Chinas Energy and Environmental Implications Quantitative
The world today is driven by a global economy that is based on demand and supply of goods and services. The situation has pushed manufacturers and producers of goods and services to work extra hard to satisfy the demands of the global economy. The manufacture of goods requires several inputs, which contribute to the goods coming out as final products for consumption by end users of the production chain.
Production of goods and services has become the main driving force of many economic giants on the global stage, which export their goods and services to other nations that need them. Such giants include China. Production of goods and services in China is fully dependent on energy to run the heavy machinery in various industries.
China is the most populous country in the world with an average population of approximately 1.3billion people (Index Mundi). The size of China as a country is approximately 9million square kilometres with a population density of approximately 140 people per square kilometre.
China is the second largest economy in the world behind the United States of America. It was able to record a GDP of $8.28 trillion in the year 2012, which is a representation of about 12% of the world economy. This was at a growth rate of about 7.8% per annum.
A concise synopsis of China Vs the US production and consumption of energy
China and the US have become the largest consumer of energy in the world due to the demand for energy for its industry as well as for domestic use. The need for a lot of energy has driven China to use all possible means to produce it. So far, the available means for energy production are not environment friendly due to the amount of pollution they cause in the surroundings.
Chinas major source of energy is fossil fuels, which are oil and coal. The high dependence of China on fossil fuel is due to the easiness with which the fuels can be used to produce energy. Fossil fuels are some of the cheapest and economically viable sources of energy and hence their popularity in China and the US.
Other forms of energy are limited in nature and thus the over reliant on fossil fuel by not only China, but also by many countries, which need to generate electricity. Therefore, the need for a lot of energy has compelled China to produce the same and to import where there is a need.
Production of energy using not so clean methods has led to environmental pollution as well as degradation of the same. According to the EIA report (2012), Chinas annual production of energy using different resources as well as its consumption has been recorded as follows:
Annual Production
The annual production of Chinas energy comes from different energy sources, which are petroleum, coal, hydroelectricity, geothermal, natural gas, and nuclear energy among others.
For natural gas production, according to the year 2011 report on energy production, China recorded a total 3628 billion cubic ft of natural gas as having been produced by the country. Relative China, the US that produced 22902 billion cubic ft in the same year as shown in the graph below.
Annual Production
This realisation was an improvement from the previous years for both countries. Chinas petroleum production has been recorded on different scales depending on the type and form of petroleum product, which can be categorised into various groups. For instance, the production of crude oil, which includes lease condensate, was recorded at over 4.05million barrels per day.
The production of crude oil and other liquids was recorded at 4.1million barrels per day while the production of other liquids from petroleum was recorded at 47,000 barrels per day. Petroleum production has been further divided into refined products. The refinery output of distillate fuel oil was recorded at 3.05 million barrels per day while the production of Jet fuel was recorded at 260,000barrels per day.
Moreover, the production of kerosene was recorded at 152000 barrels per day while the production of liquefied petroleum gas was recorded at 662000 barrels per day while that of motor gasoline was recorded at 1.7 million barrels per day. These among other products made up the refined productions as recorded for the year 2010 and 2011. Bio fuels have also been produced by China.
Their production was recorded as follows: Bio diesel was recorded at 78000 barrels per day, fuel ethanol was recorded at 39000 barrels per day, while the total bio fuel production was recorded at 48000 barrels per day. Geothermal production of electricity has been recorded at 0.162 billion kilowatt-hours in China in 2011. This amount is far too low compared to that of the US, which is 16.7 billion kilowatt-hours.
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The production of hydroelectricity has been recorded at 687 billion kilowatts-hour. The production of different types of coal has been summed up into one figure in short tones as 11838158000 as per the year 2011s production. This production as summed up makes up the main energy sources that are produced by China.
Energy Consumption by China Vs the US
Energy Consumption by China Vs the US
Chinas energy consumption comes from different energy sources, which are not restricted to what it produces. Stern finds that, due to Chinas high affinity for energy, it has been forced to import some of its energy as well as energy sources (14). Over the years, China has produced lower amounts of petroleum in comparison to the United States.
