Coal's share of China's primary energy mix will be slashed to 59% in 2018 and will be further reduced to just half by 2020 as part of the country's efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources, Reuters reported March 7, citing China's National Energy Administration.
The country aims to raise natural gas consumption to 7.5% of the mix this year and increase production by 8.5% year over year to roughly 160 billion cubic meters.
Coal production this year is expected to reach an all-time high of 3.7 billion tonnes, an increase of 7.3% year over year.
A recent energy report from BP PLC projects that coal consumption in the country will decline to 1.55 billion tonnes in 2040 from 1.89 billion tonnes in 2016.
