TOKYO -- Japanese trading houses are making big bets on liquefied natural gas as a relatively clean form of energy as regulations on greenhouse gases tighten worldwide. Companies such as Marubeni, Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. have all been expanding their LNG businesses in Asia and elsewhere.
This could put them in a good position to take advantage of efforts by China to address its air-pollution problem by switching from coal to natural gas.
