Disruptions this winter to Russian gas exports to Europe and rising LNG prices prompted growing consumers such as China and India to set aside environmental goals and turn to coal, according to a Reuters report.

“Everyone thought the future was gas but the price has not come down and the flexibility on supplies has not been there. Government policy is emphasising coal,” Bishal Thapa of ICF Consulting in New Delhi said.

Most of Asia’s major electricity producers in Asia have the capacity to switch fuels according to availability, and given rising gas prices most are turning to coal, National Australia Bank economist Gerard Burg told Reuters.

“Coal is a more flexible fuel [than gas] from the point of view of an established spot market,” he said.

Meanwhile, the surging LNG price is deterring construction of planned gas import terminals for China, according to an Interfax report.

The country's ambitious LNG project construction plan will be delayed due to increasing LNG import prices, Chinese experts said.

"Given the present high LNG price, it is hard to finalise LNG import contracts with foreign LNG producers within the next one or two years," Li Jianhua, a LNG expert with Guangdong Provincial Energy Research Institute told Interfax last week.

He said he expected the LNG price would not drop significantly in the short term and the increasing cost would delay the country's pace on LNG projects, said Li.

Almost 90% of an estimated 80 gigawatts of new power generation in China this year will be coal-fired, state media said.

Thailand, Malaysia and Pakistan are also building new coal plants.

With Japan being the only Asian country obliged to cut greenhouse gases under the UN’s Kyoto Protocol, other Asian nations are opting for coal even if this contradicts environmental goals.

Japan, China, India and South Korea are members of the AP6 grouping, which also includes the US and Australia. AP6 aims to combat climate change primarily through developing new technologies and plans to trap carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants and pump them underground.

China is also looking at other ways in which coal can replace petroleum fuels. This year, Shell will begin operating its first Asian coal gasification plant in China, and in a demonstration coal-to-oil plant is due to come online