柯桥成人英语培训：人类降温不该以地球升温为代价

人类降温不该以地球升温为代价

This summer, I was visiting family in England. There was a heat wave. It was hot, and it was humid. There was very little breeze. The temperature was hovering around 29 degrees centigrade for days on end, and the nights were not much better. In our little bungalow, there was nowhere to get cool. We had one fan moving hot air around. I was worried for my mom. Heat can send your heart rate all the way up. The only place to get cool, the only relief, was at the supermarket in town, standing in front of the chiller cabinets.

这个夏天，我去英国探望家人。碰上一场热浪，又热又潮，也没什么风。接连几日，温度都在29°C上下，夜晚也不凉快。在我们狭小的平房里， 热气笼罩，无处可逃。我们只有一架风扇，搅动着热气。我很担心我妈妈，因为炎热会使心率飙升。唯一的清凉之地，也是唯一的放松之地，在镇上的超市——站在那里的冰柜前，就凉快了。

In 2021, extreme heat has captured the headlines on every continent. And globally in July, surface temperatures were the highest recorded since records began in 1880. The problem is that the way we cool things down is heating the planet even more.

2021年，无论在哪个大陆，极端炎热天气都登上了头条。全球范围内，7月的地表温度都创下自1880年有记录以来的新高。问题就在于，我们的制冷方式正在加剧全球变暖。

Today’s air-conditioning is energy inefficient, depends on polluting refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons and many traditional cooling technologies waste heat. I’m sure you’ve had that experience of walking in an alley behind a convenience store and feeling that blast of hot air on your face coming from the chillers inside.

现在的空调能效低，使用的氢氟碳化合物和其他制冷剂都具污染性，而许多传统制冷技术会浪费热量。你肯定有过这样的经历：走在便利店后的巷子里，店内冰柜制冷产生的热浪扑面而来。

And the demand for cooling is going up. The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2050, today’s two billion air conditioners will have multiplied to more than 5.5 billion, and that by 2030, electricity demand for cooling buildings could jump by 50 percent. And think about this: most households in hot countries have not bought their first air conditioner yet.

制冷需求正不断增长。国际能源署预测：到2050年，空调数量会从今天的20亿台倍增至超过55亿台；到2030年，建筑物制冷用电需求将会上涨50%。再想一想这个问题：热带国家的大多数家庭都还没买他们的第一台空调。

I've worked on sustainable energy for many years in different ways; on energy access in the Sahel, to cold chains in East Africa, to financing large-scale energy infrastructure projects around the world and to getting access to cooling in low-income communities in the UK and the US. I've always focused on the twin problems of sustainability and fairness. I think cooling gets at the heart of these challenges.

我在可持续能源领域工作多年，对各个方面都做过研究：从萨赫勒的能源供应，到东非的冷链，以及为世界各地的大型能源基础设施进行融资，还为解决英美低收入家庭的制冷难题出谋划策。我一直都很关注可持续性和公平性的双重问题。我认为制冷是这些问题的核心。

Why? Well, because most wealthy people can stay cool. They often live in wealthy, leafy suburbs with an air conditioner and a generator out back, and they have cool offices, cool schools and hospitals. But many people on low income live and work in urban concrete jungles void of green space and shade, or live in rural areas well beyond the cold chains needed for produce and vaccines. Almost a billion people live without energy access today; billions more live without access to reliable energy; and 2.3 billion can only afford a highly inefficient or polluting air conditioner. These people's quest for sustainable energy, for cooling, for comfort, for cold chain, for a healthy diet or better health care, can drive a virtuous circle where we can provide cooling for everyone without warming the planet.

为什么？因为大部分富人都能享受清凉的环境。他们生活在房价高昂、绿化很好的郊区，房子后面装着空调和发电机；他们还有清凉的办公室、清凉的学校和医院。但低收入人群中很多人在城市的钢筋水泥中生活、工作，缺乏绿荫和绿地，或者生活在没有冷链的农村，需要冷链支持的生产活动和疫苗也无从谈起。如今，近10亿人没有能源供应，几十亿人没有稳定的能源供应，23亿人只买得起能效很低或污染环境的空调。这些人需要可持续能源，需要制冷，需要舒适生活，需要冷链，需要健康饮食或更优质的医疗——这些需求有可能推动良性循环，我们可以为每个人提供清凉环境，而不加剧全球变暖。

Entrepreneurs with new technologies are emerging everywhere. Framework agreements guiding government action are in place, and there are big and new commitments being made. The solutions go well beyond just fixing air-conditioning. The solutions range from city design to architecture, from building materials to appliances, from geoengineering to green roofs. The solutions can be high-tech, they can be low-tech, and there are four areas of promise, four areas where solutions could be transformative if we step up to the plate, prioritize, regulate and invest. We’ll go through them one by one.

