[2011.11.26] Shale gas Frack on 路漫漫其修远兮

[2011.11.26] Shale gas: Frack on 路漫漫其修远兮Shale gas页岩气Frack on路漫漫其修远兮People should worry less about fracking, and more about carbon还是少担心压裂，多担心碳排放吧Nov 26th 2011 | from the print editionAT A recent shindig in London of the shale-gas industry, energy firms gave a rosy view of the fuel’s prospects in Europe. Like America, Europe has vast beds of shale rock, in which innumerable bubbles of natural gas are trapped. By cannoning water, sand and chemicals at them, a process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, the bubbles can be released. This, the firms said, could bring Europe the same bonanza of cheap gas and new jobs in the industry that America is now enjoying (see article). It would also lessen Europe’s irksome dependence on Russian gas.Outside the venue, meanwhile, protesters chanted, “Flaming water from our tap, we don’t want this fracking crap.” They referred to fears that fracking can cause contamination of aquifers by the methane and naturally occurring radioactive material it displaces, or by the chemicals it uses. Another worry is that fracking may cause earthquakes. A recent Britishstudy suggested that 50 tiny quakes in Lancashire were the result of fracking nearby.在最近伦敦举办的一次页岩气产业大会上，能源公司们对于此种燃料的发展前景颇为乐观。

跟美国一样，欧洲有着丰富的页岩矿床，蕴含着丰富的天然气。

通过注入高压水，沙砾和化学物质可以释放出气体，这一过程被称作水力压裂或“压裂”技术。

这些能源公司称，页岩气开采可以使欧洲拥有优惠天然气价格以及带来更多的就业岗位，就如现在的情况一样（见后文）。

这同时亦能改善令欧洲讨厌的对俄国天然气依赖情况。

可会场之外则又是一个情况了，抗议者大喊“ 压裂是从我们水龙头上抢水，我们才不理这种狗屁东西”。

抗议者们担心水力压裂过程会导致地层中的甲烷和既存的放射性物质，或者使用的化学物质污染地下水。

还有一种担忧是压裂会引起地震。

一项英国的研究表明兰开夏郡50次微震是由附近的压裂导致的。

Such issues have been raised in America, too, but energy firms there have been able to ignore them because they are exempt from many environmental rules. An intervention in 2005 by Dick Cheney, then vice-president, wrested an armful of exemptions specifically for fracking. That has helped the industry grow spectacularly. In 2000 shale beds provided 1% of America’s natural-gas supply; they now produce around 25%. But it has also allowed reckless American frackers to do environmental damage. Some are alleged to have pumped toxic chemicals into the ground with impunity.这类问题也在美国被提出过，但能源公司们由于不受多项环境法制约，致使他们已经可以忽略这一问题了。

2005年美国副总统迪克・切尼的一项干预政策使得压裂这一技术获得了多项责任免除。

该举措促使这一领域迅速发展。

在2000年，页岩气供应量占了美国天然气供给量的1%，截至目前这一比例已跃至25%左右。

但同时这也让不负责任的开采商们可以破环境。

据说有些开发商甚至向地下注入有毒的化学物质，但却不会受到相应的惩罚。

In Europe, where environmentalists are stronger, energy companies have a tougher time. In response to anti-fracking protests, France has slapped a moratorium on the practice; in Britain, activists for Frack Off, a pressure group, have shut down drill sites.在欧洲——这块环保主义强烈的土地上，能源公司的日子就没那么好了。

作为对反压裂抗议活动的回应，法国直接禁止页岩气开采；在英国，反压裂积极分子——一压力集团，已经关闭了钻井点。

Reasons to worry, and not to担心和无需担心的理由Environmentalists are probably worrying too much about the immediate consequences of fracking. The technique has been in regular use in the conventional oil and gas industry since the 1940s; and in all that time no aquifer is known to have been contaminated by fracking. Fluids used in fracking and methane regurgitated from gas-wells may occasionally have got into groundwater: an energy company in Pennsylvania has been forced to deliver clean water to householders because of this. But that risk could be greatly reduced by tighter regulation, leading to better industry practice: it is not an argument for banning the procedure altogether.环保主义者或许对于压裂的直接后果过于担忧了。

这项开采技术其实自19世纪40年代就正式应用于常规能源开采如石油和天然气工业。

那时候就没有听说压裂技术会污染地下水。

压裂使用的液体和来自井中的甲烷都可能会偶尔渗入地下水中。

一家宾夕法尼亚州的能源公司就因此需要向当地的家庭提供净水。

但可以通过严格的立法来降低这一风险，树立更好的行业规范：这不是一场禁止所有程序的争论。

It does appear that fracking can cause earthquakes. But so can geothermal energy production and other parts of the oil and gas production process. Wherever fluids are injected into deep wells, that is a risk. It warrants strict regulation and further study. It is not, however, a reason to shut down a promising industry.似乎有迹象表明压裂可以导致地震，但地热能的采集以及其他部分如石油和天然气的采集过程也不例外。

哪里有液体注入深井，风险随之而生。

这应该保证产业走向更严格的管制和进一步的研究，但这不能作为抛弃这一朝阳产业的理由。

But the industry’s promise should not obscure its dan gers, especially when it comes to the fuel it provides. Energy firms often call gas a clean fuel: burning it releases roughly half as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as burning coal does. So if gas-fired power stations are built instead of coal-fired ones, the cheap gas bonanza will help control global warming. Unfortunately, though, they probably will not be. Few new coal-fired power stations are planned in America or Europe anyway. And China, which also has lots of unexploited shale gas, has few scruples about burning cheap coal. Either way, gas-fired power stations are more likely to substitute for solar panels, wind turbines and nuclear power stations.然而产业的前景不应当掩盖他的各种危险，特别是当提到它所提供的能源时，能源公司通常称天然气是清洁能源：燃烧天然气所排放到大气的二氧化碳和煤炭相比只有后者的二分之一。