蓋茨聯手馬雲、扎克伯格投資新能源

Bill Gates has pulled together a multinational band of investors to put billions into clean energy.
比爾·蓋茨聯合了多國投資者，將向清潔能源領域投資數十億美元。

The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist is set to announce his latest endeavor, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, at the climate change summit in Paris alongside President Obama and French President Francois Hollande.
這位微軟聯合創始人、慈善家將於巴黎氣候變化大會上宣佈他的最新舉措——創建“能源突破發展聯盟”。屆時，美國總統奧巴馬、法國總統奧朗德也將在場。

The fund will be fed by a group that spans more than two dozen public and private entities -- including national governments, billionaire philanthropists, investment fund managers and tech CEOs.
項目出資方來自20多個公共和私人實體，包括國家政府、身家上億的慈善家、投資基金經理以及科技公司的首席執行官。

"The renewable technologies we have today, like wind and solar, have made a lot of progress and could be one path to a zero-carbon energy future. But given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths -- and that means we also need to invent new approaches," Gates said in a statement.
蓋茨在聲明中說：“風能和太陽能等人類所具備的可再生能源技術已經得到了顯著發展，這些能源很有可能是未來二氧化碳零排放的一條出路。但這項挑戰極爲艱鉅，我們還需探索其它出路，也就是說，我們需要投資新領域。”

Among the list of backers are Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, Mark Zuckerberg ofFacebook, Meg Whitman of HP and Virgin Group's Richard Branson.
該項目的贊助者名單上，包括阿里巴巴集團CEO馬雲、臉書CEO馬克·扎克伯格、惠普的梅格·惠特曼以及維珍集團的理查德·布蘭森。

More than a dozen governments have also committed to double their spending on carbon-free energy development over the next five years.
此外，還有十多個國家的政府已承諾，將在未來五年內加倍投資無碳能源的發展。

"Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund," Gates added.
蓋茨補充道：“最終在能源研發上取得突破的將會是私營企業，但他們研發所依賴的基礎研究只有政府才負擔得起。“

According to government data, the U.S. spends about $5 billion on energy R&D compared to $31 billion on health care research and nearly $70 billion on defense research.
美國政府發佈的數據顯示，該國在能源研發領域的投資約爲50億美元。相比之下，醫療研究的投資爲310億美元，國防研究的投資則接近700億美元。

There is no fund raising goal for private investors in the Gates initiative. But the fund represents billions in money to seed promising ideas in large-scale clean energy production.
蓋茨的此項計劃沒有對私人投資者設定募資目標，但項目募資總額高達數十億美元，這些資金將爲清潔能源未來的大規模生產創造可能性。

The fund says it will invest broadly and focus on five key areas: electricity generation and storage, transportation, industrial uses, agriculture and projects that make energy systems more efficient.
該基金的投資範圍很廣，主要關注五個領域：發電與儲電、交通運輸、工業應用、農業生產以及那些能提高能源系統效率的項目。

For example, Gates says more research is needed in new kinds of batteries -- "flow batteries" -- that he says hold more promise than current battery technology.
蓋茨表示，比如新型電池領域就需要進行更多的研究。他認爲“液流電池”要比現在的電池技術更有前途。

According to Gates, the goal is to spur new clean energy tech while combating climate change by "keeping global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees."
蓋茨認爲，項目的目的是“將全球升溫幅度控制在2攝氏度以內”，以應對氣候變化，與此同時，該項目還會促進新型清潔能源技術的發展。

Reducing global reliance on fossil fuels also holds the potential for massive economic benefits, Gates added.
他補充道，降低全球對化石燃料的依賴也能帶來巨大的經濟效益。

"It would help millions more people escape poverty and become more self-sufficient," Gates wrote. "And it would stabilize energy prices, which will have an even bigger impact on the global economy as more people come to rely on energy in their daily lives."
蓋茨寫道：“這能幫數百萬人脫離貧困、自給自足，還能穩定能源價格——在人們日常生活越來越依賴能源的今天，能源價格穩定對全球經濟的影響愈發重要。

Vocabulary
philanthropist：慈善家
zero-carbon：不含碳的