China has become world’s top energy consumer

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Recently, the International Energy Agency in Paris announced that China has surpassed the United States’ long held position as the world’s largest consumer of energy.

Last year, China consumed the equivalent of more than 2.25 billion tons of oil, while the U.S. consumed approximately 2.17 billion tons (these “equivalent’ measures include all types of energy used).

While there is some debate as to the accuracy of these numbers, they are nonetheless indicative of an underlying trend that is very clear.

A decade ago, China’s energy needs were only about half that of the U.S., although its population is several times larger. Since that time, growth in demand from industrial expansion as well as from that country’s residents has generated double-digit annual growth.

Earlier predictions suggested that China’s energy consumption might surpass U.S. use within the next five years, but the global recession negatively impacted U.S. demand more significantly than elsewhere and, thus, China has emerged as the globe’s top energy consumer.

The lion’s share of China’s energy (about 70 percent) is produced by using coal. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that China will probably double its consumption of coal in the next 20 years, though it is likely that its use may drop as a percentage of total energy consumption.

To reduce its reliance on coal, China’s focus is now more on the use of non-fossil fuels. One way is evident as the country is planning to build new nuclear plants, which are targeted to provide some 15 percent of primary energy consumption over the next decade.

Currently, China accounts for about 2 percent of the nuclear power produced globally, but plans underway will certainly increase that percentage over the coming years.

There are now 11 nuclear reactors at six plants in China and work on more than two dozen additional ones is being undertaken.

During the next decade, China is also planning to develop wind power that will produce five times the energy of that country’s Three Gorges Dam, which began operation in 2003 and is the largest electrical plant in the world.

China’s demand for oil has also been increasing significantly over the past several years, up some 28 percent in 2009. In fact, Saudi Arabia now ships more oil to China than to the U.S.

Read more in the Sacramento Business Journal.