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
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026






