TE||Light-bulb moment
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导读
感谢Trace提供的思维导图
Trace 女，在职搬砖工，暂定目标CATTI三笔
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听力|精读|翻译|词组
Light-bulb moment
电灯泡时刻
英文部分选自经济学人Leaders版块
Light-bulb moment
电灯泡时刻
Light-bulb moment: A moment of sudden inspiration,revelation,or recognaiton
Mini-grids may be the best way to illuminate the “bottom billion”
小型电网或将是照亮‘十亿底层民众’的首选
Governments need to rethink what is meant by a national grid
政府需重新审视何为国家电网
ELECTRICITY powers growth, boosts education and improves lives. Yet about 1.1bn mostly rural dwellers in Asia and Africa remain stuck in the dark. They have no electric light, rely on kerosene and diesel for power, and struggle to irrigate their crops. The good news is that people can be connected to clean, reliable power faster than ever before. But to realise the potential, governments need to rethink the role of utilities.
电力促进了经济、教育以及人民生活的发展。但目前仍有约11亿亚非农村居民生活在黑暗之中。他们没有电灯，且大家只能依赖煤油和柴油发动机器，艰难地进行庄稼的灌溉。不过好消息是，如今人们将有望更快地用上电力这种清洁且稳定的能源。为了真正实现普及电力的目标，政府需要重新审视何为国家电网。
Typically, countries connect citizens with vast grid-extension programmes. Big grids make perfect sense for populous places. They can cheaply supply power generated far away to millions and, as they incorporate more wind and solar energy, they are becoming greener. But in remote places, the economic case for grids becomes hard to make.
一般而言，国家会利用电网扩建工程把老百姓们联结起来。对于人口众多的地区来说，这种大型电网毫无疑问是最好的供电方式，可以以低廉的价格让最多的人群享用在遥远地区产生的电能，而且随着更多风能、太阳能的协同使用，整个发电网络也变得更加清洁。但对于偏远的贫困山区来说，这种经济效用最大化的供电方式却行不通。
注：Narrative：彼得·戴曼迪斯在《富足》一书中提出实现富足的4种力量：指数型增长的技术，“DIY”创新者、科技慈善家和崛起中的10亿人。这10亿人指的是生活在社会底层的穷人。大多数人认为，穷人没有消费力，不值得给他们提供专门的服务，想要帮他们，给钱就好了。但作者认为，我们需要转变这种观念，不要把穷人当负担或需要救济的对象，而要把他们当作消费者，为他们重新设计商业模式。既能帮助穷人，又能开辟一个巨大的市场。现在这10亿人有这么个共性的需求，你想知道吗？
Many utilities are short of cash, if not bankrupt. The cost of taking power to those least able to afford it adds to their debts. China and Thailand took 20 years to improve electrification rates from about 30-40% to 85-90%. Reaching the remaining sliver took a further 20 years; China managed it only in 2015. And universal electrification, a slogan beloved of politicians, is frequently less than it seems. In April India celebrated the electrification of its last village, yet about 240m people remain without power and connections are often unreliable.
许多公用事业公司不是破产就是缺钱。帮助那些最付不起电费的人接上电，这其中的成本只会徒增公共事业单位的债务负担。中国和泰国用了20年将国家电气化率从30-40%提高到85-90%。余下的部分(10-15%)达到电力覆盖也花了20年，最终中国在2015年成功实现了全国电气化。普及电气化是政客们喜爱的口号，但实际普及的程度却往往没有看起来的那么高。四月，印度庆祝了最后一个村庄的电气化，但在印度仍有大约2.4亿人口没有使用上电网，而且通电的状况并不稳定。
注：
The remaining sliver：the remaining electrification rates
Enter mini-grids, which can operate independently of national grids, and are a way for private companies to offer services more quickly and reliably than frequently state-owned incumbents. Mini-grids are banks of batteries often charged by solar arrays. Unlike “rooftop” solar systems, which are increasingly common in parts of Africa but provide little juice, mini-grids provide round-the-clock electricity capable of powering machinery, irrigation systems and freezers, as well as lighting. Although they are expensive, mini-grids are likely to become cheaper as they grow more common. In the interim, providers are using specialists in rural development and microfinance to teach people how to set up businesses that benefit from a lot of power (see Finance section). They find that if people learn how to make money from electricity, they willingly pay for it.
