The Dutch government announced on the 20th that in order to deal with the risk of natural gas shortage, it will temporarily lift the restrictions on coal-fired power generation until 2024. In a statement, Dutch Minister of climate and energy rob yeteng said that in view of the increased risk of natural gas shortage, the government decided on the 20th to lift the restrictions on coal-fired power generation from 2022 to 2024, with immediate effect, "coal-fired power plants will be allowed to operate at full capacity again". According to the German news agency, considering environmental factors, the Netherlands previously controlled the coal-fired power generation at 35% of the total power. The Dutch government said it would take certain measures in other areas to neutralize the increase in carbon dioxide emissions caused by the increase in coal-fired power generation. The Dutch government hopes to save natural gas consumption by increasing coal-fired power generation, so as to reserve more natural gas for heating in winter. Yeteng called on enterprises and people to save energy: "from now on, every cubic meter of natural gas has to be calculated carefully. Even in summer, it should be saved as much as possible." Since April 1 this year, Russia has used ruble for settlement when supplying natural gas to "unfriendly" countries and regions. Some energy enterprises in Poland, Finland and other countries, including the Netherlands, have been cut off by Russia for refusing to comply with the ruble settlement order. According to the German news agency, 15% of the Dutch natural gas supply comes from Russia. According to yeteng, there is no shortage of natural gas in the Netherlands for the time being. (Xinhua News Agency)