China’s pragmatic coal-to-gas strategy

A cautious approach to coal-to-gas switching offers lessons to others who are looking to balance cost with cleaner energy

China’s coal-to-gas (CTG) switch remains a work in progress more than a decade after it kicked off, with coal continuing to meet more than half of primary energy consumption last year. But the effort by the biggest economy so far to attempt to wean itself off coal offers useful lessons for other developing countries eyeing the transition, delegates heard at the World Gas Conference in Beijing in May. CTG switching policies in China have needed to balance the classic energy trilemma of security, affordability and development, Fu Chengyu, chairman of the Renewable Energy and Net Zero Council, said on a panel. Fu was chairman of Sinopec—China’s second-largest gas supplier—in September 2013, whe