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Discussing Royal Dutch Shell\u2019s fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, Maarten Wetselaar, the company\u2019s head of integrated gas, pointed out that even in a \u201cmixed\u201d year for China\u2019s economy, its gas demand still ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enerjigazetesi.ist\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/enerjide-bu-hafta-cindeki-yavaslama-300x180.jpg\")
rose by 16 per cent in 2018 and its liquefied natural gas imports grew by 40 per cent. \u201cSo if that\u2019s a disappointing year in China, then long may it last,\u201d he said. The push to curb the use of coal to ease local air pollution is a policy priority for the Chinese government and is likely to continue to drive growing demand for gas, regardless of what the economy does. Even so, S&P Global Platts suggested China\u2019s LNG demand was likely to grow at a slower pace this year.<\/p>\n
There were mixed signals this week for the prospect of electric vehicles taking a significant bite out of gasoline demand. Tesla, the EV industry\u2019s flagship, unsettled investors when it revealed that its chief financial officer was leaving the company, for a second time, just two years after he had come back to it. The announcement was dropped in as an unexpected sting in the tail at the end of the call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings, That report seemed to show a solid end to 2018, but investors and analysts have been worrying about the strength of demand for Tesla\u2019s \u201cmake or break\u201d Model 3. In the wider electric vehicle industry, there is a host of competitors hoping to benefit if Tesla stumbles. The FT\u2019s Patrick McGee wrote about Volkswagen\u2019s plans for a \u201cTesla killer\u201d: a platform called MEB that is intended to be the basic building block for 50 different electric models that VW promises by 2025. Meanwhile, the first commercial service using electric aircraft aims to start operations in Hawaii this year.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s heatwave has continued, giving the country its hottest month on record and further inflaming the debate over its electricity system. The US, meanwhile, has been at the opposite extreme, with parts of the country suffering record-breaking cold. John Kemp of Reuters pointed out that the US gas and electricity systems had proved impressively resilient in the face of the bitterly harsh conditions. And finally: the bitter cold created an opportunity for poking some fun at pundits who suggested solar power would not work when it was cold. In fact, high temperatures reduce the efficiency of photovoltaic solar power, and cold weather is better, other conditions being equal. Shorter days, lower sun, cloudy weather and panels covered in snow are legitimate reasons to expect reduced solar output in the winter; low temperatures are not.<\/p>\n