China Natural Gas Consumption Grows in Q1

China’s natural gas consumption grew steadily in the first quarter of the current year amid the country’s fight against air pollution.
According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission, consumption of natural gas rose 11.6% during the January-March period from a year earlier to 77 billion cubic meters, following robust annual growth of 18.1% in 2018, Reuters reported.
China released a three-year action plan in 2018 to fight pollution, aiming to boost the share of natural gas in its total primary energy consumption to 10% by 2020.
The country consumed 76.9 million tons of refined oil in the first quarter, up 0.4% from a year earlier. Gasoline consumption rose 3.7% while diesel consumption shed 4.1% during the same period.

Biomass Power Up

China's biomass sector generated 24.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity during the first quarter, up 16.7% year on year, data from the National Energy Administration showed.
China added 970,000 kilowatts of biomass energy capacity during the first quarter, bringing the total installed capacity to 18.78 million kilowatts.
Biomass refers to biological materials or organic materials, which are renewable and sustainable and could be used as a fuel source.
China has striven to develop renewable energy including wind power and biomass energy in recent years as the world's largest energy market continues to shift away from dirty coal power toward cleaner fuels.