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English to Chinese: Bright future for China's solar billionaire General field: Science Detailed field: Energy / Power Generation
Source text - English If China is ever to produce a challenger for the title of the world's richest and most respected businessman, a leading contender is likely to be Shi Zhengrong. The world's first solar billionaire sits at the intersection of two of the most important vectors of the 21st century - China's economic rise and the global imperative to cut carbon emissions.
Since founding Suntech Power - China's largest photovoltaic manufacturer - in 2001, Shi has capitalised on a surge of environmentally driven demand in Germany, the US and elsewhere that has turned his company into a global powerhouse and made him, by some estimates, the richest man on the mainland.
But that is just the start, according to the Australian-educated scientist, who predicts solar power will rival oil and coal before the end of the next decade.
"We believe that in 10 years, Suntech will be an energy giant like BP or Shell today," he says. "Since we were founded, we have grown by more than 100% every year, but we still can't keep up with demand. We must grow faster." In an interview with the Guardian at his headquarters in an industrial estate in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, Shi cuts a confident, amiable figure. He can afford to be. The world is moving in Suntech's direction.
Concerns about climate change have prodded many governments to subsidise solar energy, which is more expensive than almost any other form of power. The price gap is closing as carbon becomes more expensive and improved technology and increased capacity drives down the manufacturing cost of photovoltaic cells.
Few companies are better placed to take advantage. Suntech has received generous support from the Wuxi government and it benefits from cheap labour, which accounts for 2% of the total manufacturing costs compared to 5% at the factories or rival firms overseas. Last year, Shi says Suntech overtook Sharp as the world's biggest producer of solar panels. Within three, he predicts it will also be the global leader in solar cells and solar modules. By 2010, the company's factories will churn out enough photovolataic cells per year to generate 2 gigawatts of electricity, equivalent to four new power plants.
And that is before tapping the domestic market. Currently 98% of Suntech's output is exported, but Shi expects demand to grow rapidly in China once the price of solar energy falls to "grid parity" – effectively the cost of power generated by coal. Ambitiously, he wants to achieve this by 2012.
He is advising the Chinese government on renewable energy policies. So far, they have focused on wind energy, but Shi informs the politicians change is just around the corner." Solar is not 10 or 20 years away, it is just five years away. I tell them: 'You have to hurry up. If you are not ready, we cannot employ solar on a massive scale.'" More than most Chinese executives, Shi has to convince the public.
Because solar is still considerably more expensive than other forms of energy, his business model relies on governments stumping up the difference. Germany, which has one of the world's most advanced policies to promote solar energy, is by far his biggest market. In China, sales are tiny, even though Suntech products will be highly visible next month during what Beijing calls "the Green Olympics." The biggest constraint on the industry has traditionally been a shortage of refined silicon. But new technologies and economies of scale are changing that. Solar recently overtook the microchip industry as the main source of demand for silicon. This is pushing up prices and drawing more firms into the market.
"We believe there will be a solar boom in China very soon," he says. "China is a country where once people realise, 'Gee, we have to use that,", then things will leap forward." Last year, the National Development and Reform Commission, which is steering the economy, announced solar projects in 10 provinces. The ground is yet to be broken, but Shi hopes this is the start of the government involvement he has been waiting for.
Technology is improving every year. Shi learned his trade in the University of New South Wales, one of the world's leading centres for photovolataic research. Costs will come down, Shi says, as solar panels convert energy from the sun more efficiently. Currently, Suntech products boasts a 17.2% efficiency rate. By 2010, Shi predicts this will rise to 20% .
"Why is this happening now. Because it is all market driven. Before, there was no demand so all the research was in the laboratory. But now there is a huge demand so the equipment has improved, the process has improved and the manufacturing efficiency has improved." Suntech is also working on less-efficient, but cheaper materials that can be used to coat windows and other building exteriors. It will be put into practice at the company's new headquarters - now under construction. Once completed, it is designed to be 85% self-sufficient in energy.
For all his enthusiasm for solar, Shi does not expect China to shift away from its dependence on coal any time soon. Instead, he foresees a gradual rebalancing of the country's energy mix as people become more aware of the impact of global warming. Part of his mission, he says is to educate the public about climate change.
"I grew up in this part of China. When I was a kid, the temperature would fall under minus five degrees and we would have snow every year, but the last time I saw snow was in January 1988 until the freak storms this January," he says. "Flights are not as tranquil as before. There is more turbulence. I think as the glaciers melt, water evaporates and there is more moisture in the air. This causes currents. Maybe one day, we won't be able to fly any more." The biggest obstacle to Shi's dream of creating a global energy giant is China's state-owned power companies – at least one of which is run by the son of a former Communist Party heavyweight.
