1、:Thegasismainlymethane.天然氣的主要成分是甲烷，VOA20091023外交部翻譯口譯筆記Manypeoplethinkthesearchforcleanerenergyleadsonlytorenewableresourceslikesun,windandwater.許多人認(rèn)為尋找更清潔能源僅限于開(kāi)采太陽(yáng)，風(fēng)和水等能源。Butitalsoleadstoafossilfuel.但是，還有一種，礦物燃料。Naturalgasisconsideredthecleanestofthefossilfuels,thefuelscreatedbyplantandanimalremain

2、sovermillionsofyears.天然氣被認(rèn)為最清潔的礦物燃料。礦物燃料由植物或動(dòng)物遺體經(jīng)過(guò)數(shù)百萬(wàn)年轉(zhuǎn)化而來(lái)。Burningitreleasesfewerpollutantsthanoilorcoal.燃燒天然氣釋放的污染物少于石油或煤炭。Itproduceshalfthecarbondioxideofotherfossilfuels.它釋放出的二氧化碳?xì)怏w是其他礦物燃料的一半。Soitmayhelpcuttheproductionofcarbongaseslinkedtoclimatechange.所以，天然氣也能幫助減少與氣候變化有關(guān)的二氧化碳排放量。Russiaisfirstin

3、whatarecalledprovedreservesofnaturalgas.俄羅斯是首個(gè)擁有天然氣“探明儲(chǔ)備”的國(guó)家，TheUnitedStatesissixth.美國(guó)是第六個(gè)。Overtheyears,bigoilandgascompaniesrecoveredmuchoftheeasilyreachedsuppliesofgasinAmerica.幾年來(lái)，大型石油和天然氣公司已經(jīng)開(kāi)采了美國(guó)比較容易獲得的天然氣儲(chǔ)備。Theydrilledstraightdownintoformationswheregascollects.他們直接在地上鉆井，到達(dá)天然氣儲(chǔ)備區(qū)。Asthesesupplie

4、swereusedup,bigdrillerslookedforsimilarformationsinothercountries.這些儲(chǔ)備被開(kāi)采完之后，大型開(kāi)采公司又到其他國(guó)家尋找類似的儲(chǔ)備。Butnowtheindustryistakinganewlook.但是，該行業(yè)出現(xiàn)了一番新的景象。Companiesaredevelopinggassuppliestrappedinshalerocktwotothreethousandmetersunderground.天然氣公司開(kāi)始開(kāi)采處于地下2000至3000米的頁(yè)巖中的天然氣儲(chǔ)備。Theydrilldowntotheshale,thengosi

5、dewaysandinjecthigh-pressurewater,sandorothermaterialintotherock.他們鉆孔一直鉆到頁(yè)巖，然后從旁邊向巖石中注入高壓的水,沙子和其他材料。Thiscausestherocktobreak,orfracture,releasingthegas.這樣會(huì)導(dǎo)致巖石斷裂或破碎，然后釋放出氣體。HugefieldsofgasshalearebelievedtolieundertheAppalachianMountains,Michiganandthesouth-centralstates.據(jù)稱，在阿巴拉契亞山脈，密歇根和中南部各州地下蘊(yùn)藏著大范

6、圍的天然氣頁(yè)巖。Gasshaleexplorationisbeingdonemainlybysmalltomediumsizedcompanies.頁(yè)巖天然氣的勘測(cè)工作主要由小型或中等規(guī)模的公司進(jìn)行。EricPotterisaprogramdirectorintheBureauofEconomicGeologyattheUniversityofTexasatAustinEricPotter是得克薩斯大學(xué)奧斯汀分校州經(jīng)濟(jì)地質(zhì)局的項(xiàng)目主任。ERICPOTTER:ThetypesofopportunitiesthatareleftfornaturalgasexplorationintheU.S.ha

7、vechanged.EricPotter：“美國(guó)天然氣勘測(cè)的可能方式已經(jīng)發(fā)生改變。Soitsadifferentclassofresource所以這是不同級(jí)別的資源-notaseasytodevelop,andnotevenrecognizedassomethingworthpursuing,say,twentyyearsago.不是那么容易開(kāi)采，甚至，20年前還被認(rèn)為是不值得開(kāi)采的資源?！盚esaysmorethanhalfthegasintheUnitedStatesisnowcomingfromthesenewreserves.他說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在美國(guó)超過(guò)一半的天然氣來(lái)自這種新的儲(chǔ)備。Buthyd

8、raulicfracturingcanalsoproducedebateandangerovertheriskofgroundwaterpollution2!屮一7ThismethodofdrillingisnotfederallysupervisedundertheSafeDrinkingWaterAct.這種開(kāi)采方法并未受到安全飲用水法的監(jiān)測(cè)。SomeinCongresswanttoendthatexemptionfromthelaw.一些國(guó)會(huì)成員希望終止這種勘測(cè)方法的法律豁免權(quán)。NaturalgasprovidesAmericanswithaboutone-fourthoftheirenergy.天然氣為美國(guó)人提供了大約四分之一的能源。And,unlikeoil,mostofitisproducedinAmerica.與石油不同，大部分天然氣由美國(guó)國(guó)內(nèi)生產(chǎn)。Gasproducersinvestedheavilyinreachingnewsupplieswhenpriceswerehigh.價(jià)格升高時(shí)，天然氣生產(chǎn)商就會(huì)加大投資，開(kāi)發(fā)新的儲(chǔ)備。但是水力破碎也會(huì)造成人們對(duì)地下水污染風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的爭(zhēng)辯和憤怒。Butpricesaredownsharplynowbecausetherecessioncutdemandforenergy.但是現(xiàn)在，由于經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退使能源需求減少，