China Surpasses US as World's Top Energy Consumer

Aug 11, 2010 - Jenny Barchfield -The Associated Press

China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest energy consumer, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. China immediately questioned the calculation.

Workers load coal into a truck outside a coal mine in Dadong, Shanxi province, China, in this Dec. 3, 2009 file photo. China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest energy consumer, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday, July 20, 2010. China immediately questioned the calculation.

(Andy Wong/AP Photo)

The Paris-based agency said China's 2009 consumption of energy sources ranging from oil and coal wind and solar power was equal to 2.265 billion tons of oil, compared to 2.169 billion tons for the U.S.

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 - fueled by its burgeoning population and rapidly growing manufacturing-based economy.

Energy consumption is a touchy topic for China, which is sensitive to complaints it is pushing up prices on global markets and adding to pollution and emissions of climate-changing gases.

An official with the Chinese Cabinet's National Energy Administration cast doubt on the IEA's statistics, according to a report Tuesday by the official Xinhua News Agency.