Kategori : NATURAL GAS ENERGY NEWS, ELECTRICITY ENERGY NEWS, ENERGY AGENDA NEWS, COAL NEWS - Tarih : 11 October 2021
Europe is being ravaged by an unprecedented energy crisis, and it may already be spreading. Asia, the world’s biggest buyer of gas and coal, may be next, with China particularly vulnerable because of the size of its economy.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the big problem for China is not natural gas. It’s coal, which powers the majority of its power plants, Bloomberg reported this week, citing state-run outlet China Energy 
News.
According to a report in the news outlet, Chinese power plant operators are finding it hard to buy enough coal to keep their facilities running, which is raising the likelihood of an energy crunch when winter comes. Inventories are low because of the surge in coal prices this year, and some power plants have already had to turn off their boilers to save costs.
What’s worse is that if there is not enough coal and gas for China, there will not be enough gas and coal for everyone else who needs to import it. Countries with local coal and gas production will rake in a fortune from energy exports. But the rest, having to pay through the nose for that energy, will see the same effects on their economic growth, namely a potentially severe stumping.
A lot has been said about the emission aspect of fossil fuels. The current crisis offers another angle: fossil fuels tend to get expensive, sometimes prohibitively so, when demand significantly exceeds supply. This is, in fact, one of the strongest practical arguments in favor of renewables: you may not have gas reserves, but every country has sunshine and wind. Renewables are good for energy independence. And the latest crisis in Europe and the risk of a crisis in China only shows that we are nowhere near this energy independence.
Source: Oil Price
