Focus on Arts and Ecology

Last winter, northern China faced a heating crisis that left students out in the cold and homes unheated, in part because of a shortage in the natural gas supply for heating. In an opinion piece for Caixin Energy, an employee of a natural gas trading company in China said that supply will likely be tight again this year, but preparations have been made to avoid another crisis.

China’s three major oil companies have been put in charge of increasing production and supply of natural gas this year. They will ensure that supplies are directed to the “2+26” cities including Beijing and the surrounding area. To prevent the “coal to gas” switch (an ongoing air pollution campaign to reduce the use of coal for heating) from leaving people out in the cold again, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is pushing for gas supplies to be in place before coal boilers are dismantled.