https://www.scmp.com/rss/518815/feed Tim Daiss has been an energy markets and geopolitical journalist and analyst in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 15 years. He has worked for US, UK, Singapore and EU-based publications and consultancies including Wood Mackenzie, S&P Global, Forbes, KBR, the Independent (UK) newspaper, and others. He is also a partner at APAC Energy Consultancy. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Criticism against China’s energy sector over its fossil fuels usage has lessened lately – and with good reason. The country leads the world in renewable energy development, with more to come. In 2023, China had installed an impressive 301 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, led by wind, solar and hydropower. Its 180GW of utility-scale solar and 159GW of wind power under construction last year was nearly twice as much as the rest of the world combined, according to a Global Energy Monitor report.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3297315/how-battery-storage-development-can-wean-china-fossil-fuels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3297315/how-battery-storage-development-can-wean-china-fossil-fuels?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Feb 2025 21:30:07 +0000 Taiwan has a choice to make. Either decommission its only remaining nuclear power reactor as part of its phase-out policy or jump-start the energy source to meet its increasing power demand. The choice is not easy as the island weighs long-held safety concerns against energy and net zero ambitions. Against this backdrop, the government is reportedly considering building central nuclear waste storage facilities since its current temporary facilities are only designed to last for 40 years. It... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3293627/why-taiwan-should-reconsider-its-stance-against-nuclear-energy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3293627/why-taiwan-should-reconsider-its-stance-against-nuclear-energy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2025 21:30:07 +0000 China’s energy and climate change ambitions are in the spotlight again. This time, much of the attention comes from the recently concluded United Nations climate conference, Cop29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. During that often heated and contentious 12-day conference, Chinese diplomacy was at its finest, set against a markedly placid United States presence. Washington’s retreat in most things climate-related partly stems from Donald Trump’s re-election as US president given his apparent antipathy... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3289249/how-china-quietly-becoming-worlds-climate-champion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3289249/how-china-quietly-becoming-worlds-climate-champion?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2024 01:30:08 +0000 China’s energy and climate change ambitions are in the spotlight again. This time, much of the attention comes from the recently concluded United Nations climate conference, Cop29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. During that often heated and contentious 12-day conference, Chinese diplomacy was at its finest, set against a markedly placid United States presence. Washington’s retreat in most things climate-related partly stems from Donald Trump’s re-election as US president given his apparent antipathy... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289646/how-china-quietly-becoming-worlds-climate-champion?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3289646/how-china-quietly-becoming-worlds-climate-champion?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Dec 2024 07:17:26 +0000 Chinese and Japanese officials sat down at a forum in Tokyo recently to hammer out ways to help the planet reduce carbon emissions. This is good news – particularly amid growing geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific. The 17th China-Japan Comprehensive Forum on Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection signed 27 new projects this year, covering areas including waste-to-energy technology, decarbonisation of industrial estates, green buildings and environmental restoration. Since 2006,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3286279/china-japan-climate-action-grows-tokyo-must-rethink-lng-push-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3286279/china-japan-climate-action-grows-tokyo-must-rethink-lng-push-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 Nov 2024 21:30:08 +0000 It has been more than a decade since China started its shale gas trajectory. Now all of that hard work is paying off. Shale gas made up an estimated 12 per cent of China’s natural gas output last year, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). This is no mean feat. Back in 2013, when China was bent on emulating the US shale oil and natural gas success story, it had so many hurdles to surmount that many analysts thought the government should discontinue its support for the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3283539/china-choosing-green-hydrogen-over-shale-gas-should-be-no-brainer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3283539/china-choosing-green-hydrogen-over-shale-gas-should-be-no-brainer?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2024 08:30:07 +0000 China has reached an enviable place in energy markets. It is awash in natural gas supply and has enough suppliers to be able to dictate its own negotiating terms. China uses gas mostly for its power sector and as a way to help pivot away from coal to rein in carbon dioxide emissions. That gas supply is now even larger. Over the past few weeks, there have been three developments to underscore Beijing’s natural gas ambitions. One is the start of commercial operations of Guangdong Energy Group’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3280764/china-has-built-enviable-gas-supply-now-it-faces-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3280764/china-has-built-enviable-gas-supply-now-it-faces-dilemma?