That's according to the International Energy Agency:
'Back in June 2007 China earned the dubious distinction of surpassing the U.S. to become the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases. Now approximately three years later, the highly populated country has become the world's largest consumer of energy.The news that China may now be the world biggest energy customer comes based on analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA). According to the IEA, China overtook the U.S. in energy consumption sometime last year.
Despite having over 1.3 billion people, versus about 307 million in the U.S., China's new title may be primarily driven by the inefficient way it uses energy. While the U.S. has improved its energy efficiency by 2.5 percent per year from 2000 to 2010, China only improved 1.7 percent.
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Interestingly, the Chinese have disputed the IEA's findings, claiming that America is still top dog in this category. Either way, the Chinese know how much energy the use and how much they need. The question is, will their search for resources bring greater stability or instability to the world?