China's energy use per person surpasses Europe's for first time

China’s energy use per person surpassed Europe’s for the first time in 2023 as demand from technology and manufacturing industries continued to climb.

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The country ramped up coal-fired generation, but also added more renewable capacity than the rest of the world combined, according to the annual Statistical Review Of World Energy from the Energy Institute (EI). This means the carbon intensity of its energy is actually falling.

Chinese consumption is being driven by the expansion of data centres, 5G infrastructure and car charging, while many factories are also running at full tilt to meet demand for goods overseas.