掌握新科技的企业家遍地涌出。指导政府工作的框架协议准备就绪，雄心勃勃的新承诺也将许下。解决方案并不只是解决空调问题，涉及范围从城市设计到建筑学、从建筑材料到工具器具、从地质工程到绿色屋顶，各领域都囊括其中。解决方案可以是高科技的，也可以是低科技的，有四个领域前景美好，这四个领域的解决方案可能带来变革，前提是我们积极行动、安排先后、做好监管、投入资金。现在我们来一一讲解。

First, we need to build and design differently for cooling. For the last 70 years or more, air-conditioning has driven building design. We need to change that, and we need to move away from hermetically sealed concrete and glass boxes where you can switch on an air conditioner but you cannot open the window. You know it doesn't have to be a window rattler as a solution. District cooling can provide cooling solutions for building complexes by running water through insulated pipes. And in Denmark, better known for its wind and its rain, district cooling provides, with a combination of heat pumps, wastewater and groundwater, cooling solutions for offices and homes.

首先，需要为制冷改变建筑的建造和设计。过去70多年，空调制冷一直驱动建筑设计。这需要改变，要舍弃完全密封的混凝土和玻璃盒子，在这些盒子里，你只能开空调，不能开窗。要解决这个问题，不一定要加扇窗户。区域制冷可通过绝热管道给水为建筑群提供制冷方案。在以风雨闻名的丹麦，区域制冷综合利用热泵、废水和地下水，为办公室和住宅提供了制冷方案。

And we can make roofs cool, too. The race is on for the brightest, whitest paint that reflects 98 percent of sunlight that hits its surface, much better than the 80 to 90 percent we achieve today. And if not white then green. Green because they're planted with gardens and vegetables, also contributing to the food that has to come from urban farming. Roofing materials matter, too. In India, modular roofing panels made from paper and waste wood can reduce the temperatures by up to 10 degrees centigrade in the homes below.

我们还可以使屋顶降温。关键在于造出最亮、最白的涂料，能反射98%照到其表面的阳光，现在的屋顶涂料只能达到80%至90%的反射率。如果不涂白，变绿也可以。变绿指的是建造花园、种植蔬菜，这样城市农业也会有更多食物产出。屋顶材料对降温也很重要。印度的模块化屋顶板由纸和废弃木材做成，能为住宅降温，最多能降10℃。

And we can change windows, too. In the European Union, solar control glass is available that provides high daylight transmission, thermal insulation, transparency and low reflection.

我们还可以更换窗户。在欧盟，现在有太阳能控制的玻璃，白天透光度很好，有隔热性能，透明度佳，低反光。

Second, we need to make cooling hyper efficient. In the developed world, if you buy a high-end air conditioner today, it's probably 25 to 50 percent more efficient than anything you could have bought 10 years ago. Now we need every air conditioner for sale everywhere to be at least 50 percent more efficient than the most efficient air conditioner on the market today. It helps if we think of energy efficiency as our first fuel. That's not the priority we give it in policy. We need much more of our economic activity to be covered by energy efficiency standards that are much tougher than today's.

其次，我们要提高制冷能效。在发达国家，相比10年前的任何一台空调，今天买到的高端空调，其能效都要高25%至50%。我们需要全世界出售的每一台空调的能效比现在市面上最高能效的空调再提高至少50%。这需要我们将能效看作最主要的推动力。现在的政策没有把能效列为优先考虑的事项。更多的经济活动应该遵循比现在严格得多的能效标准。

Radical efficiency is important for heating too. Heating accounts for most emissions from building, but emissions from cooling are the fastest rising. So, we need much more synergy between heating and cooling. Remember the alley behind the convenience store? High-efficiency energy pumps will be solutions for both.

高能效对制热也至关重要。建筑排放大多来自制热，但制冷排放在极速增加。所以，我们需要制冷和制热更多的协同合作。记得前面说过的便利店后的小巷吗？高效节能泵可以解决这两方面问题。

Third, we need our air-conditioning to be hydrofluorocarbon or HFC-free. In 2016, governments agreed to phase down the production and the consumption of polluting HFCs, a refrigerant that accelerates global warming. That agreement, the Kigali Amendment, is now ratified by 125 countries and the European Union, including China, the largest producer of air-conditioning. India, a growing producer and a big consumer, has agreed to follow suit. And while not a party to the agreement — yet — the United States announced in September 2021 a new regulation that would insist that US manufacturers reduce HFCs by 85 percent in the next 15 years.

