise weekend getaway at a hotel chosen for the charging point on its front wall. Alas, it turned out to be a three-pin socket, no use to my car’s type 2 connector. The real surprise of that weekend turned out to be our tour of the car parks of Bracknell. We finally found a public charging point at a local supermarket, and had a coffee while the car picked up juice. By the time we returned to the hotel, we had exactly the same range as when we left two hours earlier.

新車在我生日之前如期而至，我的妻子還給了我一個驚喜——帶我去一家酒店度週末，選擇這家酒店的原因是它的院牆前有充電樁。唉，結果這個充電樁的插座是三孔的，和我的電動汽車的二型連接器不適配。結果發現，那個週末真正的“驚喜”，是我們開車到布拉克內爾(Bracknell)的汽車公園兜風的經歷。我們最終在當地的一家超市找到了一個公共充電樁，並在汽車充電的時候喝了杯咖啡。當我們回到酒店的時候，車的電量和我們兩小時前離開的時候完全一樣。

Even an ardent enthusiast, one willing to invest time and money to live a greener life, will find it hard to make the technology work. Policy makers recommending energy efficient measures should walk a mile in my shoes — or at least drive around Bracknell’s car parks. They would see their own policies in a new light. We spend billions building offshore wind farms, which have to be shielded from the salty sea air and connected up with expensive subsea cables. But we overlook public infrastructure that would bring heat pumps within reach of every household, cutting energy use for heating by two-thirds. We subsidise electric cars, but forget the fast charging points that would make them more useful.

即使是一個熱衷於環境保護、願意投入時間和金錢讓自己的生活方式更加環保的人，都會覺得很難讓技術靠譜地工作。推薦節能措施的政策制定者應該先設身處地地想一想我的經歷，或者至少開車在布拉克內爾的汽車公園轉一圈。他們會用新的眼光來看待自己推出的政策。我們花了數十億美元建造近海風電場，不僅要將電廠與帶着鹹味的海風隔開，還要將其和造價昂貴的海底電纜連接在一起。但我們卻忽視了可以讓空氣源熱泵走進千家萬戶的公共基礎設施，這些熱泵能將供暖能耗減少三分之二。我們爲電動汽車提供補貼，卻把能讓這些汽車更有用處的快速充電樁忘到了腦後。

I do not know how far this green odyssey will take us, but that does not stop me dreaming. This year I have arranged a holiday in France, where I plan to tour the country’s charging points. If it works, then I will have driven all the way on clean electricity. If it does not, I will be stranded by the roadside trying to work out the polarity of the charging station. As people who strive for a greener future know only too well, plenty of first-world problems remain.

我不知道我們能在這場“綠色冒險”之旅中走多遠，但這並不能阻止我心懷夢想。今年我安排了去法國度假，計劃利用沿途的充電點遊覽法國。如果這個計劃成功了，那麼我就將一路依靠清潔電能駕車出行。如果計劃失敗，我就會被撂在路邊，試圖確定充電站的正負電極。努力爭取更綠色未來的人們知道得再清楚不過，現在仍然有很多“第一世界”的問題。

The writer, a director at Bain & Company, is head of the consultancy’s utility and alternative energy practice

本文作者是貝恩諮詢公司(Bain & Co)的公共事業和替代性能源業務主管