China Briefing 20 August 2026: Oil and gas plan | Xi on climate change | Coal five-year plan
In this issue, Carbon Brief examines China’s five-year plan for coal.
The global natural gas market is undergoing dramatic changes, with additional LNG supplies set to hit the market in coming years, price competition between natural gas and renewables becoming fiercer, supply security concerns across Europe, and fugitive methane emissions as an increasingly large climate concern.
On a new episode of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff is joined by Maarten Wetselaar, the Integrated Gas & New Energies Director and Member of the Executive Committee at Royal Dutch Shell, to talk about these issues and more. Maarten joined Shell straight out of university and has held numerous roles across the downstream, trading, and upstream businesses.
Maarten and Jason discussed Shell’s Gas and New Energy Portfolio, one of Shell’s largest businesses. Maarten provided his view of the outlook for global gas demand and also gave his thoughts on the way in which gas and renewables can work together as the world transitions towards a lower carbon future.
Other topics discussed include the integration of BG Group into Shell, Shell’s goal to become an integrated power provider, the role that Shell can play to reduce its own carbon footprint — particularly with respect to methane leakage — and the role that policy can play in tackling this critical issue.
Abundance and affordability have become buzzwords among policymakers, who often have sharply different interpretations of how to attain them. To some, an energy abundance agenda means fewer regulatory...
It started last year as a pressure campaign at sea, with the United States seizing tankers as part of what President Trump called a “total and complete blockade”...
Over the past five months, the Strait of Hormuz has been closed for extended stretches of time, disrupting roughly 10 to 15 million barrels of oil supply each...
As the demand for power surges across the US, the debate over how to build energy infrastructure has reached a fever pitch. And while both sides of the...
Simultaneous pressures are colliding at the worst possible time, making power generation a central test of the country’s capacity to recover.
President Trump issued a proclamation on August 6 imposing tariffs on polysilicon and solar products.
The centre of gravity of the global energy system has definitively shifted eastward, driven by rapid industrialisation, expanding urban populations, and rising
Data centers face growing local opposition as states impose moratoriums on hyperscale projects and grid connections. Communities can negotiate deals for tax revenue and jobs.