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  3. The clean-energy business is turning into the next big investment boom, in which risks are lightly ignored. Until recently, reca

The clean-energy business is turning into the next big investment boom, in which risks are lightly ignored. Until recently, reca

admin2021-09-17  30
问题     The clean-energy business is turning into the next big investment boom, in which risks are lightly ignored. Until recently, recalls Charlie Gay, a 30-year veteran of the solar-power business, venture capitalists were far too busy catering to captains of the information-technology industry to waste time on "hippy-dippy tree-huggers" like himself. But now the tree-huggers are in the ascendant and the IT barons are busy investing in clean-energy technology.
    Investors are falling over themselves to finance start-ups in clean technology, especially in energy. Venture Business Research reckons that investment in the field by venture capitalists and private-equity firms has quadrupled in the past two years, from some $500m in 2004 to almost $2 billion so far this year. The share of venture capital going into clean energy is rising rapidly.
    Clean-energy fever is being fuelled by three things: high oil prices, fears over energy security and a growing concern about global warming. The provision of energy, the industry’s cheerleaders say, will change radically over the coming decades. Polluting coal- and gas-fired power stations will give way to cleaner alternatives such as solar and wind; fuels derived from plants and waste will replace petrol and diesel; and small, local forms of electricity generation will replace big power stations feeding far-flung grids. Eventually, it is hoped, fuel cells running on hydrogen will take the place of the internal combustion engine which is available everywhere. It is a bold vision, but if it happens very slowly, or only to a limited extent, boosters argue that it will still prompt tremendous growth for firms in the business.
    Analysts confidently predict the clean-energy business will grow by 20-30% a year for a decade. Jef-feries, an investment bank that organized a recent conference on the industry in London, asked participants how soon solar power would become competitive with old-fashioned generation technologies: in 2010, 2015 or 2020. About three-quarters of those present, one visitor happily observed, were "cheque-writers". This "megatrend", the keynote speaker advocated, "may be the biggest job- and wealth-creation opportunity of the 21st century."
    Such exaggeration might remind people of dotcom bubble. But clean-energy advocates insist growth is sustainable because of the likes of Mr. Schwarzenegger. The Governor is a hero in green circles because of his enthusiasm for environmental regulation. He easily won re-election partly because he seized on global warming as a concern and signed into law—America’s first wide-ranging scheme to cap greenhouse-gas emissions.
The word "cheque-writers" (Lines 4-5, Paragraph 4) is closest in meaning to
选项 A、tycoons.
B、donators.
C、investors.
D、celebrities.
答案C
解析 第四段提到这次大会是投资银行组织的关于清洁能源的讨论会，因此可推知与会者是投资者，故选C项。
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