China Making a Major Shift to Natural Gas

Two weeks ago we wrote about the surprising announcement that Beijing would be banning the burning of coal by 2020. Though the move was largely prompted by the intolerable levels of air pollution, there is also growing evidence that they are determined to clean up their act on carbon emissions.

A recent report from IEA says that a “golden age” of natural gas is coming to China. The report predicts a 2.2% annual growth in global demand for gas through 2019, driven largely by China where demand is expected to nearly double. That forecast is actually down slightly from the previous year, due to “slow economy, supply constraints, sluggish LNG trade, and competition from coal and renewables in the power sector.” Europe, in particular, saw a sharp drop in demand for gas. Even oil grew faster than gas last year which managed only a modest 1.2% pace. But that will likely be superseded by growing Chinese demand, which according to the report grew at a 13.3% rate.

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Image Credit: Tod Baker: Flickr Creative Commons

RP Siegel, author and inventor, shines a powerful light on numerous environmental and technological topics. He has been published in business and technical journals and has written three books. His third, co-authored with Roger Saillant, is Vapor Trails, an eco-thriller that is being adapted for the big screen. RP is a professional engineer – and a prolific inventor, with 50 patents, numerous awards, and several commercial products. He is president of Rain Mountain LLC and is an active environmental advocate in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. In addition to Justmeans, he writes for Triple Pundit, ThomasNet News, and Energy Viewpoints, occasionally contributing to Mechanical Engineering, Strategy + Business, and Huffington Post. You can follow RP on Twitter, @RPSiegel.