The U.S. will ship more liquefied natural gas to Europe starting next winter

The U.S. will ship more liquefied natural gas to Europe starting next winter

　　Transcript¹

　　NPR's A Martinez talks to Jeffrey Colgan, director of Brown University's Climate Solutions Lab, about how the United States plans to help Europe diminish its reliance on Russian natural gas.

　　A MARTINEZ, HOST:

　　Europe is looking to wean itself off of Russian natural gas, and President Biden wants to help by shipping² more liquefied natural gas across the ocean. About 40% of the natural gas that Europe imports comes from Russia. And under a deal announced last Friday, the U.S. would start boosting supplies to Europe by next winter. For more, we're joined by Jeff Colgan, the Richard Holbrooke associate professor of political science at Brown University and director of the Climate Solutions Lab there. Jeff, welcome to the show.

　　JEFF HOLGAN: Thanks so much for having me on.

　　MARTINEZ: All right. So the U.S. will be shipping liquefied natural gas to Europe. President Biden described the agreement as groundbreaking. Is it groundbreaking?

　　HOLGAN: Well, it's nice to have, but the amount that we're talking about for this coming year is only about 10% of the amount that Europe normally imports from Russia on a given year.

　　MARTINEZ: OK. Then the target is actually 50 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas per year from the U.S. and others. How realistic is that goal?

　　HOLGAN: Well, already, American industry has started to note that this is something you can't just do overnight. You can't just turn on the taps. And there are real supply constraints³ for increasing the amount of natural gas that the United States can export. Typically, the LNG terminals that export the natural gas run at close to full capacity, and increasing it beyond that is not so easy to do.

　　MARTINEZ: If Europe were able to completely replace its supply of Russian gas with gas from other sources, how much more effective could that be than the sanctions that have been imposed?

　　HOLGAN: Well, there is a real sense in which Europe is paying for both sides of the war in Ukraine. And that's because they have a remarkable⁴ fossil fuel dependence⁵, not just on natural gas but on oil. They are importing huge amounts from Russia and paying millions and millions of dollars every day for that oil and gas. The oil in particular is really profitable for Russia, and they only need a break even price of about $42 a barrel to pump oil. And so right now, with oil prices above $100 a barrel, Russia is making enormous amounts of money, even if they face sanctions, even if they have to sell that oil or the natural gas at a discount to what they would normally do.

　　MARTINEZ: So even if they had nowhere else to sell it to, the effects of that, we wouldn't even know about that for a while.

　　HOLGAN: That's right. And so getting Europe off of natural gas and on to a cleaner energy source is really important, not only for, you know, helping⁶ restrict Putin's regime but also, of course, for climate change.

　　MARTINEZ: Now, Europe has been working on alternatives, including renewable energy. What are some of the options on the table right now?

　　HOLGAN: Well, they're trying to ramp⁷ up electricity sources from everything except natural gas to reduce that dependence. And, of course, the best option is to increase solar and wind, and that's going to take some time. But they will change their regulatory environment right now to try to increase the speed at which they transition to renewables. And in the short term, they're also going to increase coal and nuclear by delaying the decommissioning of nuclear plants.

　　MARTINEZ: I know that liquefied natural gas plants in the U.S. are producing at full capacity right now. But given the current production and export capacity, how clear is it to you that the U.S. will be able to manage doing these shipments to Europe at some point?

　　HOLGAN: Well, in the long run, the U.S. industry loves this news and loves, in particular, the idea that the increase in natural gas exports might rise to 50 billion cubic meters over the next few years. But in the short term, there are real constraints on how much they can do this because, as I said, they're already running close to full capacity.

　　MARTINEZ: And of course, all of this takes a long time - we mentioned that - and costs a lot of money. So how much will this impact Europe in the long term, you think?

　　HOLGAN: In the - the immediate⁸ concern right now for Europe is the possibility that Russia will turn off the taps for next winter, right? That's the point at which Europe needs the natural gas most pressingly. And they could end up in a situation where they have to choose whether to run their industry or to heat people's homes. And that, of course, is politically a real disaster. You don't want people freezing in their homes in the winter.

　　MARTINEZ: That's Jeff Colgan, director of the Brown University Climate Solutions Lab. Jeff, thanks.

　　HOLGAN: Thanks so much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

5 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。