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美国天然气前景乐观

美国天然气产量剧增，不仅降低了燃料价格，还促使很多项目改用天然气来代替污染严重得多的石油，不少公司开始使用天然气作为运输燃料。

While many Americans want to reduce both pollution and energy costs, the nation's automobile-based transportation system undermines these goals by being largely dependent on petroleum¹.

美国人一方面想方设法减少污染和能源开支，可是另一方面，以汽车为主的交通系统却大量依靠石油，阻碍了实现节能排污的目标。

But in the western state of Oklahoma, Ethel Clayton drives a truck that can run on much cheaper and cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG).

不过在奥克拉荷马州，埃塞尔?克莱顿的卡车使用的是比较便宜和污染小的压缩天然气。

"Not just because you save a whole lot of money, but it is also good for the environment and it also keeps your engine in better condition," Clayton said.

她说：“你不仅可以省很多钱，还有利于环境，对汽车的引擎也好。”

Thanks to support from local natural gas producing companies, there are plenty of CNG filling sites around Oklahoma, and Clayton says online guides also show places to refuel when traveling out of state.

在当地天然气公司的支持下，奥克拉荷马州有很多压缩天然气加油站。可是克莱顿说，在网上也可以找到外州的天然气加油站。

"They will actually route your destination where there will be CNG filling stations," she said. "So it is getting better."

她说：“那些网站会根据你的目的地帮你设定有压缩天然气加油站的路线，更加方便。”

The dramatic increase in U.S. natural gas production has made the fuel cheaper and driven projects that would use this resource to replace far dirtier fossil fuels. Companies are experimenting with various ways to use natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Still, some experts remain wary². The American Petroleum Institute's chief economist³ says CNG cannot be viable⁴ as a transportation fuel without a nationwide expansion of infrastructure⁵.

不过，还是有些专家持谨慎态度。美国石油研究所首席经济师约翰?费尔米说，如果没有一个全国性的设施，压缩天然气不能成为一种可行的运输燃料。

"The problem is that, for example, if you look at the 170,000 service stations around the country, they are owned by small businessmen, who simply don't have the money... say, $200,000... to set up a natural gas fueling opportunity," said John Felmy.

费尔米说：“这里有个问题，比如，全国17万个加油站都属于小业主所有，他们没有20万美元来扩建天然气加油设备。”

The use of liquid natural gas, or LNG, would provide great savings⁶ for long-haul trucking companies, but the up-front expense is discouraging, according to Felmy.

费尔米说，使用液体天然气确实会大大减少长途卡车公司的费用，可是前期投资让人望而却步。

"The typical heavy-duty truck running on LNG will typically cost something on the order of $80,000 more,” he said.

他说：“使用液体天然气的典型重型卡车一般要花8万美元或更多。”

But what if you could make a cleaner burning liquid fuel directly from natural gas that would work in normal vehicles and be supplied through already existing infrastructure?

可是，能不能把现有的一般加油设施直接作为更加清洁的液体燃料加油站呢？

That's the goal of companies like New Jersey-based Primus Green Energy, which has successfully tested its fuel and is now building a plant to produce it for commercial sale.

这正是博智绿色能源等公司的目标，这个总部设在新泽西的公司成功地研制出了燃料，正在建造工厂，准备进行商业化生产。

“The key to having alternative fuels be accepted, both on a financial basis and an economic basis as well as by consumers, is to have them not change their behavior at all,” said George Boyajian, the company's president of business development.

公司的业务总裁乔治?博亚基安说： “不管是对金融和经济，还是对消费者来说，让人们接受替代能源的关键是不要改变他们的习惯。”

Boyajian says there is no need to alter engines and drastically change current fuel systems to bring this fuel into widespread use. And, because the catalyst⁷ used in the process eliminates pollutants⁸ like sulphur and benzene, he says it is far cleaner.

博亚基安说，不必改变引擎，也不必对现有能源体系大动干戈，就可以推广新能源。他说，因为在生产过程中使用了催化剂，去除了硫和苯这类的污染物质，新燃料干净多了。

“The tier-three standards that the EPA has put out for transportation fuels going forward, the Primus gasoline already surpasses those standards,” Boyajian said.

博亚基安说：“美国环保局公布了未来交通燃料的三级标准，博智燃料已经超过了那些标准。”

Although natural gas is the best feedstock now, Boyajian says synthetic⁹ gas produced from biofuels also could be used.

虽然天然气是现在最好的燃料，不过博亚基安说，由生物燃料制造的合成燃料也不错。

It could take more than a decade for such fuels to significantly reduce the use of petroleum for transportation, but each small step brings that future closer.

虽然可能还需要十几年运输业才能使用这种新燃料来大大减少对石油的依赖，可是每一小步都在向未来靠近。