1.媒体来源:
联合新闻网
2.完整新闻标题/内文:
Dutch Earthquakes Unsettle a European Energy Source
LOPPERSUM, the Netherlands — Europe’s largest source of natural gas, known
as the Groningen gas field , has long powered the economy of the Netherlands
and has been a reliable supply of gas for Northern Europe.
But a half-century of extraction has reduced the field’s natural pressure ,
and seismic shifts from geological settling have set off increasingly
frequent earthquakes — more than 120 last year, and at least 40 this year.
Though most of the tremors have been small, and resulted in no reported
deaths or serious injuries, they have caused widespread damage to buildings,
endangered nearby dikes and angered residents.
Now the Dutch government is demanding that the field’s operator, a joint
venture of Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil, curtail production, making the
Groningen field much more than a local worry. The field accounts for about
one-third of the natural gas produced in the European Union. Any reduction in
output might be especially hard for the European economy to bear now that
tension in Ukraine is making the receipt of gas from Russia uncertain and
Moscow is pivoting its energy attention toward China.
People living atop the Groningen field are trying to cope with the
on-the-ground consequences. Nienke Pastoor and her husband, Jaap, spent years
restoring a 110-year-old farmhouse. But an earthquake in 2012 left cracks in
the walls and inflicted more serious structural damage to the home of Mr.
Pastoor’s parents across the road, causing them to suspend plans to swap
homes to be closer to their farmland. “I have four children,” Mrs. Pastoor
said. “If they go to sleep and it starts to shake, what is going to happen?”
The geological problems posed even by the traditional drilling techniques
used here could provide fodder for critics of hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, which is being used elsewhere to extract gas from shale rock and
has caused quakes in Britain.
As part of a three-year test, the Dutch government has ordered the joint
venture that operates the Groningen field, Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij,
or NAM, to cut production by about 20 percent from last year’s level. It has
also demanded other corrective measures, including reinvesting some profits
into the local economy.
About 150,000 people live above the field, which occupies about 900 square
kilometers. The field contributes as much as 12 billion euros, or $16.4
billion, to the national government each year, or more than 4 percent of its
revenue. Shell and Exxon are thought to split around ?1 billion a year in
earnings from the field.
Jan Willem Jacobs, NAM’s project director for the field, said the company
accepted responsibility for the earthquakes and for fixing the damage they
caused.
Many residents remain skeptical that anything will change .
“NAM has spoiled trust over the last 20 to 30 years, ” said Jacques
Wallage, a former member of the Dutch cabinet and a former mayor of Groningen
.
For much of Groningen’s first 50 years, the field was so prolific that it
required little additional drilling after the initial development.
The 20 or so production centers scattered about the countryside quietly did
their work , sending gas into the national pipeline network and points
beyond. Then came the earthquakes, beginning in the early 1990s, with
increasing frequency and intensity.
In August 2012, a quake with a magnitude of 3.6, the largest so far,
frightened residents and caused widespread damage .
“At that time, the region awoke to the real danger for this area,” said
Albert Rodenboog, the mayor of Loppersum, who has helped coordinate efforts
urging the government and NAM to take action.
The gas is trapped in porous sandstone deep beneath the ground. When the fuel
flows to the surface, the rock contracts like a squeezed sponge.
In some places in the Groningen area, this contraction has caused the surface
of what is already a low-lying area drained by numerous canals to sink as
much as 35 centimeters. NAM has invested heavily in new water pumping
stations .
NAM ’s new production ceiling, at 42.5 billion cubic meters, would still be
higher than the 38 billion cubic meters a year that Russia recently agreed to
supply to China.
T he Dutch government also is placing Groningen’s most accessible gas
further out of reach. It has ordered the company to sharply curtail
production at five sites in the Loppersum area, the epicenter of the quakes.
The company and various authorities have also agreed on a five-year, ?1.2
billion package to repair and reinforce homes and other buildings that have
sustained damage.
The test is one that many say Groningen cannot afford to fail.
“If there is one casualty, everything is different here,” said Daniella
Blanken of the citizens group Groninger Bodem Beweging, or Groningen Earth
Movement. “One casualty is going to put the region on fire.”
