China is the world’s largest consumer of coal and the largest emitter of greenhouse gasses. With that in mind, Beijing’s recent announcement that it intends to become carbon neutral by 2060 and is aiming for its CO2 emissions to peak before 2030, was welcome news. The growth of renewables is essential to decarbonize energy systems, but it is expected that natural gas will also play an important role due to the intermittency of green energy and natural gas’ low CO2 emissions compared to coal. While the outlook for natural gas in the long-term remains strong, innovations in coal-dependent technologies and investments in renewables suggest a different reality in the short term. Demand for gas in the power sector is expected to grow slower than expected as competing sources have lower costs. The transformation of King Coal The Chinese economic miracle of the past four decades has created major environmental […]