美国国家公共电台 NPR--Soaring energy prices multiply the challenges for Ukraine's allies in Europe

Soaring energy prices multiply the challenges for Ukraine's allies in Europe

Transcript¹

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, about Europe's push to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The European Union is determined² to end its reliance on Russian oil and gas. This week, EU members agreed to ban most Russian oil imports to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine. But soaring energy prices compounded the challenges for Ukraine's allies in Europe. To learn more, we turn to Ben Cahill. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Ben, good morning.

BEN CAHILL: Good morning.

MARTIN: Europe has depended on Russia for 27% of its imported oil. How can the EU offset³ that loss?

CAHILL: Well, it is a lot of oil to displace. I think what we've seen in recent months is that the European Union has started to import more oil from the United States, from West Africa, from North Africa. So there's a big reordering of crude flows around the world with oil from different sources flowing into Europe and with Russia trying to sell as much as it can to India and China and other markets in Asia.

MARTIN: There's a reason Europe gets, you know, more than a quarter of its oil from Russia. The proximity⁴ makes it easier to do that. So is Europe going to have to pay more ultimately?

CAHILL: Well, we have to remember that a lot of countries are connected to Russia by pipeline⁵. So if you look at European imports from Russia as a whole, about two-thirds of it is seaborne imports that comes from tankers⁷, and about a third of it is coming from the Druzhba pipeline system, which is the main pipeline from Russia throughout Europe. There's a southern arm and a northern arm. And what we've seen in recent months is that the countries that are really dependent on pipeline imports from Russia, like Hungary and Slovakia and the Czech Republic, they've been much more reluctant to move forward with these sanctions because it's really hard for them to find options. You know, if you are a landlocked refinery⁸, you don't have access to the coast and you can't easily get, you know, alternative oil by tanker⁶, it's much more difficult for you to adjust. And I think that's why the process of passing the sanctions package in Europe has proven to be so difficult.

MARTIN: It's not just oil. EU plans to reduce Russian gas imports by two-thirds this year as well. What alternatives are available for them there?

CAHILL: Well, actually, the EU is moving much more cautiously on natural gas imports. And I think the reason is that a lot of countries depend on pipeline imports from Russia, and there, there really are no easy alternatives. Europe has passed something called the REPowerEU plan, which is basically an emergency plan to reduce dependence⁹ on imported fossil fuels in general and imports from Russia as quickly as possible. But this is really not something they can do within a year. It's more like a five-year plan, and there are multiple legs to that plan. Part of it is about energy conservation, using natural gas more efficiently¹⁰, trying to use different sources for buildings, conservation, just using less energy.

MARTIN: Yeah.

CAHILL: But a lot of it is about finding alternative gas supplies, and that mostly means LNG from the United States, pipeline supplies from elsewhere in Europe, really whatever sources they can find. But, again, this is not really something you can do in a year because the volumes are just so big.

MARTIN: Right. I heard you nod to, you know, Europe's priorities for accelerating the rollout of greener energy resources. But what is the impact of this war and the need to develop alternatives? What's that going to do to the investments in greener energy?

CAHILL: I think there's a really strong conviction in Europe to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Deploying¹¹ renewable energy, like wind and solar, is a huge priority, and Europe is pushing ahead as fast as it possibly can. It's making some important policy moves. But, again, I see this as kind of a medium-term, five-year plan, not something that can be resolved within 12 months.

MARTIN: Ben Cahill is a senior fellow with the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

CAHILL: Thank you.

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 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

4 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

5 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

6 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

7 tankers   

运送大量液体或气体的轮船[卡车]( tanker的名词复数 )； 油轮； 罐车； 油槽车

参考例句：

• They should stop offloading waste from oil tankers into the sea. 他们应当停止从油轮上往海里倾倒废弃物。
• The harbour admits large tankers and freighters. 这个港口容得下巨型油船和货轮。

8 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

9 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。

10 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

11 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。