“China needs energy more than ever. Its quest to secure enough oil and gas to keep its economy humming will change the world”
The full story is on BusinessWeek online here.
“As China’s economy expands, so does its thirst for oil, gas, coal, and electricity. Today, China accounts for 12.1% of the world’s energy consumption. That’s second only to the U.S., at 24%, and up from 9% a decade ago. China’s whole modernization strategy is based on access to abundant supplies of energy. Its hungry basic industries such as steel, aluminum, and chemicals devour electricity and coal. A mushrooming middle class consumes growing quantities of heating oil and gasoline. By 2010 analysts expect some 56 million cars, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles to be rolling on China’s highways — more than twice the number today. By 2020 the country’s demand for oil will nearly double, to 11 million barrels a day, natural gas consumption will more than triple, to 3.6 trillion cubic feet annually, and coal use will grow by 76%, to 2.4 billion tons a year, according to a U.S. Energy Dept. forecast.
That means China will play a key role in influencing global oil prices and energy investment flows — not to mention climate-destabilizing carbon dioxide emissions. “There is going to be a huge increase in consumption across the region, and especially in China,” says Edu Hassing, an energy analyst at the Asian Development Bank. ”
