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Spicy Finance： Small hydropower is clean energy, why is it restricted to stop？

　　This year’s government work report proposes to make room for the development of clean energy. Although small hydropower is internationally recognized as clean energy, its development is restricted or even stopped in some places. There are more than 47,000 small hydropower stations in China. What will happen in the future?

　　"It is easy to build a river dam, will it have an impact on the ecology? The water was intercepted by the upstream, and what about the downstream water? " The social doubts about small hydropower mainly focus on three aspects: first, it will reduce the dehydration of river sections; second, the dam construction of small hydropower will cut off rivers; third, it will compete with the people for water.

　　The power stations built in the early days were limited by the conditions at that time, and some of them were unscientific in planning and design. In addition, they were once developed out of order, which really brought about the influence of river reduction and dehydration, and some river basins had problems such as river cut-off and water pollution and eutrophication.

　　Will these problems become the "fatal wound" of small hydropower? Should small hydropower be developed or restricted? Spicy Finance went to Fujian and Zhejiang, major hydropower provinces, and conducted an investigation and interview.

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　　Small hydropower has great emission reduction benefits and high energy return rate.

　　Yongchun County, Fujian Province, is the birthplace of small hydropower in China. There are 220 hydropower stations in 750 kilometers of rivers. The small hydropower here has made farmers’ production and life inseparable.

　　There are 236 administrative villages in Yongchun County, and 122 villages have hydropower stations. More than 70% of the power stations are collectively managed by villages, with an average annual hydropower income of 200,000 yuan. Xianyan Hydropower Station undertakes the public welfare services of surrounding villages, and 10 villages enjoy preferential electricity prices, with 3 cents cheaper per kilowatt hour, which is nearly 700,000 yuan a year.

　　"Small hydropower itself does not draw water, which is a green project." Zheng Shuangwei, director of the county water conservancy bureau, said that the development of small hydropower will destroy the ecology, which is biased. After all, there are a few small hydropower problems. In fact, the negative impact of small hydropower can be minimized through technical means and management measures.

　　In the dry season of Qingyuan Power Station on the main stream of Taoxi River, the 7-kilometer-long reach is easy to dry up from the water intake to the water outlet of the power station. This is also a controversial dewatering section.

　　How to solve the problem of water reduction in river reach? In 2015, the power station was rebuilt, and 48 new drainage holes were added, from which gurgling water flowed into the river. "The measures are quite simple. With the drainage holes, the dry season will give priority to ecological protection. With a flow rate of 1 cubic meter per second, the river section will not be dehydrated." Lin Jingsheng, head of the power station, said.

　　During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, Fujian will ecologically transform 500 small hydropower stations. By 2030, all power stations that cause serious dehydration will implement ecological flow.

　　Then, will the small hydropower dam cut off the river? Will it compete with the people for water?

　　Zhejiang encourages the ecological transformation of small hydropower stations, installing ecological units, adding water outlets and building dams. The province subsidizes 35%, and the city and county subsidize some more. Fenghuang Hydropower Station in Anji County has transformed into "small hydropower+water supply". There is a power plant under the dam and a water plant on the dam, and an ecological small unit is added. Last year, the water supply alone reached 10 million cubic meters. With the ecological flow, the downstream delivery port will be smooth and clear all the year round.

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　　Small hydropower can not only generate electricity, but also has obvious comprehensive benefits such as flood control, irrigation and water supply. There are four reservoirs behind the 480 kW White Hydropower Station in Yongqiang District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The flood was put into the reservoir area and the fertile land was irrigated.

　　"Small hydropower itself is no problem. Through scientific planning and strict supervision, some negative effects can be minimized." Cheng Xialei, director of the International Small Hydropower Center, said that not only small hydropower, but also any human activity has an impact on the ecological environment, and wind power and photovoltaics are no exception. The key is how to weigh the pros and cons and how to transform.

　　According to the data of international research institutions, from the perspective of energy return rate, hydropower is 170— 280, while wind power is 18— 34, solar energy is 3— 6. Traditional thermal power is 2.5— 5.1。 According to the research of china environmental science Research Institute, the benefit of reducing PM2.5 emission by small hydropower is more than 1.5 times that of wind power and solar power generation. In other words, small hydropower generates a lot of electricity, but the energy required for its own construction and maintenance is very small.

　　Accurate poverty alleviation, small hydropower shoulders the heavy responsibility

　　At present, the development rate of small hydropower in China is 59.2%, which is lower than the level of about 80% in developed countries. In Switzerland and France, the development rate of small hydropower is as high as 97%.