引入小型电网，可以独立于国家电网运行，且相对于国有大型企业而言，是私营公司可以利用小型电网提供更加快捷可靠的服务。小型电网是通常利用太阳能充电的电池组。而“屋顶”太阳能系统在非洲部分地区普遍存在，但其提供的电能很少，不同于“屋顶”太阳能系统，小型电网能够连续24个小时为大型机器、灌溉系统、冷冻库以及照明设备进行供电。虽然它们价格昂贵，但随着小型电网的普遍使用，其价格也会变得越来越实惠。与此同时，供应商正在聘用农村发展和小额信贷的专家，教导人们如何利用电能创业（见财经版块）。他们发现，如果人们学会如何用电赚钱，他们将十分乐意为电花钱。
注：
1. incumbents
noun. The person who has an official position 在职者，现任者
adj. having an official position 在职的，现任的
~upon/on sb 有责任必须履行
It was incumbent on them to attend. 他们必须出席。
2. solar arrays（=solar panel）太阳能电池阵列
太阳能电池阵列是为了满足高电压、大功率的发电要求实际使用时按负载要求，将若干太阳能电池组件通过串、并联连接，并用一定的方式固定组合在一起，配以防反充（防逆流）二极管、旁路二极管、电缆等元件构成。
3. juice: (informal) electricity 电
IDM let sb stew in their own juice : to leave sb to worry and suffer the unpleasant effects of their own actions 让某人自作自受
4. round-the-clock：adj.
(only before noun) lasting or happening all day and night 日夜不停的，持续一整天的
5. in the interim：在此期间
6. microfinance:微型金融 微型金融是专门针对贫困、低收入的人口和微型企业而建立的金融服务体系。包括小额贷款、储蓄、汇款和小额保险等。
Network effects
网络效应
The International Energy Agency, a forecaster, reckons mini-grids could account for $300bn of investment by 2030, making them the most important means of achieving universal access. Yet for that to happen, governments must embrace them. Officials are often loth to decentralise the power supply for fear of losing political control. For their part, mini-grid providers fear being left in the lurch if the main grid suddenly arrives in one of their markets.
国际能源机构（IEA）估计，到2030年，小型电网的投资金额将达3000亿美元，其将成为大规模普及电力最重要的手段。然而要实现这一点，各国政府必须欣然接纳小型电网。由于担心失去政治控制，官员们往往不愿意下放电力供应的权利。对小型电网供应商来说，他们担心一旦主电网突然进入其某一个市场，他们将会被就此抛弃。
注：
1.be loath to do something formal to be unwilling to do something 同义词：reluctant 反义词： willing
Sarah was loath to tell her mother what had happened.
2.decentralise: 分散，下放（权力）；将…的权力下放to give some of the power of a central government, organization, etc. to smaller parts or organizations around the country
3.leave in the lurch, to leave in an uncomfortable or desperate situation; desert in time of trouble: Our best salesperson left us in the lurch at the peak of the busy season.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/leave--in--the--lurch
4.International Energy Agency:国际能源署（英语：aInternational Energy Agency，缩写为IEA）是总部设于法国巴黎的政府间国际组织，由经济合作与发展组织为应对能源危机于1974年设立。起初国际能源署致力于预防石油供给的异动，同时亦提供国际石油市场及其他能源领域的统计情报。
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/國際能源署
5.mini-grids in Nigeria:
http://www.escn.com.cn/news/show-517521.html
Both problems can be solved if governments see mini-grids not as autarkic outposts, but as part of a master plan. Mini-grids and rooftop solar systems can one day be hooked up to the main grid; they should not compete as paths to rural electrification. The more strategic planning of this sort there is, the less risk that mini-grids will end up as “stranded assets”. Governments could reallocate the subsidies available for extending grids to lower the cost of expanding mini-grids. They would be able to promote mini-grids across neighbouring villages, improving the economies of scale for developers. Countries like Nigeria are already pioneering such initiatives. Call it enlightened thinking.
