首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Even if prices shoot back toward $50 a barrel, that won’t wean the world from oil. Only government can do that. Is the intern
Even if prices shoot back toward $50 a barrel, that won’t wean the world from oil. Only government can do that. Is the intern
admin
2020-05-01
70
问题
Even if prices shoot back toward $50 a barrel, that won’t wean the world from oil. Only government can do that.
Is the internal-combustion engine dead? Listening to all the voices calling hybrid vehicles the future of transportation, you might think so. Alternative energy is back in style among the chattering classes. But oil prices would have to go a lot higher to make so-called renewables—such as solar and wind energy—commercially viable. That means their future won’t be decided by changing consumer tastes or market conditions, but by government policy.
These are facts. Any oil company will use whatever energy source makes economic sense, since its basic mission is not to pump oil. It’s to create value from energy. We figure the cost of one kilowatt of solar power at a minimum of five times the cost of oil power, even when oil is hovering near $50 a barrel—the recent record high, which we never expected to hold up for long. Solar power is even less competitive against cheaper fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, and relies on mature technology. A radically new technology—perhaps replacing the silicon in photovoltaic cells with polymere—will be needed to make solar cost-effective. That day is at least 20 years off. Wind is closer than solar to becoming competitive with fossil fuels, but its capacity to supply large amounts of energy is limited. And even the most modern windmills have inspired a popular backlash on esthetic grounds.
Many energy industrialists think nuclear is the answer, but they rely on a misleading analysis of its cost competitiveness. Even if you ignore the political concerns surrounding nuclear waste, producers often fail to correctly calculate the real price of electricity produced from nuclear energy. It costs about as much to close a nuclear plant as it does to build a new one, which is why nuclear power companies are now lobbying worldwide to delay planned plant closings. Moreover, it seems the height of folly to think that highly sensitive industrialized countries, where not-in-my-backyard outrage flourishes, will make it possible to site a single new plant, let alone create an entire energy-development plan.
There’s also a lot of fuzzy talk about things like hybrid homes and cars. Many analysts note that while consumers still pay a lot more for hybrid cars than they can make back in gas savings, this gap is closing. What this line of reasoning ignores is that no technology competes only against itself, and combustion engines are rapidly evolving, too. The rush to innovate is led by the makers of diesel engines, which nearly match the gas efficiency of hybrids, but at much lower cost to consumers. Diesel also cuts greenhouse emissions by 30 to 40 percent compared with gas.
The conclusion is that even with real oil prices at their highest levels in 20 years, no alternative can compete head-to-head with fossil fuels on a scale broad enough to challenge their market dominance. Given this outlook, market forces won’t wean society away from oil, gas and coal. Only government can do this. And since the late 1970s and early 1980s, public funding for R&D in the energy sector has been halved in the United States and Europe. Incentives and subsidies to produce alternative energy sources have fallen throughout the developed world with only a few exceptions— Japan, Germany, Denmark and a few others. This is why, for example, the bulk of U.S. solar hardware is exported to Germany and Japan.
In the United States, public policy continues to support America’s love of the sport utility vehicle, which is the major factor behind the continued surge of American oil demand. An absurd loophole allows SUVs to be considered light trucks—and thereby not subject to passenger-vehicle emission requirements. The average total (federal plus local) tax on gas is 25 percent, compared with 50 percent in Japan and more than 70 percent in Western Europe, which partly explains why an American consumes twice the energy of a European. Yet any attack on this policy structure is seen as an attack on the American lifestyle, a quick form of career suicide for politicians.
Europe also faces large (but very different) obstacles to the adoption of new energy sources. For example, high gasoline taxes do encourage conservation, but they also count as the third or fourth largest source of revenue for most European governments. This gives policymakers a double-edged incentive to maintain the fossil-fuel status quo, because a transition to cleaner alternatives would cut their tax income, while raising outlays to subsidize the transition.
Yet the road to a society less dependent on oil is clear. If politicians were serious about these goals, the solution would be at hand: a mix of tax increase on oil products; more rigid mileage and emissions standards for automakers, and incentives to retire old cars and buy cleaner new ones. The transportation sector is crucial, since it will account for about 80 percent of the growth in world oil consumption over the next 25 years. These measures would motivate automakers to step up research, development and production of new cars and encourage consumers to buy them. But knowing the best road doesn’t guarantee that society will take it.
Which of the following about solar power is NOT true?
选项
A、It is cost inefficient.
B、It needs high technology.
C、Solar energy even cannot compete with wind.
D、Today’s high oil prices make solar power commercially feasible.
答案
D
解析
由第三段可知,太阳能价格高,需要成熟的技术,风能的价格比太阳能低,选项A、B和C与原文一致,故排除;由第一段可知,今天的油价比太阳能的价格还低很多,从商业的角度来说,太阳能仍然不划算。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/zgbK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
StructureoftheCanadianGovernmentI.Introduction—Canada’ssystemofgovernmentwasbasedontheBritishsystemofparliam
StructureoftheCanadianGovernmentI.Introduction—Canada’ssystemofgovernmentwasbasedontheBritishsystemofparliam
StructureoftheCanadianGovernmentI.Introduction—Canada’ssystemofgovernmentwasbasedontheBritishsystemofparliam
StructureoftheCanadianGovernmentI.Introduction—Canada’ssystemofgovernmentwasbasedontheBritishsystemofparliam
ChineseAmericansI.EarlyimmigrationA.thefirstgroupofChineseimmigrants—cameto【T1】______【T1】______—becamethe【T2】__
ChineseAmericansI.EarlyimmigrationA.thefirstgroupofChineseimmigrants—cameto【T1】______【T1】______—becamethe【T2】__
PASSAGEONEWhatdoes"Thelatter"inPara.4referto?
PASSAGEONEWhydoestheauthormentionthemonumentinBostoninPara.5?
Itneverrainsbutitpours.Justasbossesandboardshavefinallysortedouttheirworstaccountingandcompliancetroubles,
A、Studentscangenerateinterestforscience.B、Studentscandevelopleadershipskills.C、Studentscanfinallygetclearanswers
随机试题
对症描述正确的是
当人接近电梯的运动部分时可能会产生撞击、挤压、绞碾等事故,在工作场地由于地面的高低差也可能产生摔跌等危险,所以必须采取防护。下列有关防止电梯机械伤害的措施中正确的一项是()。
初始评审过程主要包括()两项工作。
编制施工图预算的方法有()。
背景资料:某水利水电施工企业承包商与业主签订了一份堤防工程施工合同,合同约定工期为68天,工期每提前1天奖励2000元,每延期1天罚款3000元。承包商提交的施工网络进度计划如下图所示,该计划得到业主代表的认可。在实际施工过程中发生了如下
根据《金融租赁公司管理办法》,金融租赁公司以经营租赁业务为主。()
中学教师李某在一次交通事故中,为救学生而受重伤,致使双腿截肢。李某的行为体现了()。
五育并举的教育方针(“五育并举”)【2010年-福建师大】【2011年-东北师大】【2012年-上海师大/杭州师大】【2017年-湖南师大】
在微型计算机中,应用最普遍的大容量存储器是( )。
Customersexpectalmost_______responsefromthecompanywhentheymakeacomplaint.
最新回复
(
0
)