China surpasses US as the world’s top energy consumer

The shift is historic,coming years ahead of forecasts. In climate change talks,China has long pointed fingers at the energy consumption patterns of developed nations and is sure to feel uncomfortable with the mantle of consuming

more energy than any other nation.

China is also sensitive to complaints about its status as the world’s biggest polluter and suggestions that its demand is pushing up energy prices on global markets.

According to the IEA statistics,China’s energy consumption has more than doubled in less than a decade,from 1.107 billion tons in 2000 — driven by its burgeoning population and economic growth that hit 11.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Per capita,the United States still consumes five times more energy than China,IEA chief economist Fatih Birol told The Associated Press in an interview.

China’s manufacturing and steel production are booming,and newly prosperous Chinese families,who a generation ago were subsistence farmers,are now buying air conditioners,home electronics and cars in record numbers.

According to the IEA statistics,in 2009,more than half of China’s total energy came from coal,a heavy polluter that accounts for less than a quarter of US consumption. Oil — the No. 1 energy source in the US,accounting for nearly half

the total — made up less than a fifth of the Chinese energy total.