Plausible Future of Rapid Energy Growth in China

摘要

The future energy consumption of China is investigated through the use of historical analogies. It is argued that future energy growth in China much larger than was estimated in most previous studies is quite plausible. The implications of this result are of great importance when constructing scenarios for the anticipated future fossil-fuel consumption and a corresponding increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This result reaffirms the desirability of world-wide growth of nonfossil energy systems. (ERA citation 12:020449)