Energy consumption in China
The most important figure in the energy balance of China is the total consumption of6.875 trillion kWh
of electric energy per year. Per capita this is an average of 4,822 kWh.China could be self-sufficient with domestically produced energy. The total production of all electric energy producing facilities is 7.2 tn kWh, which is 105 percent of the country's own usage. Despite this, China trades energy with foreign countries. Along with pure consumption, the production, imports and exports play an important role. Other energy sources, such as natural gas or crude oil are also used.
Back to overview: China
Energy Balance
| Electricity | total | China per capita | USA per capita |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own consumption | 6.875 tn kWh | 4,822.35 kWh | 11,744.38 kWh |
| Production | 7.225 tn kWh | 5,067.72 kWh | 12,198.66 kWh |
| Import | 4.86 bn kWh | 3.41 kWh | 185.15 kWh |
| Export | 21.66 bn kWh | 15.19 kWh | 42.59 kWh |
100.0% of the country's population (as of 2020) has access to electricity. | |||
| Crude Oil | Barrel/day | China per capita | USA per capita |
| Own consumption | 14.01 m bbl | 0.010 bbl | 0.062 bbl |
| Production | 4.71 m bbl | 0.003 bbl | 0.054 bbl |
| Import | 9.24 m bbl | 0.006 bbl | 0.023 bbl |
| Export | 52,500.00 bbl | 0.000 bbl | 0.006 bbl |
In 2021 there were still 26.02 bn barrels of recoverable but not yet used crude oil reserves in the currently known deposits of China. Worldwide, there are still proved oil reserves totaling around 1.7 tn billion barrels. China therefore has a share of 1.52% and ranks 13th out of 211 countries with crude oil reserves.
| Natural Gas | Cubic meters | China per capita | USA per capita |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own consumption | 306.58 bn m³ | 215.04 m³ | 2,583.79 m³ |
| Production | 179.32 bn m³ | 125.78 m³ | 2,914.02 m³ |
| Import | 131.61 bn m³ | 92.31 m³ | 239.57 m³ |
| Export | 3.55 bn m³ | 2.49 m³ | 567.66 m³ |
CO₂ emissions
| CO₂ emissions in 2019 | China per capita | USA per capita | |
|---|---|---|---|
| total | 10.71 bn t | 7.61 t | 14.52 t |
| › of which diesel + gasoline | 1.521 tn t | 1,080.13 t | 7,179.51 t |
| › of which natural gas | 600.28 bn t | 426.41 t | 5,073.94 t |
| › of which coal | 8.652 tn t | 6,146.30 t | 3,246.58 t |
Development of CO₂ emissions from 1960 to 2019 in million tons
See also: CO₂ equivalents by country
Production capacities per energy source
The given production capacities for electric energy have a theoretical value, which can only be obtained under ideal conditions. They are measuring the generatable amount of energy, that would be reached under permanent and full use of all capacities of all power plants.In practice this isn't possible, because e.g. solar collectors are less efficient under clouds. Also wind- and water-power plants are not always operating under full load. All these values are only useful in relation to other energy sources or countries.
| Energy source | total in China | Percentage in China | Percentage USA | per capita in China | per capita USA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fossil fuels | 12.823 tn kWh | 66,0 % | 59,9 % | 8,994.47 kWh | 2.06 kWh |
| Nuclear power | 932.59 bn kWh | 4,8 % | 19,5 % | 654.14 kWh | 0.67 kWh |
| Solar energy | 680.02 bn kWh | 3,5 % | 3,2 % | 476.98 kWh | 0.11 kWh |
| Wind power | 1.205 tn kWh | 6,2 % | 8,3 % | 844.94 kWh | 0.29 kWh |
| Water power | 3.458 tn kWh | 17,8 % | 7,0 % | 2,425.78 kWh | 0.24 kWh |
| Tidal Power Plants | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 0,0 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.00 kWh |
| Geothermics | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 0,4 % | 0.00 kWh | 0.01 kWh |
| Biomass | 310.86 bn kWh | 1,6 % | 1,7 % | 218.05 kWh | 0.06 kWh |
Usage of renewable energies
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources. This means all energy sources that renew themselves within a short time or are permanently available. Energy from hydropower is only partly a renewable energy. This is certainly the case with river or tidal power plants. Otherwise, numerous dams or reservoirs also produce mixed forms, e.g. by pumping water into their reservoirs at night and recovering energy from them during the day when there is an increased demand for electricity. Since it is not possible to clearly determine the amount of generated energy, all energy from hydropower is displayed separately.In 2019, renewable energy accounted for around 14.5 percent of actual total consumption in China. The following chart shows the percentage share from 1990 to 2019:
Greenhouse gases emissions by country
Global warming by continents
Population growth in Sweden