China's energy consumption surges 3.9% in 2012

China's energy consumption totaled 3.62 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent in 2012.

This translates to a 3.9 percent year on year increase, according to the China's National Bureau of Statistics.

Coal represents 66.4 percent of the total energy consumed, with oil and natural gas accounting for 18.9 percent and 5.5 percent respectively, according to an estimate by the Diyi Caijing economic daily. The rest is mainly provided by hydro while nuclear power still accounts for a very low proportion of China's energy mix, despite a major programme to construct atomic power plants.

Consumption of coal, crude oil, natural gas and electricity rose 2.5 percent, 6.0 percent, 10.2 percent and 5.5 percent from a year earlier, respectively.

Energy consumption for every 10,000 yuan or US$1,601.98 of China's GDP fell 3.6 percent year on year, according to a report released by the NBS.

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