　　Most of the undeveloped hydropower resources in China are concentrated in 832 poverty-stricken counties. To win the battle against poverty, we must not only let the poor people get rid of it, but also let them have a stable income and a way to get rich. But at present, the biggest difficulty in industrial assistance is that there are too few good projects. Small hydropower projects, however, have little investment risk and market impact, and can bring long-term stable income. Local development and nearby power supply will help the poor realize the function of "hematopoiesis".

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　　In 2016, the state allocated 300 million yuan from the central budget to carry out pilot projects of rural small hydropower poverty alleviation in six provinces and cities including Hunan, Shaanxi and Chongqing. According to the national regulations, after the completion of the poverty alleviation hydropower station, the poverty alleviation income funds will be paid to the county government where the project is located at a rate of not less than 6% of the central investment every year, which will be specially used to support the construction of local poor households and infrastructure.

　　The pilot project of rural small hydropower poverty alleviation in Shaanxi Province will be fully completed before the end of June, and the poor people will share the fruits of hydropower resources development. The four pilot projects in the province will provide no less than 3.4 million yuan of poverty alleviation income funds every year for poverty alleviation and improvement of local infrastructure.

　　Dongkou County and Xinhua County, Hunan Province, are located in the contiguous poverty-stricken areas of Wuling Mountain. Last year, the central government invested 10 million yuan and 29.8 million yuan respectively to build two poverty-relief power stations. Each year, the two power stations will allocate more than 2.4 million yuan as income funds for poverty alleviation, 80% of which will directly increase the income of poor households who have set up files, and 20% will be used for infrastructure construction in poor villages.

　　"Small hydropower has remarkable benefits in poverty alleviation, and I hope to increase policy support." Cheng Xialei suggested that the ecological electricity price mechanism is feasible, and an ecological compensation mechanism should be established as soon as possible in accordance with the principle of "whoever develops and protects, whoever benefits and compensates".

　　"It is worth noting that behind the restrictions on small hydropower, the installed capacity of coal-fired power is still expanding. In some places, water, wind and light are seriously abandoned. Only Sichuan and Yunnan provinces abandoned 80 billion kWh of water last year." Wang Yinan, a researcher at the Institute of Resources and Environmental Policy of the State Council Development Research Center, said that although the Renewable Energy Law clearly stipulates that hydropower is renewable energy, hydropower has not been able to enjoy the incentive policies for renewable energy such as wind power and solar energy for more than 10 years, and hydropower has been excluded from the full-guaranteed acquisition policy, which has hindered its consumption. At the national level, top-level design should be accelerated, local barriers should be broken, and hydropower should be included in the scope of full-guaranteed acquisition of renewable energy as soon as possible. (People’s Daily Central Kitchen Spicy Finance Studio Zhao Yongping)

