2014-05-08【经济学人商业系列】经济学人能源效率融资钱不是万能的

1、Financing en ergyefficie ncy能源效率融资Money for nothing钱不是万能的Gree n loa ns are provi ng lesspopular among homeow ners tha n expected事实证明绿色贷款在房主中并不如预期受欢迎RETROFITTING houses to use less en ergy should be a no-bra iner for homeown ers. Over time,m oney spe nt on ways to reduce heat loss from draughty house

2、s should producea han dsomeretur n in lower fuel bills. In practice, many are cautious. Some improveme nts, such as solid-walli nsulati on and solar panels, can take over 25 years to cover theirin itialcost. Few owners are willi ng to wait that long: by the n many are likely to have sold up and move

3、d on.对于大多数房主来说为了节能而翻新房屋是一件再简单不过的事了。房主把钱花在运用某些方法上使透风的房子能够减少热损失，随着时间的推移，这些钱应该会因为低额的燃料费而产生丰厚的回报。但是事实上，大多数屋主还是很谨慎的。像换上绝缘墙、太阳能电池板这样的翻新措施往往要花上超过25年的时间才能回本。大多数房主都不愿意这么做，因为到那时很多人可能已经把房子卖掉了或者已经搬走了。Several gover nments have started finance schemes desig ned toaddress thisproblem. Sin ce2008 PACE programmes ha

4、ve offered America n homeow ners lo ans to finance improveme nts,repaid through higher local taxes on theproperty , whoever it belongs to. In Britain, the GreenDeal offers loans over a 25-ye ar period, with repayme nts added to en ergy bills. Coun tries in cludi ng France a nd Can ada have similar i

5、n itiatives.一些政府已经为解决此问题而开始了融资计划。2008年以来， 清洁能源财产评估”计划已经为很多美国房主提供了低息贷款，以资助他们进行房屋设施的翻新改善。这种贷款通过对该房屋征收更高的地方税而得以偿还。在英国，绿色协议”会提供超过25年期的贷款，该贷款通过追加能源账单而得以偿还。包括法国、加拿大在内的国家也采取了类似的举措。In theory, these schemes shouldboost in vestme nt in com mon en ergy-savi ngmeasures, suchas extra insulation and new boilers,

6、as the first owner does n ot have to pay all the costsupfr ont. But enro lme nt rates havedisappo in ted,according to Sean Kidney at the ClimateBonds Initiative, a think-tank .In Britain, just 1% of those assessed for the Gree n Deal havesig ned up. In Berkeley,California, home of the first PACEsche

7、me , the take-up rate is similarlypaltry.按理说，这些方案应该会促进在节能措施上的投资，比如在购买额外的绝缘设备和新的热水器的时候，首次购买者不必预先支付所有费用。但是根据来自气候债券倡议智囊团的肖恩基德尼所说，这些方案的采纳率令人失望。在英国，仅有1%同意签署了 绿色协议”在 清洁能源财产评估”计划出台的地方，也就是加利福尼亚州的伯克利，该方案的采纳率也是非 常得低。Homeow ners areuni mpressed chiefly because the in terest rates on the loa ns look high. TheGr

8、ee n Deal charges 7%; some PACE schemes a hefty 8%. Asthese rates are fixed for decades,they willinevitablylook unattractive when short-term in terest rates are low.房主不愿意采纳这些方案的主要原因是看似颇高的贷款利率。绿色协议”提供的贷款利率为7% ,清洁能源财产评估”计划提供的贷款利率更是达到了相对较高的8%。尽管这些利率将保持几十年不变，但是在短期利率较低的时候，就像现在，这些利率就不可避免地看上去毫无吸引力。Many peo

9、ple also doubt they will save eno ugh on their en ergy bills to cover the repayments. Forinstanee, claims in Britain that installing loft insulation cancut en ergy bills by 20% have bee nden ted by a gover nment study that found it reduced gas con sumpti on by only 1.7% on average. Others fear that

10、gree n Ioans may reduce the value of their home. In America, firmsthatun derwritemortgages are hostile to PACE loa ns.许多人也会怀疑自己是否能节省下足够的能源费用来支付贷款在英国，有人宣称，安装阁楼绝缘材料能砍掉20%的能源费用，但一项政府研究打击了这一断言，该研究发现，该材料 平均仅能降低1.7%的天然气消耗。而其他人则担心绿色贷款会使自己的房屋贬值。在美国，抵押贷款的承销公司坚决反对清洁能源财产评估”计划提供贷款。Gree n loa ns have not bee n a

11、flop everywhere. Around 250,000 households inGerma ny sig n upfor them each year. They do so because they n eed pay onlysubsidy of 1.5 bill1% in terest on them each year,tha nks to an ann ual publicion. Whether that is an efficient use of taxpayers ' moneys another question. 然而，绿色贷款也不是在哪儿都遭遇窘境。在

12、德国，每年都有近25万户人家会签署绿色贷款协议。他们这样做的原因是每年他们只需要为此支付1%的利息，因为每年政府都会发放 15亿欧元（约21亿美元）的公共财政补贴。然而这是否是有效利用纳税人的钱又成了另 一个问题。1. likely to 可能Because of this, marijua na compa nies are likely to continue to struggle to find ban ks.有鉴于此，大麻公司很可能要继续为寻找银行而烦恼了。Other export-orie nted econo mies are also likely to get hit har

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