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Britain’s last coal-fired power station is set to close at the end of this month.
英国最后一座燃煤发电站将于本月底关闭。
The Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station sits in central Britain’s East Midlands area.
拉特克利夫-昂斯沃发电站位于英国中部的东米德兰兹地区。
It has been producing electricity for nearly 60 years.
它已经发电近60年了。
The planned closure will end pollution-linked coal burning for electricity production in Britain.
本次计划的关闭将结束英国与污染相关的煤炭发电燃烧。
It also marks the first time a member of the Group of Seven (G7) leading world economies has completely ended coal-fired energy production.
这也标志着七国集团主要世界经济体中的成员国首次完全结束了燃煤能源生产。
The power center operates in the town of Ratcliffe-on-Soar. It has long been one of the area’s biggest landmarks.
该发电中心位于拉特克利夫索厄镇运营，一直是该地区最大的地标之一。
David Reynolds is a 74-year-old retiree. He remembers seeing the station being built as a child before it opened in 1967.
大卫·雷诺兹是一位74岁的退休人员。他记得在1967年车站开放之前，他还是个孩子的时候就看到过它正在建设中。
He told the French news agency, AFP, "It'll seem very strange because it has always been there."
他告诉法新社：“这似乎很奇怪，因为它一直都在那里。”
He added, "When I was younger you could go down certain parts and you saw nothing but coal pits."
他补充说："在我年轻的时候，你沿着某些地方走下去，除了煤坑什么都看不到。
Coal-fueled power production has been an important part of Britain’s economic history.
以煤炭为燃料的电力生产一直是英国经济史上的重要组成部分。
It helped drive an Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. This helped make the country a world superpower.
它推动了18和19世纪的工业革命。这有助于使该国成为世界超级大国。
But the coal-fired centers also led to increased pollution problems across the nation.
但是，燃煤中心也导致了全国范围内污染问题的加剧。
In the 1980s, coal burning represented 70 percent of the country’s electricity production mix. That level began to decrease in the 1990s.
在20世纪80年代，煤炭燃烧占该国电力生产组合的70%。这一水平在20世纪90年代开始下降。
By 2013, coal burning made up 38 percent of the country’s electricity production.
到2013年，燃煤发电占全国电力生产的38%。
The rate fell to five percent in 2018 and dropped to one percent in 2023.
该比率在2018年降至5%，并在2023年降至1%。
Britain’s Conservative-led government announced in 2015 it planned to close all coal-fired power stations by 2025 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions.
英国保守党领导的政府在2015年宣布，计划在2025年前关闭所有燃煤发电站，以努力减少碳排放。
Many scientists have linked carbon emissions to planet warming and other climate changes linked to human-related causes.
许多科学家已经将碳排放与地球变暖和其他与人类相关的原因导致的气候变化联系起来。
As of last year, natural gas represented one-third of Britain’s electricity production, power operator National Grid ESO reported.
据电力运营商英国国家电网ESO报道，截至去年，天然气占英国电力生产的三分之一。
The organization also found that a quarter of electricity production came from wind power, while 13 percent was nuclear.
该组织还发现，四分之一的电力生产来自风力发电，而13%来自核能。
Jess Ralston heads a British policy center called the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit.
杰斯·拉尔斯顿领导着一个名为能源与气候情报单位的英国政策中心。
He told AFP that the country’s strong push to end coal-fired plants was linked to government requirements as well as a changing economic environment.
他告诉法新社，该国之所以大力推动关闭燃煤电厂，与政府的要求和不断变化的经济环境有关。
"So larger power plants like coal plants had regulations put on them…and that meant that it was no longer economically attractive to invest in those sorts of plants."
因此，像燃煤电厂这样的大型发电厂受到了法规的限制……这意味着投资这类电厂不再具有经济吸引力。
Britain’s new Labour government launched its latest energy plan after its election win in July.
英国新工党政府在七月选举获胜后推出了其最新的能源计划。
The plan calls for investing in offshore wind, tidal energy and nuclear power.
该计划呼吁投资海上风能、潮汐能和核能。
The government has said the aim is to make Britain a world leader in "clean energy."
政府表示，其目标是使英国成为“清洁能源”领域的世界领导者。
The planned closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar on September 30 is seen as an important step in Britain’s efforts to decarbonize its electricity system by 2030.
拉格比的拉特克利夫将于9月30日关闭，这被视为英国到2030年实现电力系统脱碳努力的重要一步。
The country also plans to become carbon neutral by 2050.
该国还计划到2050年实现碳中和。
The move makes Britain the first in the G7 to halt all coal powered electricity production.
此举使英国成为七国集团中第一个停止所有煤炭发电的国家。
Italy plans to do so by next year, France in 2027, Canada in 2030 and Germany in 2038.
意大利计划在明年之前这样做，法国在2027年，加拿大在2030年，德国在2038年。
Japan and the United States have set no dates for stopping production.
日本和美国尚未确定停止生产的日期。
I’m Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。
