Power companies 'hindering' move to green energy
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New research suggests that power companies are dragging their feet when it comes to embracing green energy sources such as wind and solar.
最新研究表明，電力公司在使用環保能源（如風能和太陽能）時會拖延腳步。
Only one in 10 energy suppliers globally has prioritised renewables over fossil fuels, the study finds.
研究發現，全球只有十分之一的能源供應商優先考慮可再生能源而不是化石燃料。
Even those that are spending on greener energy are continuing to invest in carbon heavy coal and natural gas.
即使是那些在綠色能源上進行投資的企業，也將繼續投資於重碳煤和天然氣。
The lead researcher says the slow uptake undermines global efforts to tackle climate change.
首席研究員說，緩慢的步伐破壞了全球應對氣候變化的努力。
In countries like the UK and across Europe, renewable energy has taken a significant share of the market, with 40% of Britain's electricity coming from wind and solar last year.
在英國和整個歐洲，可再生能源已佔據了很大的市場份額，去年英國40％的電力來自風能和太陽能。
But while green energy has boomed around the world in recent years, many of the new wind and solar power installations have been built by independent producers.
但是，儘管近年來綠色能源在世界範圍內蓬勃發展，但許多新的風能和太陽能裝置卻是由獨立生產商建造的。
Large scale utility companies, including many state and city owned enterprises, have been much slower to go green, according to this new study.
根據這項新的研究，大型公用事業公司，包括許多國有和城市國有企業，向綠色邁進的步伐要慢得多。
The research looked at more than 3,000 electricity companies worldwide and used machine learning techniques to analyse their activities over the past two decades.
這項研究調查了全球3,000多家電力公司，並使用機器學習技術來分析其在過去二十年中的活動。
The study found that only 10% of the companies had expanded their renewable-based power generation more quickly than their gas or coal fired capacity.
研究發現，只有10％的公司，比以天然氣或煤為燃料的發電方式更快地擴展了可再生能源發電。
Of this small proportion that spent more on renewables, many continued to invest in fossil fuels, although at a lower rate.
在可再生能源上花費更多的一小部分企業中，許多這些企業繼續投資於化石燃料，儘管比率較低。
The vast majority of companies, according to the author, have just sat on the fence.
根據作者的說法，絕大多數公司只是騎牆派。
"If you look at all utilities, and what's the dominant behaviour, it is that they're not doing much in fossil fuels and renewables," said Galina Alova, from the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.
牛津大學史密斯企業與環境學院的加琳娜·阿爾瓦（Galina Alova）表示：「如果您查看所有公用事業單位，以及主要的行為方式，那就是它們在化石燃料和可再生能源方面的作用不大。」
"So they might be doing something with other fuels like hydro power or nuclear, but they're not transitioning to renewables nor growing the fossil fuel capacity."
「因此，他們可能正在使用其他燃料，例如水力發電或核能，但它們並未過渡到可再生能源，也未在擴大化石燃料的產能。」
The author says that many of these types of utilities are government-owned and may have invested in their power portfolios many years ago.
作者說，其中許多類型的公用事業都是政府所有，可能在多年前就已對其電力投資進行了投資。
The overall conclusion from the analysis, though, is that utility companies are "hindering" the global transition to renewables.
但是，分析得出的總體結論是，公用事業公司正在「阻礙」全球向可再生能源的過渡。
"Companies are still growing their fossil-fuel based capacity," Galina Alova told BBC News.
Galina Alova告訴BBC新聞：「公司仍在增加其基於化石燃料的產能。」
"So utilities are still dominating the global fossil fuel business. And I'm also finding that quite a significant share of the fossil-fuel based capacity owned by utilities has been added in the last decade, meaning that these are quite new assets.
「因此，公用事業仍在全球化石燃料業務中佔主導地位。而且我還發現，在過去十年中，公用事業擁有的基於化石燃料的產能中有相當大的份額已經增加，這意味著這些是新資產。
She says that inertia within the electricity industry is one key cause of the slow transition.
她說，電力行業的慣性是緩慢過渡的主要原因之一。
But the news reporting about energy companies doesn't always capture the complexity of their investments.
但是有關能源公司的新聞報導並不總是能反映出其投資的複雜性。
"Renewables and natural gas often go hand in hand," said Galina Alova.
Galina Alova說：「可再生能源和天然氣經常並存。」
"Companies often choose both in parallel. So it might be just in media reports we are getting this image of investing in renewables, but less coverage on continued investment in gas.
「公司通常會同時選擇兩者。因此，可能只是在媒體報導中，我們才獲得了這種投資可再生能源的形象，但對天然氣持續投資的報導較少。
"So it's not greenwashing. It is just that this parallel investment in gas dilutes the shift to renewables. That's the key issue."
「因此，這不是洗綠錢。僅僅是對天然氣的平行投資稀釋了向可再生能源的轉移。這是關鍵問題。」