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本文选自《经济学人》9月17日刊文章。20世纪是石油的时代，而21世纪将是去碳化清洁新能源的时代。全球气候变暖、遍布在世界各地的火灾、南北极冰架的融化，都在警示人类要能源去碳化，而席卷全球的新冠疫情加速了这一进程。过去十年，美国页岩油迅猛发展，一度改变世界能源的格局，美国也想通过页岩油来影响控制中国的能源供应，但疫情加速的全球能源去碳化浪潮让美国的算盘落空。与此同时，过去十年，中国致力于风能、太阳能等清洁新能源的发展，在新一轮的能源洗牌中，中国将占据主动权。在全球能源转型中，那些曾依靠石油出口的国家将遭受痛苦，甚至出现地缘政治动荡，而那些掌握清洁能源先机的国家会成为新清洁能源的弄潮儿。 
选文精讲 The new energy order 新能源秩序Is it the end of the oil age?Power in the 21st centuryOIL FUELLED the 20th century—its cars, its wars, its economy and its geopolitics. Now the world is in the midst of an energy shock that is speeding up the shift to a new order. As covid-19 struck the global economy earlier this year, demand for oil dropped by more than a fifth and prices collapsed. Since then there has been a jittery recovery, but a return to the old world is unlikely. Fossil-fuel producers are being forced to confront their vulnerabilities. ExxonMobil has been ejected from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, having been a member since 1928. Petrostates such as Saudi Arabia need an oil price of $70-80 a barrel to balance their budgets. Today it is scraping along at just $40.石油推动了20世纪的汽车、战争、经济和地缘政治。现在，世界正处于一场加速向新能源秩序转变的冲击之中。今年年初，随着新冠病毒打击全球经济，对石油的需求下降了五分之一以上，石油价格暴跌。从那时起，经济出现了紧张不稳的复苏，但回到原来的世界是不太可能了。化石燃料生产商正被迫应对自己的脆弱性，自1928年以来一直是道琼斯工业股票平均价格指数成员的埃克森美孚已被挤出该指数。像沙特阿拉伯这样的石油国家，需要将油价维持在每桶70-80美元才能回本，如今，石油的售价仅为40美元。There have been oil slumps before, but this one is different. As the public, governments and investors wake up to climate change, the clean-energy industry is gaining momentum. Capital markets have shifted: clean-power stocks are up by 45% this year. With interest rates near zero, politicians are backing green-infrastructure plans. America’s Democratic presidential contender, Joe Biden, wants to spend $2trn decarbonising America’s economy. The European Union has earmarked 30% of its $880bn covid-19 recovery plan for climate measures, and its president, Ursula von der Leyen, used her state-of-the-union address this week to confirm that she wants the EU to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 55% over 1990 levels in the next decade.以前也有过油价下跌，但这次不同。随着公众、政府和投资者意识到气候变化，清洁能源行业的发展势头正在增强，资本市场已经发生了转变:清洁能源股票今年上涨了45%。随着利率接近于零，政客们开始支持绿色基础设施计划。美国民主党总统竞选人乔·拜登想要花费2万亿美元来帮助美国经济去碳化。欧盟已经将针对新冠复苏计划的8800亿美元中的30%用于实施应对气候变化措施，欧盟主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩在本周的国情咨文演讲中确认，她希望欧盟在未来十年，能将温室气体排放量消减到1990年水平的55%。
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