Start steering around an oil tanker and you¡¯ll find it slow, almost imperceptible work. When such a vast vessel begins to shift, however, the momentum is almost unstoppable.
It¡¯s the same situation with the most important destination for the world¡¯s LNG carriers, coal ships and oil tankers over the past few decades: China. The biggest consumer of carbon and the source of a third of annual greenhouse emissions, is finally turning a corner to a cleaner future. China¡¯s size is so overwhelming that when its fossil fuel consumption peaks, as it¡¯s doing now, it will shift the direction of the whole planet.
Take oil demand. The country¡¯s usage may have hit a ceiling already in 2023 before falling 1.2% last year, the Energy Institute wrote recently in its Statistical Review, a huge annual compendium of data on power markets. That¡¯s earlier than some other analysts have estimated, but not by much. The internal think tank of state-owned China National Petroleum Co. reckons the top will be this year.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.