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The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
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The U.S has been the world's number-one user of energy for roughly a century, burning fossil fuels of all varieties with great abandon, fissioning uranium, even harnessing the power in wind and water. That's over now, according to the International Energy Agency, or IEA.
China consumed more than 2.2 billion metric tons of so-called oil equivalent in 2009, a measure born out of the same oil crisis that gave rise to the IEA. The U.S. fell back to just under 2.2 billion metric tons, thanks to the ongoing Great Recession. Ergo, we're number two. An analysis by BP agrees.
But hold on. Chinese officials immediately rejected the IEA's calculation, noting that their own official statistics showed energy use of roughly 3.1 billion metric tons of coal equivalent. A quick conversion makes that roughly 2.1 billion metric tons of oil equivalent.
The Chinese blamed IEA confusion on a misunderstanding of China's energy efficiency efforts—as well as misunderestimating its buildout of renewable energy resources like wind turbines.
Regardless, per person, my fellow 310 million Americans and I use more than three times as much energy as more than 1.3 billion Chinese. Hence the meeting of 24 energy ministers in Washington, D.C., last week to attempt to hash out ways to use cleaner energy more efficiently, regardless of who's number one.
—David Biello
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17 Comments
Add Comment"misunderestimating" ?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you serious?
Has anyone at SciAm passed 7th grade English?
These criticisms that the US consumes so much (the implicatiion being that it consumes too much) energy is mostly sour grapes from economies that may consume less for any of a dozen reasons, all of whom wish the could consume more but are unable too afford it because they don't have the US's industrial economy which is the envy of the world and which is the reason we can consume and produce so much.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo worries for the US. India and China will soon surpass them in every way, including standard of living.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisStep back Yanks, you haven't been No.-1 for a long time now. Yes, 'Merikan industrial CAPACITY is indeed the envy of the world. It is so under utilized that no one even takes it into consideration any longer.
So go ahead and up yer profits by shipping American jobs overseas at the rate of 10 million a year (Yes, Virginia, I said TEN MILLION) and building the economies of "third world" countries.
what you also must consider is that a lot the energy used in china goes to make goods exported to the US & europe
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow all China will have to do is go and start a war with two countries and they will be right up there at the top with the U.S. They can attack Norway and Iceland because they are, I think, number one in the world in clean energy usage...and who wants clean energy???
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's a joke, sir, a joke...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misunderestimate
How much do you know about China? We don't want to attack any countries，because we love peace. Why we want to become stronger and stronger? The only reason is that we want protect ourselves and have a peaceful time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisare u insane..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGee! You Chinese are real touchy, and you have no sense of humor. Lighten up, you are real close to being the most industrialized and technologized country in the world. You have already passed America in clean energy...which is not saying much, since American scientist seem to be so stupid that they can't even build a battery that can get our electric cars past our neighbor's driveway.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact ,china waste lots of energe.The whole world should require china improve the utilization ratio to reduce environmental pollution, and develop clean energe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact ,china waste lots of energe.The whole world should require china improve the utilization ratio to reduce environmental pollution, and develop clean energe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe only realistic measure is CONSUMPTION PER CAPITA, and not just the energy in oil and electric, but the energy consumed in consumer goods, travel and entertainment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe win!!! Yaaaay!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt should be interesting as China only has 30 yrs of coal left and it's the dirtiest coal on the planet.. I have to wonder if pollution is a form of population control since so many there are dying from it.
China is going to have so many problems it's unlikely it can survive as it is now.
While China is doing some RE, nukes that is a drop in a large bucket. Their present rate of growth is not doable for mych longer. Them and India are going to be badly effected by the coming end of fossil energy if they, we and the rest of the world doesn't get cracking on RE, nukes, eff and conservation.
We in the US are much better off as we have the wealth, especially if we get energy independent soon, as they are.
jerryd - If we're lucky, the Chinese will run out of coal and perhaps a few lucky wealthy Americans can find jobs working in our coal mines. Sending coal to China could help to balance our payments for TVs and underwear...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdbiello - The article stated:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"China consumed more than 2.2 billion metric tons of so-called oil equivalent in 2009, a measure born out of the same oil crisis that gave rise to the IEA. The U.S. fell back to just under 2.2 billion metric tons, thanks to the ongoing Great Recession. Ergo, we're number two. An analysis by BP agrees."
Were the " ongoing Great Recession" and "An analysis by BP agrees" also jokes, or merely political editorializations?
I don't remember the Great Depression but my dad did. Your analogy insults the survivors.
I feel sorry for my touchy. Because I am still learning English, perhaps I can not understand American humor. To be honest, I also think China has wasted lots of energy, but we are improving.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisChina is making its own effort to reduce energy use even though they have a large popularity. But meanwhile US also wastes lots of energy. I've heard that nearly all universities and colleges hardly turn off the computers in their libraries even though there's no one using them or when libraries are closed.
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