For example, since 2000, the production of petroleum in the United States has been way above that of China. In fact, the graph above indicates that, even when the production of petroleum went down very much in 2006, the United States had 7323.03 thousand barrels per day, which were far above that of China at 3704.03 thousand barrels per day.
The implication of such big gaps in petroleum production can explain the reasons for the better performance of the United States in the World. America has excelled in industrialisation. Its economy relies so much on energy.
The big margins in economic performance in 2010 and 2011 can be explained by the fact that, when petroleum production in America rose from 8154 to 8624 barrels per day, Chinas production was going down. For example, the graph indicates that, during the same period, Chinas oil production dropped from 4121 to 4105 thousand barrels per day. This drop affected the performance of the economy of China.
The energy consumption is thus recorded as follows: Chinas coal consumption has been dubbed as the highest in the world at about 3826868.9 thousand short tones. China is the global principal manufacturer and consumer of coal. Its expenditure takes virtually the entire coal manufactured in the globe.
According to the U.S Energy Information Administration report (EIA) of September 2012, coal has been noted as the major supplier for Chinas energy accounting for over 70% of Chinas energy needs. The report further states that the total energy consumption was recorded at 90 quadrillion British thermal units (btu).
In terms of petroleum consumption, China has been touted as the second largest consumer of petroleum behind the United States of America. From the above graph, in the year 2012, the United States of America produced 10028.03 thousand barrels of petroleum each day while China was the second in production at 4174.88 thousand barrels.
Being the second largest economy in the world after America, China was therefore dragging behind. It needed to import more energy to supplement its production. According to statistics by the Index Mundi, Chinas consumption of crude oil was estimated at above 9.5 million barrels per day, which translate into an annual consumption of about 3467.5 million barrels per annum.
Inferring form the above graph, China imports much of its petroleum from other countries. The amount of petroleum produced domestically is therefore far below the levels of consumption. In fact, inducing from the graph, one realises that it is due to the differences in oil that the two economies vary in performance. The consumption of ethanol has been recorded as 38000 barrels per day as per the 2010 statistics.
The consumption of natural gas has been recorded at 38000 billion cubic feet per year. On the other hand, the expenditure of electricity has been recorded at 4.2 billion kwh per year while that of nuclear electric power has been recorded at 56 billion kwh per year. The utilisation of other electric power was recorded at 6 billion kwh per year.
Kerosene consumption was recorded at 18000 barrels per day while liquefied petroleum gas was recorded at 640000 barrels per day. Jet fuel use stood at 240000 barrels per day. Finally, the expenditure of motor gasoline was recorded at 1.4 million barrels per day while that of distillate fuel oils, which include fuels such as diesel, was recorded at 2.8 million barrels per year.
China was known for a long time to be an exporter of energy especially petroleum products to the international market. Nevertheless, since the demand for the same products increased domestically, it has become one of the largest importers of energy especially petroleum products and coal. This case can be explained by the fact that Chinas industrial capacity was previously limited by its participation on the partial world market.
Gee, Songnin, and Xiaolin reveal how China could therefore not exploit its full production potential, as it had to sell the surplus energy and energy products that it produced (425). This situation however changed when its participation on the global market increased thus increasing its potential to consume its own energy and energy products.
The case led to a deficit also because the energy needs now exceed its production potential thus leading to the need to import some energy as well as energy products. The leading energy products that China imports, which it either leads in the world in its importation as well as consumption is coal and oil in the form of crude oil.
Although China uses different forms of energy across board, its importation of energy is limited to a few forms that are economically affordable for massive industrial use. The disadvantage that comes with such forms is that they contain a lot of carbon, which is the biggest pollutant.
According to Index Mundi, China imports the following forms of energy from different parts of the world: It imports dry natural gas 580 billion cubic feet per year, coal 200 million short tons per year, Jet fuel 85000 barrels per day, kerosene 56000 barrels per day, liquefied petroleum gas 90000 barrels per day, and motor gasoline 48000 barrels per day.
