油價暴跌威脅電動汽車及生物燃料

Tumbling oil prices look set to hit electric cars and biofuels harder than other parts of the green power industry, the head of the world’s leading renewable energy agency has warned.

國際可再生能源機構(International Renewable Energy Agency，簡稱Irena)總幹事阿德南•阿明(Adnan Amin)警告說，比起綠色能源產業其他部門，油價暴跌對電動汽車和生物燃料行業產生的衝擊看來會更大。國際可再生能源機構是一家政府間機構，也是全球頂尖的可再生能源機構，其總部位於阿布扎比。

That is because they compete directly with rivals such as petrol-fuelled cars that are becoming cheaper to run as oil prices fall.

這其中的原因在於，它們直接競爭的對手，是那種用汽油做燃料的汽車，而油價暴跌後這種車會變得更便宜。

But wind farms, solar plants and other renewable electricity generators should not be affected by the price plunge because they do not face anything like the same level of competition, said Adnan Amin, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Irena, an intergovernmental body based in Abu Dhabi.

阿明表示，不過風力發電場、太陽能發電廠和其他可再生髮電廠應該不會受到油價暴跌的影響，因爲它們面臨的競爭與上述兩者不可同日而語。

“We don’t see a direct impact of oil prices on power generation,” said Mr Amin, explaining oil-fired electricity plants only accounted for around 5 per cent of global power generation today.

阿明表示：“我們並未發現油價對可再生髮電有什麼直接影響。”他還解釋說，燃油發電廠所發電量只佔如今全球發電量的5%。

“Impacts we expect to see are in the production of liquid biofuels, investment in liquid biofuels and investment in electric mobility and hybrid mobility,” he said on the sidelines of the agency’s annual assembly in Abu Dhabi over the weekend.

上週末，在Irena阿布扎比召開的年度大會會場外，他說：“我們預計會看到的影響是在液體生物燃料的生產和投資方面，以及電動汽車和混合動力汽車的投資方面。”

Mr Amin conceded the rapid decline in oil prices was creating uncertainty for the renewables industry and may be followed by some falls in the cost of gas, which could pose more of a problem for wind and solar power generators.

阿明承認，油價下跌爲可再生能源產業帶來了不確定性。他還承認，油價下跌後天然氣價格可能也會有所下跌，這會爲風力發電和太陽能發電帶來更多問題。

But he was bullish about the overall outlook for the sector, which he said had changed comprehensively since Irena first began operating four years ago.

不過，他對該產業的總體前景感到樂觀。他說，自Irena四年前開始運營以來，可再生能源產業已發生徹底改變。