"I have thought about that. It may be that we can only be a supply company. We'll see. What we hope for is a situation more like in the west, where there is fair competition. We are lobbying the government for that." Ultimately, though, Shi believes the elements are on his side. "If you look at the outlook of the energy structure, there is nothing to stop us growing. There will be bumps and competition and price pressure, but sunshine is unlimited."
Translation - Chinese 如果要在中国范围内找出一位同时具备世界首富和最受尊敬头衔的商业人士，一个领先的竞争者可能就是施正荣。这位世界上首位太阳能亿万富翁出现在21世纪中两大最为重要的历史进程交叉点上——中国经济的崛起和全球强制性的削减碳排放量。
English to Chinese: Giant kites to tap power of the high wind General field: Tech/Engineering Detailed field: Energy / Power Generation
Source text - English The blades of modern commercial windmills sit around 80 metres from the ground, where the wind speed is almost five metres per second. At 800 metres, however, wind speed rises to seven metres per second, potentially generating considerably more energy.
It would be virtually impossible to build a standard turbine to take advantage of the wind at 800 metres, but kites could easily get to these heights. Furthermore, thanks to the high-speed jet stream, countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark are particularly suited to flying kites.
'Pretty much anywhere in the UK you could run a kite plant economically, but you couldn't run a wind turbine economically,' said Allister Furey of the University of Sussex, who develops computer control mechanisms to maximise the power generated from kites.
A kite generates power by pulling on a string attached to generators on the ground. When it has reached its maximum height, it is reeled back down to repeat the process.
Using computer models, Furey has worked out that flying kites in a figure of eight pattern means the air flowing over them travels even faster than the ambient wind speed. When a kite needs to be reeled in, it is angled so that it falls out of the sky like a glider, without the need for much power. Ockels's system uses these flying patterns to maximise the power the kites can generate. He is also looking at extending his basic prototype to use multiple kites that yo-yo: when one goes up, another goes down. Ockels estimates that kites could generate power at less than 4p per kilowatt-hour, which is comparable to coal power and less than half the cost of electricity from wind turbines.
'The first systems will be community scale that could power a large farm and sell some electricity back to the grid,' said Furey. 'Once the technical issues have been sorted out, you can scale them up to the level of a coal-fired plant. All you have to do is multiply the number of kites and you can have a farm as big as you want.'
There are many ideas for commercial-scale demonstration projects. An Italian company, Kitegen, has come up with a theoretical design for a system that could generate a gigawatt, as much power as a standard coal-fired power station. Its idea involves flying 12 sets of lines with four 500-sq metre kites on each.
A spokesman for the British Wind Energy Association welcomed the idea of devices that could harness the power of jet streams and higher-altitude winds, saying: 'There is a vast potential that could be harnessed with the technology now available.'
Nick Rau, energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, agreed. 'We could easily supply our electricity demand from offshore, even with other demands on sea such as shipping, fishing and defence radar. These new [kite] technologies allow us to go further offshore and avoid other problems. We have an abundance of renewable energy and there are a lot of visionary technologies coming along so that, in future, the sky's the limit.'
How quickly technology will make it to market depends on how much investors are willing to put in. Ockels said that commercial systems could be operational within five years if the money was made available; otherwise the technology could languish in the lab for a decade or more.
'The Google prize is nothing compared to taxpayer money flowing into energy research. If you take sustainable energy seriously, the money flow to sustainable energy should also be serious.'
Translation - Chinese 一所欧洲尖端科技研究中心开展了一次成功的大风筝实验，结果显示，这项传统的儿童游戏为可再生能源的研发带来了突破。
Born in Year of the Dog in 1980s, I have been a well-disciplined and keep-the-track practicer since the beginning of my academic pursuit dating back to an elementary school boy. After all these years of training and diligence and of several career shifts, comprehensive insights have been planted deep into my mind bit by bit. Immersed in the vast of language and culture, I became an ardent lover of translation and interpreting, to which I attached great importance during my campus days in Central South University. In the arduous but delightful working days after my graduation, I laid solid foundations in English to Chinese translation in light of theory and practice. Now I made it in Proz.com.
My strong point lies in the dedication and diligence as well as extensive knowledge of banking, finance, telecommunication and environment. What’s more, proficiency in computer operations and CAT applications is another proof of my advantage.
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