China Risks Winter Energy Crunch -

"China is at risk of the same energy-crunch chaos seen in Europe, with a state-run newspaper warning that coal-fired power plants will struggle to keep the lights on this winter."

Why this is important: China still burns half of the steam coal mined in the world to make electricity. Amid a push to reduce its reliance on steam coal, it finds itself with serious fuel shortages. It is still not buying Australian coal and a number of serious mining accidents in the country have reduced national production. That means coal prices are up 76 percent from last year. And, the increases are occurring as electrical demand is soaring during the Chinese economy’s recovery from COVID-19 shutdowns. Experts fear winter power shortages as domestic coal production accounts for 70 percent of the electrical power generated in the world’s most populous country.