 | ■ International
Economy vs. environment
經濟與環境的抗衡
Coal gas boom in China holds climate change risks
中國煤氣業蓬勃發展，可能帶來氣候變遷風險 |
| Deep in the hilly grasslands of remote Inner Mongolia, twin smokestacks rise more than 200 feet into the sky, their steam and sulfur billowing over herds of sheep and cattle. Both day and night, the rumble of this power plant echoes across the ancient steppe, and its acrid stench travels dozens of miles away. | 在內蒙古地區偏遠的丘陵草原上，兩座煙囪深入兩百多呎的高空，它們釋出的蒸氣和硫化氣從成群牛羊的頭上滾滾飄過。這座發電廠日以繼夜發出的轟隆聲響，在這片古老的草原上迴響著，而其發出的刺鼻臭味則會傳到數十哩外的地方。 |
| This is the first of more than 60 coal-to-gas plants China wants to build, mostly in remote parts of the country where ethnic minorities have farmed and herded for centuries. Fired up in December, the multibillion-dollar plant bombards millions of tons of coal with water and heat to produce methane, which is piped to Beijing to generate electricity. | 這是中國打算興建的六十多座將煤轉化為煤氣工廠其中的首座，這些工廠大多興建在該國少數民族數個世紀來從事耕作及畜牧的偏遠地區。這座於去年十二月啟用的造價數十億美元發電廠，會將數百萬噸的煤撞擊水和熱氣來產生甲烷，並以管線輸送到北京發電。 |
| It's part of a controversial energy revolution China hopes will help it churn out desperately needed natural gas and electricity while cleaning up the toxic skies above the country's eastern cities. However, the plants will also release vast amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide, even as the world struggles to curb greenhouse gas emissions and stave off global warming. | 這是中國爭議性能源革命的一環，該國希望這場革命能產生急需的天然氣和電力，同時清理華東城市上空的有毒廢氣。不過，即使在全球致力減少溫室氣體排放並遏阻全球暖化之際，這些發電廠也會釋出大量會捕捉熱能的二氧化碳。 |
| If all of the plants start up, the carbon dioxide they'd release would equal three-quarters of all energy-related carbon emissions in the U.S., according to U.S. government data and energy experts from Duke and Stanford universities. That is far more than now produced in China by burning coal, the country's main source of power. | 假若所有的發電廠全數啟用，據美國政府統計數據與杜克和史丹佛大學的能源專家，它們所釋出的二氧化碳量相當於美國四分之三的能源相關碳排放量，遠超出了中國主要發電來源燃煤目前所產生的總碳排放量。 |
| So far, China is running only two pilot plants to produce methane, which is also known as synthetic natural gas, in the provinces of Inner Mongolia and far western Xinjiang, with another 21 approved. Building all 60 plants would cost an estimated US$65 billion. | 到目前為止，中國只有兩座分別在內蒙古與新疆地區的甲烷（亦稱做人造天然氣）製造測試廠，而另外廿一座工廠則獲得興建許可。六十座工廠全數興建將得斥資六百五十億美元。 |
| "Once you have invested in it, China will have locked itself in a high water-consuming, high carbon-emitting path," said Chi-Jen Yang, the Duke energy researcher. "This short-term mistake will become a mistake that will be hard to turn around for decades." | 杜克大學能源研究人員楊啟仁表示：「一旦投入經費之後，中國將走上高耗水且高碳排放的道路而無法回頭。這樣的短期錯誤會演變成數十年內難以扭轉的錯誤。」 |
| Chinese leaders are under intense pressure to meet rising energy needs spurred by economic growth but are hampered by insufficient reserves of natural gas and oil. At the same time, China's massive cities are contending with air pollution so intense it can shut down schools and airports and, studies show, shorten life expectancy by as many as five years. | 中國領導階層目前面臨了巨大的壓力，以滿足經濟成長刺激下的日漸高漲能源需求，不過該國當局的努力卻因為天然氣與石油蘊藏量不足而打折扣。與此同時，中國巨大的城市也因為處理可能關閉學校與機場，以及研究顯示可能讓平均壽命最多縮短五年的嚴重空氣污染而陷入焦頭爛額。 |
| Central to the appeal of the coal-to-gas plan is that it moves polluting energy production far away from cities while also turning the country's vast coal reserves into more valuable natural gas. Yet scientists at Tsinghua University and Ford Motor Co. estimate the process emits between 36 and 82 percent more greenhouse gases than burning coal to produce electricity. | 煤炭轉化為煤氣的主要魅力，是它會把製造污染的能源生產移到遠離都市的地方，同時把中國豐富的煤炭蘊藏轉變成更有價值的天然氣。然而清華大學和福特汽車公司的科學家估計，這種方式產生的溫室氣體，比燃燒煤炭發電多了三成六至八成二。 |
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