Herd immunity： Why does herd immunity in English use herd？

This article is reproduced from "A Zewai English Notes" and has been authorized.
At the beginning of the spread of the epidemic in March 2020, the British Prime Minister put forward the proposal of "herd immunity", which made many people feel "refreshing". At that time, the successful development of the vaccine against COVID-19 was still far away, and the British Prime Minister could only imagine the HERD Immunization achieved through "infection of diseases". This proposal with low safety attracted a lot of criticism at that time.
Since the beginning of this year, with the listing of various vaccines, safer herd immunity has become an important means to fight the epidemic. Countries are encouraging people to vaccinate, and strive to reach the vaccination scale needed to realize herd immunity as soon as possible.
Herd immunity will effectively reduce the negative impact of the epidemic and protect people’s health; This statement itself also contains a remarkable feature of English in language and culture, as well as the great differences between English and Chinese.
Before explaining English knowledge, let’s first understand the principle of group immunity.
What’s with Herd immunity?
The definition of Herd immunity is roughly as follows:
Herd immunity is a phenomenon seen when a high percentage of individuals within a population have developed immunity to a pathogen.Group immunity is a phenomenon: in a certain population, a large proportion of people are immune to a certain pathogen (such as bacteria or viruses).
Because so many people within the community are unable to contract the disease or virus, this reduces the likelihood that those who have not developed immunity will contract the disease. Because most individuals in this population have acquired immunity, they will not be infected with related diseases or viruses; In this way, the possibility and risk of exposure to related diseases or viruses will be greatly reduced for those individuals who have not acquired immunity in the whole population.
There are two ways to obtain immunity from a virus or bacteria: infection or vaccination. Comparatively, vaccination is the safer, more effective path, as it provides immunity without illness.
There are two ways to get immunity from a virus or bacteria: one is to infect the disease, and the other is to vaccinate. In contrast, the method of vaccination is more effective and safer, and it will not cause illness while generating immunity.
Different expressions for "group"
In English, there are several other expressions of held immunity, including community immunity, population immunity and social immunity, but in newspapers and media, most articles use the wording of held immunity.
The original meaning of the word herd in English is not used for "people", but to describe "groups of animals".
In practical use, herd mainly refers to cattle, and sometimes also refers to deer or elephants, such as: A herd of cows/deer/elephants and so on.
Using herd to refer to people is strictly an extended metaphor. In addition to newspapers and magazines, people are often referred to in various fictional novels, and the language effect is herd vivid, such as:
She pushed her way through a herd of lunchtime drinkers.
She struggled through the crowd who were having lunch and drinking.
Two idioms
Although the description of "crowd" with herd is vivid and interesting, its meaning is not completely neutral, and it is somewhat disapproving or even critical. It is emphasized that when many people get together, they often lose the ability to think independently as individuals.
Herd mentality or herd instinct, which is often used in English, is usually described as "herd mentality" in Chinese, which means: like flocks of animals and livestock, they have no thinking ability, only know that follow the herd takes action with the whole group; What most other members of the group do, they follow suit.
There is an idiom to ride herd on sb/sth in American English, which is often used to describe crowds. This idiom comes from the plains of the western United States, which reminds people of the scene of cowboys riding horses and herding cattle on the grassland.
Although it originated in the countryside, to ride herd on sb/sth is mainly used in urban areas, which refers to crowd control, usually refers to unorganized crowds, such as:
The police rides herd on crowds of youths on the streets.
The police kept order in the street to prevent groups of young people from getting out of control.
Situation difference
This figurative use of herd to refer to the crowd mainly exists in newspaper articles and literary novels, and is also used in popular science books for the public.
However, in academic articles and official documents of various institutions and departments, most people deliberately avoid using Herd to describe people. For example, in academic and formal occasions, herd immunity is usually replaced by community immunity and population immunity.
Although this will reduce the vividness of the language, it can rule out the possibility of association and avoid being offended. Although it is vivid, it is more objective and accurate.
cultural difference
Different from English culture, many other languages and cultures are not used to using words specially used to describe animals to describe human beings, and even are very taboo about it. This is the case in Chinese, and an obvious example is a large number of insulting expressions in traditional Chinese that originated from "dogs".
This cultural difference between Chinese and English deserves special attention when learning and using English. When translating English-quoted media articles, it is especially important to realize that when "animals" are used to describe "people" in English, they are usually not insulting, and they are not intentionally offending others and calling them "animals, pigs and dogs are inferior".
Most of the time, Herd’s analogy of "animal" to "human" can be directly translated into plain language without rhetorical meaning.
Two more "groups"
Realizing the cultural differences between Chinese and English in animal metaphor can also help us to use English more vividly and effectively, and we will not be timid because of this "burden" of traditional Chinese rhetoric expression.
English words like herd, which use animals to describe "people", are very rich and constitute a systematic series.
For example, herd is suitable for cattle, deer, elephants and other large animals; The "flock" of smaller animals is called flock in English, which mainly refers to sheep.
In addition, flock can also refer to a flock of birds, such as the proverbial birds of a feather flock together, which often corresponds to the Chinese word "birds of a feather flock together". When describing insects, such as bees, it will be called swarm.
Like herd, flock and swarm are often used to describe people, which not only remind people of vivid images, but also have their own division of meaning and function, describing different characteristics and aspects of "group behavior" respectively. In English, these statements are usually not regarded as insulting or demeaning.
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Why is it that Beijing has not seen snow this winter for the first time since 1970？

　　　　Yesterday (2nd) at 3pm, in the consultation room of Beijing Meteorological Bureau, all kinds of cloud pictures and data were constantly switched on the big screen, and several analysts told their forecast views one by one before going on stage. Since the beginning of winter, except for two small-scale snowfalls in the outer suburbs in December 2008, almost no snow has fallen in Beijing, which makes the Spring Festival in 2009 less of a landscape and adds a little disappointment to people who are looking forward to the snowy scene.