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Oct 2024 01:30:07 +0000 News broke last month over the possible sale of Sinochem’s assets in a US shale oil play in the Permian Basin of Texas. The company holds a 40 per cent stake in the prolific Wolfcamp shale venture with US supermajor ExxonMobil. While no reason was given for the possible divestiture, Reuters reported that the Beijing-based energy company has struggled with its oil production business in the past few years and wants to shift its focus to other sectors. The sale could fetch some US$2 billion for... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278122/chinas-energy-playbook-success-not-enough-secure-climate-goals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3278122/chinas-energy-playbook-success-not-enough-secure-climate-goals?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Sep 2024 21:30:07 +0000 In what can only be called a major win for China, its renewable energy capacity is setting records. Wind and solar power are expected to account for more than 40 per cent of the country’s installed power generation capacity by the end of the year. Better yet, China’s wind and solar power capacity exceeded that of its much-criticised coal-fired power for the first time during the first half of the year. The China Electricity Council expects the nation to add 300 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3274481/china-must-not-let-coal-habit-stain-its-renewable-energy-record?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3274481/china-must-not-let-coal-habit-stain-its-renewable-energy-record?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Aug 2024 21:30:15 +0000 China has been making noteworthy offshore oil discoveries recently. Earlier this month, state-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country’s largest offshore driller, announced a breakthrough in its exploration of the Mesozoic volcanic rocks in Bohai Bay. The discovery well produced about 210 cubic metres (55,476 gallons) of crude oil and nearly 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of natural gas a day, a record for a gas productivity test in Bohai Bay, CNOOC... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3271586/no-easy-answers-chinas-raging-thirst-oil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3271586/no-easy-answers-chinas-raging-thirst-oil?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Jul 2024 21:30:11 +0000 China has been making noteworthy offshore oil discoveries recently. Earlier this month, state-run China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the country’s largest offshore driller, announced a breakthrough in its exploration of the Mesozoic volcanic rocks in Bohai Bay. The discovery well produced about 210 cubic metres (55,476 gallons) of crude oil and nearly 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of natural gas a day, a record for a gas productivity test in Bohai Bay, CNOOC... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3271795/no-easy-answers-chinas-raging-thirst-oil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3271795/no-easy-answers-chinas-raging-thirst-oil?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2024 05:00:08 +0000 Carbon capture and storage made a splash in the headlines again last month when China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry began building its third specialist vessel for the European joint venture Northern Lights, to transport liquefied carbon dioxide from emitters to storage facilities. Northern Lights, a venture between three natural gas industry giants – Norway’s state-run Equinor, British multinational Shell and France’s TotalEnergies – has ordered at least four such vessels from Dalian... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269068/lets-get-real-carbon-capture-not-next-big-net-zero-hope?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3269068/lets-get-real-carbon-capture-not-next-big-net-zero-hope?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jul 2024 21:30:10 +0000 Hong Kong keeps pressing ahead with its power development plans. Last week, Polytechnic University said it had established a Research Centre for Grid Modernisation whose aim is to foster innovation and applications for Hong Kong’s power grid modernisation and the development of novel electric power systems. Grid modernisation is a step in the right direction for the city’s power sector as an ageing electricity network and grid curtailment could complicate already problematic blackouts and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3266175/hong-kong-choosing-gas-over-wind-power-turns-net-zero-hopes-hot-air?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3266175/hong-kong-choosing-gas-over-wind-power-turns-net-zero-hopes-hot-air?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2024 01:30:10 +0000 There seems little room for compromise amid tensions in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines. All the while, the space to prevent an escalation, or worse, appears to be narrowing. Pointing to historical rights dating back centuries, Beijing claims the fishing, navigation and resource development rights over much of the disputed waters. Manila in turn asserts that the disputed area is clearly within its UN-mandated 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. While China mostly... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3262816/south-china-sea-why-philippines-needs-chinese-energy-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3262816/south-china-sea-why-philippines-needs-chinese-energy-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 May 2024 21:30:14 +0000