China Overtakes US As Biggest Consumer of Energy -- and Even More Coal

Update

Oil rises $2.32 after OPEC decides not to raise production. 

At the link below in the original post, this statement:

That moved China ahead of the United States as the world's biggest consumer of energy, accounting for 20.3 percent of global demand compared with 19 percent for the U.S., the report said.

Now, compare that statement with a November, 2010, article in the New York Times, several data points:

The growth in Chinese energy consumption has already been breathtaking, according to the report. Over the last decade, China’s energy demand has doubled. While China used only half as much energy as the United States in 2000, it actually surpassed the United States in 2009 as the world’s largest energy user.

With China and its 1.3 billion people as a primary engine, the energy agency predicted that world energy demand should grow by more than a third over the next 25 years, [even] as new oil supplies became harder to find.

It also predicted that oil prices would rise to $113 a barrel in 2035, in current dollars, a rise of nearly $30. The agency also predicted that fossil fuels — oil, natural gas and coal — would remain primary sources of energy for the world, though renewable energy sources and conservation efforts would increase in importance. [Comment: $113/bbl in 2035! We hit $113 some time ago, although I assume this report means the annual average, not periodic spikes, but clearly we will be at $113 well before 2035.]

The analysts predicted that Chinese energy demand would soar 75 percent by 2035, accounting for more than a third of the growth in global consumption. While China today accounts for 17 percent of world demand for energy, it should account for 22 percent in 25 years. [Comment: in the article today, June, 8, 2011, just a few months from the November, 2010 report, China is already at 20 percent. I have trouble believing that it will take 25 more years for China to get from 20 percent to 22 percent.]

And this is why I am bullish on oil.

With 1.3 billion people, a one-child limit, Chinese favoring male children (i.e., boys), and a burgeoning number of unemployed, hormone-driven, young male adults, something tells me the Chinese have bigger concerns than "cap and trade."

Original Post

I didn't think China was projected to surpass the US for a couple of more years.

Link here.

China uses 48 percent of the world's coal.

US uses about 20 percent of world's output of oil -- and you know? That sounds about right. I would have thought it even more. China uses about 10 percent of the world's oil output.

But this is the headline:

China's consumption rose by 11.2 percent last year compared with 3.7 percent in the United States. China's surge led a 5.6 percent increase in global energy demand, the biggest one-year jump since 1973.