China to use more natural gas in energy mix to 2035, national petroleum firm says

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BEIJING  - China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) expects China to cut its coal use to 44 per cent of energy consumption by 2030 and eight per cent by 2060 as the country aims to use more natural gas to achieve its climate change goals.

China, the world's biggest coal consumer, is expected to increase the use of natural gas in its primary energy mix to 12 per cent in 2030 from 8.7 per cent in 2020, said Mr Zhu Xingshan, senior director, Planning Department CNPC at a conference on Thursday (June 24).

He added that the share of natural gas in energy consumption is expected to increase "significantly" from 2030 to 2035.

China, the world's largest energy consumer and biggest emitter of climate warming greenhouse gases, has vowed to bring its total carbon emissions to a peak before 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2060.

Natural gas is expected to be a key bridge fuel over the next two decades, CNPC has said.

The energy giant expects coal to make up 44 per cent, petroleum at 18 per cent, natural gas at 12 per cent and non-fossil fuel to make up 26 per cent of the total energy mix in 2030.

The estimates for 2060 were coal at 8 per cent, petroleum at 6 per cent, natural gas at 11 per cent and non-fossil fuel at 75 per cent of the total energy mix.

China lowered the share of coal use in its primary energy mix to 56.8 per cent in 2020, from around 68 per cent at the beginning of the previous decade and expects this share to fall to below 56 per cent in 2021.