　　　　Tomorrow is beginning of spring, and the Lantern Festival will be held in a few days. Will there be a "timely snow" coming to Beijing? Why is it difficult to snow in Beijing this winter? Our reporter interviewed Sun Jisong, the chief forecaster of Beijing Meteorological Bureau, to dispel doubts and doubts about snow.


　　Northwest airflow sings "one-man show"


　　Cause a winter without snow


　　　　Cloudy and sunny-the sky over Beijing is still calm. According to the forecast of Beijing Meteorological Observatory, the weather will be mainly sunny to cloudy this week, and the highest temperature will reach 10 degrees Celsius. Tomorrow will be beginning of spring, and in the more than 100 days since October 24th last year, there have been only two snowfalls in Yanqing in the north and Pinggu in the northeast-December 10th and 23rd, 2008. In the urban area of Beijing, there is still no effective snowfall. Only sporadic snowflakes appeared on December 10 last year, but they were fleeting and the precipitation was only 0.1 mm.


　　　　"This year’s situation is rare, but it is also normal." Sun Jisong, chief forecaster of Beijing Meteorological Observatory, said that historically, the winter precipitation in Beijing has not been large, and the precipitation from December to February of the following year is usually about 10 mm, so it cannot be said that there is no precipitation in winter. Tracing back to history, the last winter with almost no precipitation was in 1970. However, since October 24, 2008, there has been no precipitation in the urban area this winter, which is really rare.


　　　　A report in Sun Jisong’s hand shows that water shortage is not confined to Beijing. This winter, droughts occurred in Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and other places. According to media reports, the current drought has a wide range and a long duration, which is basically rare for many years.


　　　　"It should be said that there is no direct connection between no snow and warm winter." The computer in the consultation room shows that daily maximum temperature in some urban areas of Beijing has exceeded 10 degrees Celsius in the past two days. However, Sun Jisong said that in addition to cold air, the formation of snowfall must have water vapor transportation and appropriate ground temperature, and several factors are indispensable. However, there is no snow this winter, and the main reason is water shortage-the water vapor transportation has been "broken".


　　　　Sun Jisong introduced that from the perspective of Beijing, water vapor mainly comes from two channels. One is the water vapor brought by the southwest warm and humid airflow from the south of the Yangtze River, especially the snowfall, which often has the characteristics of large snowfall and long snowfall time, and often becomes the "main force" factor of snowfall in Beijing; The other source of water vapor is the water vapor brought by the easterly airflow from the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. However, due to its short transport length, its snowfall is characterized by a small amount of snow.


　　　　Since December last year, there have been four cold waves sweeping the city, but all of them are mainly cooled by strong winds. "This winter, the northwest wind is mainly prevalent in Beijing, which is not conducive to the transportation of these two streams of water vapor. However, the easterly wind or southwest wind formed occasionally through the change of atmospheric circulation has basically not formed this year, so the water vapor transportation has basically been broken. " Sun Jisong said that the Chibi-style "sudden change of the wind and cloud" is pitiful, and it has not been encountered once this winter, which can be said to be "reasonable and unexpected".


　　　　Investigate and dispel doubts


　　Four conjectures about "No Snow"


　　　　Conjecture 1


　　Is it possible to snow on the fifteenth day of the first month?


　　　　On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year’s Eve, in a ski resort in Mentougou, Mona Lee skated with several friends. The only thing that made him regret was that the mountains beside the ski resort were bare. "I can’t even take a picture of Zhang Xuejing. There is no snow outside the slide. It is artificial at first glance."


　　　　In many people’s minds, snow and Chinese New Year are inseparable. If there are no snowflakes, the taste of the year will be much less. In the snow-free winter, can we make up for everyone’s regrets at the Lantern Festival? Sun Jisong, chief forecaster of Beijing Meteorological Observatory, said that such a wish may be difficult to realize. From the analysis of the current data, it is unlikely that it will snow in the next ten days or so, that is, during the Lantern Festival.


　　　　"But we can’t say that there is no hope at all." Sun Jisong said that due to the rapid change of atmospheric circulation, there may be changes, but from the whole circulation background, it is difficult for water vapor in the south to reach Beijing. There may be a small amount of precipitation in central and southern Hebei and southwestern Shanxi. "But if snowfall wants to come to Beijing, I am afraid it is still difficult to achieve."


　　　　Conjecture 2


　　"Sequela" of Meteorological Intervention?


