September and December 2007 were bad months for China’s coal mining industry. In September 181 miners died when a mine in Shandong Province was flooded by heavy rain. In December 105 miners died in the Xinyao village coal mine in Shanxi Province, the … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: Commentary
Commentary
China: Dancing with the Russian bear
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has recently returned from a visit to Russia during which he discussed with his counterparts in the Russian government the issue of energy cooperation. Russia has the largest reserves of gas in the world and the seventh largest reserves … Continue Reading ››
China: Maximising domestic energy production: but at what cost?
Early October saw an article appearing in the Chinese press which made me think that I had stepped back in time or was having a bad dream. The thrust of the message was that the Chinese government’s focus on energy efficiency and energy conservation was of only … Continue Reading ››
China: Policy for natural gas imports back on track?
The recent announcements of deals to increase the level of LNG imports from Australia and to build a pipeline from Turkmenistan show that China’s strategy to import substantial quantities of natural … Continue Reading ››
China’s construction boom is wasteful but has deep socio-economic roots
The Chinese government has recently reported energy intensity data for the first six months of 2007. How they manage to have reliable statistics within thirty days of the end of the period is a matter for speculation. But if we accept the data at face value then there has been a significant improvement in … Continue Reading ››
China and Global Climate Change: contrasting views
Late in 2006, the International Energy Agency predicted that China would overtake the USA and become the world’s largest emitter of Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) by 2009. At the end of May 2007, China’s State Council approved a national plan to address the challenges posed by … Continue Reading ››
Energy efficiency in China: It must be seen as ‘cool’ to be energy efficient
Recent weeks have seen China’s government re-state its aims to drive up national energy efficiency with the twin objectives of constraining the use of energy resources and constraining the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Though energy intensity declined only slightly in 2006 after rising for … Continue Reading ››
China’s national oil companies: Risk management overseas
The killing of nine Chinese oilfield workers in north Ethiopia in April, and the kidnapping of a further seven, highlights the challenge of risk management by China’s national oil companies (NOCs) as they go overseas.
Risk … Continue Reading ››
China’s Draft Energy Law
For more than one year many of the top policy-makers, advisers and academics in China’s energy sector have been engaged in research and consultations which are intended to lead to the promulgation of China’s first Energy Law – a task which is set to take … Continue Reading ››
China’s energy demand: the view from Europe
Two sets of issues of China’s energy strategy are of particular significance to Europe: those relating to oil and those relating to the environment.
China became a net importer … Continue Reading ››