中译
格洛宁根天然气田是欧洲最大的天然气产地，多年来一直提供驱动荷兰经济的能源，而且
稳定供应北欧。
然而长达半世纪的开采已使它的天然压力下降，地质沉淀产生的地震变化导致地震更频繁
，去年超过120次，今年至少已有40次。虽然多数地震规模不大，亦未闻有人死亡或重伤
，却使建筑物广泛受损，同时危及附近的堤防，引起居民强烈不满。
荷兰政府已经要求负责经营的皇家荷兰壳牌与埃克森美孚石油公司合资企业减产。这导致
格洛宁根天然气田不只引起当地人的忧虑。它的天然气产量约占欧盟的1/3。在乌克兰的
紧张局势造成俄国天然气供应不确定，俄国并将能源供应焦点转向中国大陆之际，减产可
能对欧洲经济造成尤其严重的冲击。
住在格洛宁根天然气田上的民众正在设法应付地面所受影响。
妮安姬‧帕斯托与丈夫杰普以数年时间整修一栋已有110年历史的农舍，然而2012年的一
次地震使农舍的墙壁出现裂痕，同时使帕斯托父母在对街的住处受到严重的结构性破坏，
迫使他们暂缓互换房屋以便更接近自家农地的计画。
妮安姬说：“我有四个孩子。如果他们睡觉时发生地震，会怎么样？”
传统开采技术在这里造成地质问题，可能使水裂开采法的批评者更有反对的理由。有些其
他地区以水裂法开采页岩
的天然气，曾在英国引起地震。
荷兰政府推出三年实验计画，要求经营格洛宁根天然气田的NAM公司将今年的产量降至去
年的4/5，同时采取多项补救措施，包括将部分利润转投资于当地经济。大约15万人住在
这片约900平方公里的天然气田上。
天然气田每年为荷兰政府带来120亿欧元（约164亿美元）的收入，占岁入的4%以上。估计
壳牌与埃克森公司每年可平分10亿美元利润。
NAM的格洛宁根天然气田计画经理雅各斯说，该公司承担地震的责任与损害修补的开销。
不过许多居民还是认为，现状不太可能改变。曾经入阁并担任过格洛宁根市长的华勒吉说
：“过去二、三十年间，NAM糟蹋了人们对它的信任。”
在格洛宁根天然气田运作前50年的许多岁月，蕴藏量大到在最初开发规模外，几乎不需再
做额外钻采。约20个生产中心散布于乡间，静静运作，把天然气源源送到全国的管线系统
与国外。
后来，在1990年代初地震出现了。越来越多，也越来越大。2012年8月，一场至今最大的
芮氏规模3.6地震吓坏当地居民，同时造成广泛损坏。
洛普桑市长罗登柏格曾经协调民众督促荷兰政府与NAM公司采取行动。他说：“当时，整
个区域惊觉本地区面临的真实威胁。”
天然气锁在地底深处的多孔沙岩内。天然气流到地面时，岩石有如受到挤压的海绵般收缩
。
在格洛宁根地区的部分地方，这种收缩导致原已因为许多运河吸水而形成的低海拔地带下
沉，最多达35公分。NAM挹注重资兴建新的抽水站。
NAM的生产上限已降为每年425亿立方公尺，但仍高于俄国最近同意供应中国大陆的380亿
立方公尺。
荷兰政府正在使格洛宁根最容易取得的天然气更难以取得，要求在地震震央洛普桑地区的
五个地点大幅减产。
该公司与各有关当局已决定以五年时间投入12亿欧元，整修并强化在地震中受损的民宅与
其他建筑。
许多人表示，格洛宁根非通过这个考验不可，否则后果不堪设想。
公民团体“格洛宁根地球运动”的布兰肯说：“只要有一人死伤，一切就会完全不同。一
人死伤就会使整个区域变成一片火海。”
3.新闻连结:
http://ppt.cc/dn3Q
4.备注:
看完这新闻
真的觉得世界上的天然气
真的在用完前就会发生灾难
但是钱也很重要
真的在钱跟灾难之间的平衡
要怎么取舍
真的是一件很重大的事