评论
打印
This summer, I was visiting family in England.
这个夏天，我去英国探望家人。
There was a heat wave.
碰上一场热潮。
It was hot, and it was humid.
又热又潮，
There was very little breeze.
也没什么风。
The temperature was hovering around 29 degrees centigrade for days on end, and the nights were not much better.
接连几日，温度都在29°C上下，夜晚也不凉快。
In our little bungalow, there was nowhere to get cool.
在我们狭小的平房里，热气笼罩，无处可逃。
We had one fan moving hot air around.
我们只有一把风扇，搅动着热气。
I was worried for my mom.
我很担心我妈妈，
Heat can send your heart rate all the way up.
因为炎热会使心率飙升。
The only place to get cool, the only relief, was at the supermarket in town, standing in front of the chiller cabinets.
唯一的清凉之地，唯一的解脱，就是去镇上的超市，站在冰柜前。
In 2021, extreme heat has captured the headlines on every continent.
2021年，全球无论哪个大陆，极端炎热天气都登上了头条。
And globally in July, surface temperatures were the highest recorded since records began in 1880.
全球范围内，7月地表温度都创下自1880年有记录以来的新高。
The problem is that the way we cool things down is heating the planet even more.
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.
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。
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.
你之前肯定经历过，在便利店后的巷子里，里面冰柜制冷产生的热浪扑面而来。
And the demand for cooling is going up.
制冷需求正不断增长。
The International Energy Agency estimates that by 2050, today’s two billion air conditioners will have multiplied to more than 5.5 billion,
国际能源署预测，到2050年，空调数量会从今天的20亿台成倍增长，预计将超过 55 亿，
and that by 2030, electricity demand for cooling buildings could jump by 50 percent.
到2030年，建筑物制冷用电需求将会上涨50%。
And think about this: most households in hot countries have not bought their first air conditioner yet.
再想一想这个问题：热带国家的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;
我在可持续能源领域工作多年，
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.
方方面面都有涉猎，从萨赫勒的能源供应，到东非的冷链，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了一份力。
I've always focused on the twin problems of sustainability and fairness.
我一直都很关注可持续性和公平性的双重问题。
I think cooling gets at the heart of these challenges. Why?
制冷问题能帮我们找到这个问题的核心。为什么？
Well, because most wealthy people can stay cool.
因为大部分富人都能享受清凉的环境。
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.
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。
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.
但低收入人群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就无从谈起了。
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.
如今，大约10亿人没有能源供应，几十亿人还没有稳定的能源供应，23亿人只能买得起一台能效很低，或者污染环境的空调。
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.
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，这些需求能促进良性循环，让我们能为每个人提供清凉，而不加剧全球变暖。
