China’s projected energy consumption mainly depends on its overall growth rate

As the world’s top producer of energy-intensive goods, China’s energy consumption is tied to both its rate of economic growth and the size of its energy-intensive manufacturing industries. Chinese policy goals call for a move away from heavy industry toward a less energy-intensive economy with a greater focus on service industries. Two side cases from EIA’s International Energy Outlook 2018 (IEO2018) show that faster economic growth in China means higher energy use, which is only modestly affected by how quickly China transitions to a more personal consumption-based, service-oriented economy. More »