VOA常速英语2007年-Huge US Reserves of Oil Shale Hold Promise, But

By Greg Flakus
Piceance Basin, Colorado
12 November 2007

As the price of oil soars on world markets and demand for energy grows, energy companies are looking at so-called unconventional sources such as Canada's oil sands and the vast deposits of oil shale¹ in the Rocky Mountain states. Geologists² say half of the world's known oil shale lies deep underground in western Colorado, eastern Utah and southern Wyoming, amounting to more than one trillion barrels of potential oil. But this is rock, not liquid, and the very expensive trick is to convert it to useable liquid fuel. VOA's Greg Flakus has more in this report from the Piceance basin in northwestern Colorado.

The Shell Mahogany Research project in the Piceance basin could either represent the energy future for the United States or a costly³ fiasco. The idea is to drill down into the shale rock to access a chemical called kerogen, which can be subjected to high heat to produce oil.

Past efforts by other oil companies to dig out, crush and process shale went bust⁴ after the price of crude dropped dramatically in May, 1982. But prices are at record high levels Monday, and Shell spokesman Tracy Boyd says his company uses heated tubes sunk into the shale to process and extract the oil.

"We are taking the heat right into the oil-shale formation and converting the organic material that is there, called kerogen, into a producible liquid hydrocarbon," said Boyd.

While the shale in the middle of the site is heated, the area around it is frozen. To make this so-called freeze wall, workers pump cold ammonia through pipes around the site. This technique is used frequently at building sites to keep water out of the foundation pit, but Boyd says it does double duty here.

"The freeze wall has two main purposes," he said. "One is to isolate⁵ the area within the wall so that we can de-water that area and heat the shale more effectively, but the other thing it serves to do is protect the water-bearing zones outside the freeze wall from being exposed to the hydrocarbons⁶ that are liberated⁷ through our production process."

At the Colorado School of Mines, Jeremy Boak serves as Project Manager for the state's Energy Research Institute. He says Shell's ambitious experiment could pay off, but there are great challenges to meet.

"The reserves are very large," said Boak. "The potential to build them up is perhaps less, in that it takes a good deal more work to get the oil out of the ground. You are essentially⁸ cooking a rock that is not ready to produce oil yet."

One of the biggest problems he sees is the enormous amount of electricity that will be needed to heat the shale and the carbon dioxide the power plants could produce.

"Most of the CO2 is coming from the power plants that are built to heat the rock underground," said Boak. "So, if you have a different approach, if you use nuclear, if you can establish renewable energy, then maybe you have less of a CO2 problem, but the amount of energy is really large."

"My estimate was to produce three million barrels a day, you would have to have four times the current installed wind capacity of the entire U.S. [United States]. So it is a lot of electricity if that is what you are using to heat underground," he added.

This is also a principle concern for environmentalists like Elise Jones, Executive Director of the Colorado Environmental Coalition⁹ in Denver.

"How can we embark¹⁰ on a new energy source that has enormous, enormous greenhouse gas emissions¹¹ to produce the oil shale and then to use the oil shale?," said Jones.

Jones says environmentalists do not oppose all energy projects, but they are concerned that a rush to develop resources like shale could endanger the state's natural beauty as well as its air and water.

"We are producing oil and gas at record-breaking levels," said Jones. "We have drills popping up like mushrooms across the west slope of the state, so we are doing our part, but the notion of imposing¹² on top of that another overlay of industrialization on the landscape, that is asking a lot."

But Shell's Tracy Boyd says his company is moving very cautiously on shale oil development, trying to determine how to get out the oil without damaging the environment.

"I think the answer to that remains¹³ to be seen and that is why we are involved in research and development on a slow and methodical scale so that we can resolve and answer all of those questions," said Boyd.

Given the slow pace of experiments by Shell and other companies, it may be 20 years before significant amounts of oil from this area's shale rock can be produced for market. In the meantime, both the energy industry and environmentalists will be keeping a close eye on this remote area.

1 shale   

n.页岩，泥板岩

参考例句：

• We can extract oil from shale.我们可以从页岩中提取石油。
• Most of the rock in this mountain is shale.这座山上大部分的岩石都是页岩。

2 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

5 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

6 hydrocarbons   

n.碳氢化合物，烃( hydrocarbon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hydrocarbons (HC), like carbon monoxide, represent unburned and wasted fuel. 碳氢化合物(HC)像一氧化碳一样，为未燃尽的和被浪费掉的燃料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• With this restricted frequency range it is not applicable to hydrocarbons. 这个较紧缩的频率范围不适用于烃类。 来自辞典例句

7 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

11 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

12 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。