China, the world’s top importer of natural gas and second-largest buyer of liquified natural gas (LNG), just announced plans to increase its intake capacity of the seaborne fuel four-fold over the next two decades.
Burgeoning demand for natural gas in the People’s Republic is driven by a number of factors, not least of which is the country’s still impressive economic growth. But popular demand for better air quality has spurred an aggressive national ‘fuel-switching’ policy, which favors cleaner burning gas over ‘king coal’ in China’s power sector. Roughly 7 percent of China’s energy comes from natural gas (up from 0.5 percent in 2010). That’s low. Compare that to 55 percent for dirty coal.
