Europe
欧洲板块
Greece
希腊
Electric island
电岛
An experiment in low-carbon living
一个有关低碳生活的实验
A butterfly-shaped island in the central Aegean hopes to become Greece's first carbon-free tourist destination. Under a deal with the government, Volkswagen, a carmaker, has donated several new electric vehicles for use by Astypalea's public services; it will sell others at cost price to its 1,200 year-round residents. In return, the government has bumped up subsidies for islanders to buy electric cars and will build a hybrid solar and wind-fuelled power plant to replace a cluster of polluting diesel-fired generators.
一个位于爱琴海中部的蝴蝶形状的岛屿希望成为希腊第一个无碳旅游地。根据与政府的协议,汽车制造商大众捐赠了几辆新的电动汽车供阿斯帕利亚的公共服务部门使用,且将以成本价将其其他产品出售给该地1200名常住居民。作为回报,政府提高了对岛民购买电动汽车的补贴,并将建造一个太阳能和风力混合动力发电厂以取代那些污染严重的柴油发电机。
Unlike other nearby islands, Astypalea is not connected to Greece's electricity grid. With only 3,000 rooms for visitors in small hotels or flats, tourism is still low-key. Many residents make a living the old-fashioned way: raising goats, keeping bees and fishing. The island was selected for Volkswagen's e-mobility experiment after Nikos Komineas, the go-ahead mayor, contacted the transport ministry for help in finding an electric bus to try out on its rugged roads.
阿斯特帕利亚与附近的其他岛屿不同,那里没有连接希腊的电网,且只有3000个小酒店或公寓房间供游客住宿,旅游业仍很低调。许多居民仍以传统方式谋生:喂养山羊、养蜂和捕鱼。继Nikos Komineas之后,大众选择了该岛作为电动汽车的试验点,这位“行动积极”的市长联系了交通运输部,希望能找到一辆电动巴士以便在崎岖的道路上试用。
Most islanders sound keen on the project. Mr Komineas expects the number of private cars on Astypalea to fall by a third overthe next five years. Its residents, he says, will get around on escooters and electric minibuses, which will be free, linked to a mobile-phone app and available round the clock.
大多数岛民听上去都对这个项目很感兴趣。Komineas先生预计未来五年内阿斯特帕利亚的私家车数量将下降三分之一。他说,这里的居民将乘坐小型摩托车和电动小巴出行,这些都是免费的,且与手机应用程序连接,可以提供24小时服务。
Some observers detect a whiff of greenwashing. A tender for a solar park that would generate half the island's electricity within three years will not get under way before the tourist season ends. A single wind turbine will be installed only in 2026, assuming the licensing process goes smoothly. That is not normally the case in the Aegean, where islanders worry that tourists will go elsewhere if the view is spoiled by a turbine 200 metres high. And even then, the hybrid power unit is planned to cover only about 80% of summer demand. But it is a start.
而一些观察人士察觉到了一丝“漂绿(一个组织展现出来的表面的或不诚恳的关注环境的表现)”的味道。在旅游旺季结束之前,一个将在三年内为该岛提供一半电力的太阳能园区将不会进行投标。如果许可程序进行顺利,那么只有在2026年才能安装一台风力涡轮机。但在爱琴海却不是这样,岛上的居民担心如果200米高的涡轮机破坏了这里的风景,游客就会去别的地方。即使到那时,该混合动力机组也只能满足夏季需求的80%左右。不过这只是一个开始。
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