Energy and Transportation: A Case Study in China

The Chinese government has made a national priority of developing a sustainable, resource- and energy-efficient society. Because the transportation sector is a major energy consumer with significant opportunities for efficiency improvements, it can play a critical role in achieving this national priority. Here, we summarize current energy consumption patterns and describe one study to improve our understanding of the interactions and dependencies among available resources. We analyzed petroleum, coal, and electricity-based energy consumption data in China´s transportation sector from 1990 to 2004.