It also imports other petroleum products at 150000 barrels per day, residual fuel oil 400000 barrels per day, and crude oil 4.8 million barrels per day. The list above indicates that China solely imports fossil fuels, which are purely carbon-based.
Chinas list of types of energy that it exports is not as diverse as the types of energies it imports and consumes. Thus, it can be assumed that it only exports energy that it finds to be surplus to its requirements. According to Medan, most of the energy exported by China is mostly fossil fuels, which are either in primary form, secondary form, or in tertiary form (593).
The exports vary with the types of energies exported with some breaks in some years. For instance, it exports crude oil at 100000 barrels per day, dry natural gas (141.9 billion cubic feet per year), and coal 22658.08 thousand short tons per year. This number however is dropping year by year due to Chinas increased affinity for coal use.
It also exports distillate fuel oils 12000 barrels per day, kerosene 113.6 thousand barrels per day, liquefied petroleum gas 21.58 thousand barrels per day, and Motor gasoline at 47.53 thousand barrels per day. It exports other petroleum products at 91.68 thousand barrels per day while residual fuel oil exported stands at 133.51 thousand barrels per day.
The list indicates figures that have been are not consistent yearly because there have been some breaks in exporting of some of the energy products in the preceding years of the information provided. The list also provides the last recorded numbers for specific products exported but which are no longer in export now.
Reserves and Carbon dioxide Emissions of China Vs the US
China is a big country in terms of territorial size as well as population. It also qualifies as one country that are endowed with so many minerals underground. It is known to have some of the biggest coal reserves in the world as well as unexplored and unexploited petroleum reserves both inland and off shore. It has crude oil reserves that run to a tune of 20.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
The figure is estimated of the year 2012 (EIA) indicating a 4 billion barrel increase from the estimated figures of the year 2009. The above numbers are for the proven oil reserves that are found within Chinas territory.
However, there are more proven oil field reserves whose rights China has acquired from other countries across the world. According to Medan, it can be rightly assumed that Chinas oil reserves are much higher than the 20 billion barrels proved to be within the Chinese territory (602).
China has some of the largest proven gas reserves in the world, which run to the tune of 107 trillion cubic feet (tcf) (U.S Energy Information Administration Para. 4). This amount is the second largest within the Asia Pacific region. Chinas coal deposits can be dubbed as the third largest in the world behind those of the United States of America.
One can therefore deduce that, if China has the ability to exploit all its energy reserves accordingly, it can move close to performing as well as how the United States of America is doing or even perform better. America has been able to exploit much of its energy reserves and hence the high economic performance. Chinas coal deposit reserves are estimated at 128 billion short tons, which account for 13% of the proven coal reserves in the world.
According to the 2008 United Nations statistics, China recorded carbon dioxide emissions to the tune of 7031916000 metric tons registering a steady annual increase in carbon dioxide emissions making it the single most world largest emitter of carbon dioxide. This emission can be linked to the high rate of industrial growth and development in China over the past few years.
However, carbon dioxide emission from industries in America has been relatively stable. In fact, the graph below indicates that the levels of carbon dioxide emission from the United States of America have been on the decline over the past ten years. In the year 2000, the level of emission was at 5863.26 million metric tons. However, by 2012, it had dropped to 8715.71 million metric tons.
This drop can be explained by the fact that America has been on the industrial production business for a longer period relative to China. There has also been a sharp rise in the number of environmental conservation organisations that advocate for environmental friendly sources of energy.
There has also been enactment of various statutes that regulate the amount of carbon dioxide that an industry is supposed to emit into the environment. Such legal guidelines may have played a big role in the reduction of carbon dioxide production by industries in the Unites States of America.
Reserves and Carbon dioxide Emissions of China Vs the US
Contrary to what happens in the United States of America, there has been a sharp rise in carbon dioxide emission since 2000 in China.
In fact, the above graph indicates that the level of carbon dioxide emission rose from 3271.81million metric tonnes in 2000 to 8715.71 million metric tonnes in 2012 in China. The implication of such emission is high levels of environmental degradation. However, China has put in place mechanisms to reduce the levels of Carbon dioxide emissions.
