Comparative study of energy consumption structure between the U.S. and China

School of Economics and Management, Xi’an Mingde Institute of Technology, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China

^* Corresponding author: rainbow_yll@163.com

Abstract

At the early stage of development, China has a monotonous energy consumption structure dominated by coal, which damages the environment and has adverse impacts on the economy and sustainable development of the country. It is urgent to change the existing energy structure to reach the goal of sustainable development and improve people’s living standard. The U.S., as the world’s strongest power, has been where China is now, so it is feasible to draw lessons from the U.S in its energy consumption structure. In this study, massive data about the changes in the energy consumption structure are collected and processed, and the types of energy in China and the U.S. are compared. In 2030, China will become the largest consumer of petroleum, and the problems in China’s energy consumption such as supply-demand imbalance, low utilization of energy, and overdependence on imports, will rear their ugly heads. Thus, through theoretical analysis and data analysis, we analyze China’s current structure of energy consumption, its similarity with and difference from that in the U.S., and propose suggestions to improve China’s energy consumption structure.