China’s Biomass Use Makes It Top Energy User, IEA Says

Bloomberg
November 17, 2010, 2:14 AM EST
By Bloomberg News

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- China’s biomass use, which the government excludes from its consumption estimates, placed the country ahead of the U.S. as the world’s largest energy consumer in 2009, the International Energy Agency said.

Inclusion of “traditional biomass use” in rural areas, such as the burning of grain stems or wood for cooking, increases China’s energy consumption by four to five percent, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the Paris-based adviser said at a press conference in Beijing today. Biomass is material made from organic matter.

China disputes IEA estimates on its energy efficiency. The agency overestimated the country’s energy use in its World Energy Outlook report published last week, Han Wenke, head of energy research at the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency, said today. Official data show China is still the world’s second biggest consumer.

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