　　　　"More than a thousand rockets were fired at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games to eliminate the rain. It won’t eliminate all the rain in a year, will it?" Some netizens questioned whether large-scale artificial intervention in the weather would have a "sequela" to the overall climate. For such a question, Sun Jisong said that in the face of nature, the intervention that human beings can do is extremely small and it is impossible to have an impact on long-term climate change. "In fact, every time it rains, we basically carry out precipitation enhancement operations." Sun Jisong said that due to the long-term drought in the northern region, basically every precipitation process throughout the year, the relevant departments will carry out precipitation enhancement operations, and the snowfall process is no exception. If there is snow, artificial "snow increase" measures will be taken. According to media reports, from February 1 ST to February 2 nd, the weather modification department of Luoyang City, Henan Province seized the opportunity of weak cold air crossing the border and successfully implemented artificial precipitation enhancement. "But only when there is water in the sky can we make it fall to the ground as much as possible."


　　　　Guess 3


　　Is the Three Gorges Project the Source of Extreme Weather?


　　　　In recent years, the term "extreme weather" has appeared more and more in public, and the coincidence of these extreme weather occurrences and the completion time of the Three Gorges Dam also makes many people suspect that the Three Gorges Dam is the source of extreme weather.


　　　　"The problem of the Three Gorges is a cliche, but from a scientific point of view, the statement that the Three Gorges caused extreme weather is unfounded." Climate change often involves thousands of kilometers in Fiona Fang. Compared with this climate background, Sun Jisong described the Three Gorges as a small "puddle", and it is difficult to have any impact on the overall climate if there is such a puddle.


　　　　"At present, most climatologists believe that global warming will cause an increase in extreme weather." With global warming, the frequency of extreme weather is increasing, but how global warming affects the appearance of extreme weather and what is the inevitable relationship between them is still an unsolved mystery.


　　　　Guess 4


　　Beijing this summer


　　Will there be a drought?


　　　　Is there a scientific truth behind the poetic folk proverbs, such as "Yun Zheyue on August 15th, the lights on the fifteenth day of the first month when it snows" and "It doesn’t snow when it’s cold, and the fields crack when it’s summer"?


　　　　"Folk proverbs are more similar to statistical induction, and some of them have some truth," Sun Jisong said. The predictions in folk proverbs are not necessarily correct, and winter drought does not mean that summer drought will continue. "The weather on a certain day is not necessarily related to the weather on a certain day in a few months."


　　　　"However, the lack of snowfall will increase the possibility of pests and diseases, which will have a negative impact on the growth of overwintering crops. From this perspective, it will indeed have a certain impact on agriculture if it does not snow in winter." Snow-free winter not only has less flavor, but also lack of snow can cause many problems. In an interview with the media, Pan Jiahua, director of the Urban Development and Environment Research Center of China Academy of Social Sciences, said that precipitation will make the living environment worse and seriously restrict social production. "Although warming in winter can shorten the heating time and reduce related expenses, its disadvantages still outweigh its advantages."


　　Investigation reminder


　　Watch out for colds when it’s dry and snowy.


　　　　During the Spring Festival, Dr. He, who works in a community hospital, was busy. Due to the dry air, the number of patients with sudden respiratory diseases suddenly increased during the Spring Festival. Every day, the hospital received dozens of patients who had infusion bottles, and the top three hospitals were crowded. Experts said that due to the low air humidity, some viruses are easy to reproduce and easily lead to a series of diseases. During the Spring Festival in Beijing Children’s Hospital, an average of nearly 5000 children came to see a doctor every day. On the first normal outpatient day after the festival, more than 4,000 outpatient visits were made in the morning alone. Among them, children with respiratory tract infection are the most.


　　　　"It doesn’t snow, which is very bad for human health." Doctors at Chaoyang Hospital in Beijing said that because of the dry air, people are prone to chapped lips, bleeding nostrils and itchy throat. When the air humidity is lower than 40%, the respiratory mucosa of the nose and lungs will be dehydrated and the elasticity will be reduced, making dust, bacteria, etc. easily attached to the mucosa, stimulating the throat and causing cough.


　　　　However, the spread of cold will be accelerated because of the accelerated reproduction of influenza virus in dry environment and its survival on floating dust. However, due to the failure of "wet deposition", urban air pollution will be serious and respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia will be easily caused.


　　　　"The way to prevent diseases is a cliche, but many people always pay no attention." Experts say that opening windows regularly to ventilate and maintain indoor humidity will help prevent diseases. At the same time, we should try to avoid going to crowded areas. People with respiratory diseases should wear masks when going out.


　　　　Reporter Wu Nan

Editor: Gao Song