china energy use to soar

China's demand for energy will soar 75% by 2035, according to the latest world energy forecast from the International Energy Agency (IEA), released Tuesday. The growing economic aspirations of 1.3 billion Chinese, who today use just one-third the amount of energy consumed by an average European or North American, will put pressure on global energy markets, driving demand for both clean and dirty energy alike.

China's major push into clean technology markets will be backed by a planned investment of roughly $740 billion (5 trillion yuan) over the next decade, a massive outpouring of capital that could redraw the map for global clean energy markets.

?Given the sheer scale of China?s domestic market, its push to increase the share of new low-carbon energy technologies could play an important role in driving down their costs through faster rates of technology learning and economies of scale,? the IEA noted.

So while China's rise will push up global prices for oil and coal and increase pressures on already tight markets for fossil fuels, the country's insatiable appetite for energy may also fuel a revolution in clean technology over the coming decades.

A silver lining perhaps in the dark cloud of particulate emissions now hanging over China's notoriously polluted cities...