China struggles to balance green goals with keeping lights on

The power crunch that is hitting businesses and homes in many parts of China reflects the struggle of the world's largest coal burner to reconcile its goal of slashing greenhouse gasses with an appetite for energy to drive its economy.

The world's second-largest economy is consuming far more electricity than expected in order to keep factories running as businesses rebound from the pandemic. But production of coal -- the main fuel for generating electricity in China -- is slowing under the government's policy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.