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  • 化石燃料储量

    Three young women hold a large banner reading 'XL PIPELINE' in front of a fence.

     

    Take a trip to Washington, D.C.?
    ::去华盛顿旅游吗?

    People are always protesting in our nation's capital. That's part of liberty, part of democracy. The people in this photo are protesting against the Keystone XL pipeline. Other people in other locations may be protesting for the pipeline. The Keystone Pipeline would bring  crude oil  from  tar sands  to the United States. People in favor say the  oil  from tar sands will bring down  energy  costs and provide jobs. People opposed say that the environmental consequences are not worth the benefits.
    ::人们总是在我们国家的首都抗议。这是自由的一部分,民主的一部分。照片中的人正在抗议关键石XL输油管。其他地点的人可能会抗议输油管。 关键石管道会把原油从焦油沙带到美国。 赞成者会说来自焦油沙的石油会降低能源成本,提供就业机会。人们反对说环境后果不值得。

    Alternative Fossil Fuels
    ::替代化石燃料

    Easy-to-reach  fossil fuel  sources are being used up. Technologies are being developed to get at harder-to-reach sources. Also, ways to tap into alternative sources of fossil fuels are increasingly being developed. These sources include  oil shale  and tar sands.
    ::正在利用易于获取的矿物燃料来源,正在开发技术,以获取较难获取的来源,并且正在开发利用替代矿物燃料来源的方法,包括油页岩和焦油沙。

    Oil Shale
    ::石油沙沙

    Oil shale  is   with oil dispersed through it. The oil has not collected in  reservoirs . Oil shale is mined in open pit mines. To extract the oil from the rock, the rock is first crushed and heated to very high temperatures.  Water  is washed over the rock, which converts the  fuel  to petroleum. The petroleum can then be extracted from the rock. You can see an example of an oil shale facility below ( Figure   ).
    ::油页岩与石油散落在其中。 石油没有在储油层中收集。 油页岩在露天矿井中开采。 为了从岩石中提取石油,岩石首先被压碎并加热到极高的温度。 水被冲到岩石上, 将燃料转化为石油。 然后, 石油可以从岩石中提取。 您可以看到下面的一个油页岩设施( 图 ) 。

    Most of the world's oil shale is spread out in large areas of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. In this region, water is scarce. Since the oil shale is spread over a large area, mining would be environmentally destructive.
    ::世界大部分石油页岩分布在怀俄明、犹他州和科罗拉多州的大片地区,该地区缺水。 由于石油页岩散布在大片地区,采矿将对环境造成破坏。

    An oil shale facility in Colorado showing extraction equipment and infrastructure.

     

    An image of an oil shale facility in Colorado.
    ::科罗拉多的一个油页岩设施的图像。

    Tar Sands
    ::塔沙沙

    Tar sands  are rocky materials mixed with very thick oil. The tar is too thick to pump, and so tar sands are strip-mined. Hot water and caustic soda are used to separate the oil from the rock. This creates a slurry, which is shaken. The oil floats to the top and is skimmed off.
    ::塔沙是岩质材料,混合着非常厚的油。 焦油太厚,不能泵,因此焦油沙是脱光的。 热水和腐蚀性苏打水被用来将油与岩石分离。 这造成了一团泥浆,被摇晃。 浮油浮到顶端,滑雪。

    About 75% of the tar sands in the world are in Venezuela and Alberta, Canada ( Figure   ). Large areas of land are degraded when tar sands are mined. A tremendous amount of waste rock is produced from mining tar sands.
    ::世界上约75%的焦油沙位于委内瑞拉和加拿大艾伯塔(图 ) 。 大片土地在焦油沙被开采时会退化。 大量废石来自开采焦油沙。

    Satellite view of an oil-sands mine in Canada, showing mining areas and tailing ponds.

     

    A satellite image of an oil-sands mine in Canada.
    ::加拿大油沙矿的卫星图像。

    Consequences of Using Alternative Fossil Fuels
    ::使用替代化石燃料的后果

    Surface mining causes environmental damage. A lot of water may be needed. The water may be degraded. For oil to be removed from shale, the water must be heated. This requires energy. Tar sands and oil shale fuels create more pollutants than other fossil fuels. Extracting usable energy from oil shale and tar sands produces more  greenhouse gases .
    ::地表采矿造成环境损害,可能需要大量水,水可能会退化,要从页岩中取出石油,就必须加热水,这需要能源,塔沙和油页岩燃料比其他化石燃料产生更多的污染物,从油页岩和焦油沙中提取可用能源会产生更多的温室气体。

    Keystone XL Pipeline
    ::关键石 XL 管道

    The Keystone XL Pipeline would transport oil from the oil sands in Alberta, Canada. The oil would travel into the United States. In the U.S. it would be refined. The pipeline is controversial. A leak could cause damage to wildlife  habitat . A leak could also release enough oil to contaminate the Ogallala  Aquifer . The Aquifer is crucial to agriculture and urban development in the Midwestern U.S. When burned, the fuel from the oil sands would increase pollutants. Greenhouse gases into the  atmosphere  would increase. The future of the pipeline is currently on hold.
    ::Keystone XL管道将从加拿大艾伯塔省油砂中输送石油。石油将运到美国。在美国,石油将经过精炼。管道是有争议的。泄漏可能会对野生动物栖息地造成损害。泄漏还可能释放足够的石油污染奥加拉含水层。含水层对美国中西部的农业和城市发展至关重要。石油沙子燃料燃烧后,燃料将增加污染物。进入大气层的温室气体将增加。管道的未来目前被搁置。

    Summary
    ::摘要

    • Easy to get at fossil fuels are running out, but there are other sources that are harder to get at that are still available.
      ::化石燃料的易得性正在耗尽,但还有其他来源仍然难以获得。
    • Oil shales and tar sands are two of the alternative sources of fossil fuels that are much in the news.
      ::油页岩和焦油沙是化石燃料的两个替代来源,
    • The need for fossil fuels continues to grow as people in the developed world use more, and more people in the developing world want them.
      ::随着发达世界人民更多地使用化石燃料,而发展中世界的更多人想要矿物燃料,对矿物燃料的需求继续增长。

    Review
     ::回顾

    1. What are oil shales? How is oil extracted from them?
      ::什么是油页岩?石油是如何从中提取的?
    1. What are tar sands? How is oil extracted from them?
      ::什么是焦油沙?石油是如何从中提取的?
    1. What are the environmental hazards of using these two fuel sources?
      ::使用这两种燃料来源对环境有哪些危害?

    Explore More
    ::探索更多

    Use the resource below to answer the questions that follow.
    ::利用以下资源回答以下问题。

    1. How much oil from oil shale is there in the United States?
      ::美国有多少石油页岩的石油?
    1. How much oil shale is there compared with the rest of the world?
      ::与世界其他地方相比 有多少油页岩?
    1. How does the amount of oil in oil shale in the U.S. compare with proven oil reserves in the Middle East?
      ::美国石油页岩中的石油数量如何与中东经证实的石油储量相比?
    1. Where is the Green River Formation? Why are scientists interested in this formation?
      ::绿色河形成区在哪里?为什么科学家对这一形成区感兴趣?
    1. What is oil shale? What form is the oil in?
      ::油页岩是什么?