其三，空调不能再使用氢氟碳化物，即要使用无氟空调。2016年，各国政府达成协议逐步减少氢氟碳化物的生产和使用，正因其会加剧全球变暖。该协议为《基加利修正案》，现已获得125个国家和欧盟的批准，其中包括全球最大的空调生产国中国。印度也同意跟进，它不仅是空调消费大国，空调生产也在不断增长。尽管还没有参与这个协议，但美国也于2021年9月宣布了一项新规，要求美国的空调制造商在未来15年内将氢氟碳化物使用量减少85% 。

Now what's interesting is that there are existing, emissions-free, non-polluting technologies on the market today, ready to go to scale, including membrane technologies that can both cool and dehumidify air without using compressors or refrigerants. So, the Kigali Amendment, together with a ban on the exports and imports of illegal HFCs, could make a real difference and grow that market fast.

有意思的是现在市场上出现了零排放、无污染的科技，随时可以大规模利用投产，包括能冷却和干燥空气的薄膜技术，无需使用压缩机或制冷剂。因此，《基加利修正案》，加上对非法氢氟碳化物的进出口禁令，能真正有所作为，迅速扩大新科技的市场。

And fourth, we need cold chains for food, medicines — especially vaccines — for everyone. Distributing vaccines along a secure cold chain to reach the most vulnerable is essential. Solar, nontoxic vaccine refrigerators, cold boxes and carriers operating on off-grid energy are increasingly on order. And mobile cold storage units that run on solar convert energy into ice. And so, when the sun goes down, that ice can be used to keep temperatures steady and cool. And using Bluetooth technology, even in areas where there is no energy access, we can monitor all the way along the cold chain to guarantee safety. And using drones, we can shorten the cold chain.

第四，我们每个人都需要用于食物、药物——特别是疫苗——的冷链。通过安全的冷链分发疫苗，让最脆弱的群体有疫苗可打，这至关重要。使用离网能源的太阳能、无毒性疫苗冷藏箱、冷箱和运输箱的订单量飙升。利用太阳能的移动冷库可将能量转化为冰，因此，太阳下山后，这些冰就能保持稳定低温。利用蓝牙技术，即使在一些能源供应缺乏的地区，也能全程监控冷链，以保障安全。利用无人机，能缩短冷链运输时间。

Today, change is often portrayed as expensive or scary, but you can see that there’s nothing scary about living in a community designed for cool, where affordable, efficient, nontoxic air-conditioning and refrigerators run on clean energy, on and off the grid, and in a community where farmers get more income because more of their produce gets to market and everyone rests easier knowing that their vaccines are safely stored in the clinic — a clinic which, with a different roof and different glass in the windows, is safer for the nurse to work in.

今时今日，改变常被认为费用高昂或令人生畏，但如你所见，这没有什么可怕的——如果居住的社区设计之初就考虑好制冷问题，采用价格合理、高效、无污染的空调和冰箱，使用清洁能源，入网随意；如果居住的社区农民收入增加，因为更多农产品进入市场，每个人都更加安心，知道疫苗安全储存在诊所中，而诊所使用的是特殊的屋顶和特殊玻璃做的窗户，在诊所工作的护士也更安全。

What is scary is that we are not having enough conversations in enough places and driving enough investments into affordable, nonpolluting, efficient solutions for cooling for everyone on this warming planet.

真正可怕的是，这个话题讨论度不够高、传播范围不够广，也没有投入足够的资金开发价格合理、无污染、高能效的制冷方法，为在这个变暖星球上生活的每个人提供解决方案。

Scientists are seeing that animals, especially birds, are beginning to shape-shift to adapt to climate change. As their environments get hotter — so their ears are growing and their beaks are growing to help them cool down. Now our species is not shapeshifting yet, nor do I think bigger ears will help.

科学家观察到，动物——特别是鸟类——为了适应气候变化，开始改变外形。随着生活环境越来越热，它们的耳朵越长越大，喙也越长越大，以帮助散热。我们人类还没开始改变外形，我想耳朵变大也用处不大。

But we can shape-shift our cities and our towns, and we can change the way that we cool ourselves down and we can change the way that we keep our medicines and food safe.

但我们可以改变我们城市和乡镇的面貌，可以改变我们让自己凉爽的方式，可以改变我们安全储存药品和食物的方式。