如果政府不把小型电网视为自给自足的偏远基地，而是将其视为总体规划的一部分，那么这两个问题都可以得到解决。小型电网和屋顶太阳能系统有朝一日可以与主电网相联，它们不应该在村镇电力化的路上相互竞争。这类战略规划越多，小型电网最终成为“搁浅资产”的风险就越小。政府可以重新分配可用于扩建电网的补贴，以此降低扩展小型电网的成本。他们可以到邻近的村庄推广小型电网，提高开发商的经济规模。一些国家如尼日利亚已率先实践了该项倡议。我们不妨可将其视为一种受到启蒙的新思维。
注：
1.autarkic:自给自足的
2. outpost:前哨（基地）a small military camp away from the main army, used for watching an enemy's movements, etc.
偏远村镇；孤零住区a small town or group of buildings in a lonely part of a country
3.hook up
1. To assemble or wire (a mechanism).
2. To connect a mechanism and a source of power.
3. Slang（俚语）
a. To meet or associate: We agreed to hook up after class. He hooked up with the wrong crowd.
b. To become sexually involved with someone, especially casually.
c. To marry or get married.
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/hook+up
4.stranded assets：闲置资产
翻译组：
Cece，女，消防工作者，CATTI三笔
Han，女，自由职业，经济学人爱好者
Aileen，女，大四数学狗 经济学人粉丝
校核组：
Eva , 女，经贸翻译学生，经济学粉丝
Cyrus，男， 口译民工，经济学人爱好者
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观点|评论|思考
本次观点由Neil独家奉献
Neil，男，外贸民工，经济学人铁粉
炎炎夏日，如果被通知停电，想必绝大多数人会崩溃，直呼怎么活啊！！细算下，小编已经15年没有体会到停电的感觉，但03年全国电荒的经历依然历历在目。那年正值高一暑假，酷热的天气躺在床上，凉席被汗水一次次湿透，煎熬到凌晨3点实在困了，小睡一会儿又被热醒。第二天起床整个人的魂都被蒸发了。9月开学后又是阶段性停电，学校无奈购买了较大功率的发电机，整个学校都能听见发电机隆隆作响。据说那年发电机生意特别火爆，商铺，银行都购买了大大小小的发电机。为了应对电荒，各地开始建发电站，小编老家附近就在那年新建了两座水利发电站。
04年电荒基本结束，学校那台发电机一直闲置，最后我猜是二手转卖了。两座水利发电站现在还在运行中，当地水系肯定是破坏了，但停电的情况确实至今没有发生。结合今天的文章，老家附近的2座水利电站也可以算是Mini-Grids（微电网），只是少了电池储能环节。咱们国家幅员辽阔，有很多地区非常需要类似的微电网。按照以往的网线铺设，偏远或海岛地区很难被集中的电网覆盖，微电网就可以非常完美地保障当地居民的全部工作生活需求。
目前我国的微电网的发展处于起始阶段，未来五年国内将建逾300座微电网工程，项目投资将达到5亿元。主要的方式是鼓励清洁能源就地消纳，就地平衡。但分布式新能源的发展，从现在到未来的一段时间内，由于成本较高，还需要补贴。微电网的一些关键技术的国产化、规模化，都需要一个过程。总体来说，我们的微电网发展的方向和本期经济学人提到的“政策化、补贴化”的方向是一致的。小编的切身经验能提出的唯一建议是统筹规划，避免资源闲置或者重复建设，这样可以减少学校那台发电机闲置在那里的成本。
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现有一经济学人大群,如果您也有兴趣，可联系小编WeChat : foxwulihua。