2014年经济学人 欧洲能源

Energy in Europe

The gasman cutteth

Europe could survive a cut-off of Russian gas, but only a short one

NAPOLEON and Hitler both succumbed¹ to the bitter Russian winter in their efforts at territorial² expansion in Europe. Now, Vladimir Putin seems to be exporting a bit of Russian chill as part of his strategy to shift Europe's borders in his favour. In recent days there have been ill-explained reductions in the flow of gas that Gazprom, a Russian state firm, supplies to Poland, Austria and Slovakia—possibly to warn them off re-exporting any of it to Ukraine.

Russia provides one-third of the gas that other European countries rely on to heat their homes, generate electricity and feed industry. So far the assumption among western European governments and industrial gas users is that even if relations with Russia worsen further, there is little danger of a complete and long-term cut in supplies, since Russia's government is so dependent on the revenues from gas exports.

However, a short-term interruption in the coming months, as winter descends³, is not so unthinkable. Fortunately, most European countries would be able to struggle through. Their gas-storage facilities are about 90% full, since last winter was mild and they did a bit of further topping-up over the summer. Last year Europe imported 155 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas; stocks currently stand at 75bcm. So European energy distributors would have a few months' grace to find alternative supplies.

Norway, a big producer, could pump a bit more. China's slowing economy and Japan's reopening of some nuclear plants will mean more liquefied natural gas (LNG) is available on spot markets, though it is costly⁴. Europe has the capacity to import more than 200bcm of LNG a year, of which just 20% is in use. Contingency⁵ plans being drawn⁶ up by the EU are also said to include cutting gas to industry to preserve supplies for heating homes and generating power.

Half of Europe's imports of gas come down pipes that traverse Ukraine, and Russia has cut their flow several times since 2006 over price disputes with the Ukrainians. If it did so again, it might pump more gas down pipelines⁷ that bypass Ukraine. Trouble is, these do not reach those countries most dependent on Russian gas, such as Hungary, Bulgaria, the Baltic states and Finland. The Finnish coalition⁸ government is at risk of falling because the Green party is threatening to quit over plans to buy a Russian nuclear reactor⁹, which it says would increase, not reduce, dependence¹⁰ on Russia.

EU countries are making some preparations for short-term cut-offs but almost nothing has been done to reduce long-term reliance on Russia. There is much that could be done: governments could encourage the building of more cross-border pipelines to connect customers to sources of supply, including the underused LNG import terminals; more storage capacity could be provided; and those countries with shale¹¹ reserves could get fracking. So far all that has been produced is hot air, and not the useful kind.

1 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

2 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

3 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

8 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。

9 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

10 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。

11 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。