翻译题 Passage 2 According to the International Energy Outlook 2013 Reference case, natural gas is the world’s fastest-growing fossil fuel, with consumption increasing from 113.0 trillion cubic feet in 2010 to 185.0 trillion cubic feet in 2040. It will continue to be the fuel of choice for the electric power and industrial sectors in many of the world’s regions, in part because of its lower carbon intensity compared with coal and oil, which makes it an attractive fuel source in countries where governments are implementing policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, it is an attractive alternative fuel for new power generation plants because of relatively low capital costs and the favorable heat rates for natural gas generation. Although there is more to learn about the extent of the world’s tight gas, shale gas, and coalbed methane resource base, the IEO2013 Reference case projects a substantial increase in those supplies—especially in the United States and also in Canada and China. In the United States, one of the keys to increasing natural gas production has been advances in the application of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies, which have made it possible to develop the country’s vast shale gas resources and have contributed to a near doubling of estimates for total U.S. technically recoverable natural gas resources over the past decade. (219 words)